Orienting Yourself

Family Touchstones

Like many “older-timers,” as a child, I saw the sun rise so many times over the same tree-covered hills on the east side of our family farm that I took knowing my cardinal directions there for granted. Knowing east, I could point to any of the other directions at any time without a thought. Similarly inclined, my dad often used “north,” “south,” “east,” and “west” instead of “left,” “right,” “in front,” or “behind” to describe locations on the farm since the former are static no matter your reference point, whereas the latter depend on your position of reference. (e.g. The north side of the field or barn is always the north side, but it’s only left, right, in front, or behind based on where you’re standing.).

In today’s world, it can be difficult to have the same sense of place. Most of us have moved so often and spend so much less time outdoors that we simply do not have the same easy reference points.

It’s certainly true that, in my life, I’ve had to work to keep my bearings. But the need for those childhood markers still holds a prominent place in my psyche. And each new move has brought an accompanying search for reference points, bearings, and a sense of place.

I find myself taking note of the sun’s position at sunrise and sunset and the shadows at midday, setting up markers in yards aligned true east and west during the equinoxes, and finding the north star at night—all to get and keep my bearings. For some reason, orienting myself in any new setting by finding these touchstones is like getting in touch with old friends. Not only do they bring me a sense of place, but also their continuing presence itself brings a comfort in being reminded of the vast, enduring essence of the universe in which we all reside, despite whatever smaller troubles have usurped our focus of late.

Finding Your Bearings

To find the cardinal directions on your place, you can use a compass (see Using a Compass) or the same older ways I still use. The older ways are beautiful in their simplicity, will inherently connect you with your place, and make you present in the moment.

One way to use these ways is to simply watch the sun rise in the east and set in the west on your property and take note of landmarks that mark its position for each. You can, similarly, observe the shadows cast by the plants, buildings, and objects around your place. The shadows point west in the morning just after sunrise, north at the sun’s peak around midday, and east in the evening just before sunset. Although there’s some fluctuation in the precise directions of each of these as the year progresses through the seasons (see Why Northeast and Northwest Instead of Just East and West?), either of these practices gets you close enough for most purposes.

And once you know one direction, you know them all. If it helps, you can stand with your arms pointing straight out to each side, with your right arm pointing east and your left arm pointing west. You’re facing north, and south is behind you. This is a ritual I’ve done hundreds of times and still do in each new place I find myself until the directions become set intuitively inside of me; it always gets me within at least 45º of the right orientation, no matter the time of year, and usually much closer.

For more accuracy, you can look to the sun on an equinox or the stars anytime.

Note where the sun rises and sets on your horizons on either equinox (March 20, 21, or 22 or September 20, 21, or 22, depending on the year—but any of those days will be well within any degree of accuracy you’ll need). These are due east and west, respectively.

You can, similarly, find the North Star at any time of year. For assistance look to the Big Dipper. The two stars that make the end of the dipper farthest from the handle point to it. You’ll find it on that line away from the “open” side of the dipper about five times the apparent distance between the two end dipper stars away.

After finding either north, east, or west, it often helps to find an accompanying distant landmark (e.g. a large tree, hill, mountain, or building) or some local markers (e.g. trees, bushes, edges of buildings, sidewalk cracks, etc.) that point to one cardinal direction (e.g. “When I stand by this tree, due east is the peak of the barn roof.”). If you don’t have distant landmarks or local markers that point either north, south, east, or west, you can line up two or three stones or stakes in a row pointing to a cardinal direction. Either way, you’ll have a reference point for all times of the year (and possibly your own mini-Stonehenge😁).

As stated above, once you know one, the rest are easy to find. Again, if it helps, use your markers to stand with arms extended east and west, and you are facing due north and south is behind you—rinse and repeat until your bearings are second nature.