What Do the Terms in Lo Shu Grid Reading Mean?
Lo Shu Grid practice uses terms drawn from Chinese Feng Shui, Indian numerology and Vastu, and the same concept often carries two or three names depending on which tradition a source came from. This glossary defines every term used on this site and records which names refer to the same thing.
Canonical Names and Accepted Synonyms
These terms mean the same thing wherever they appear on this site:
| Canonical term | Also called |
|---|---|
| Lo Shu Grid | the grid · Lo Shu chart · loshu grid · Lo Shu square · magic square of three |
| Driver number | Mulank · psychic number · birth number · root number |
| Destiny number | Conductor number · Bhagyank · life path number |
| Golden Yog | Raj Yog (in Lo Shu context) · the 4-5-6 diagonal |
| Arrow of Frustration | empty plane · broken line |
| Kua number | Gua number · Ming Gua · life number |
Terms A–Z
Arrow of Frustration — any one of the eight lines with all three cells empty. The only arrow concept in Lo Shu Grid reading; there is no separate “arrow of strength”.
Ba Zhai — the Eight Mansions system of Feng Shui, which assigns each Kua number four auspicious and four inauspicious directions. Source of the Kua formula used on this site. See Kua number.
Bhagyank — Hindi term for the Destiny number.
Brahmasthan — the centre point of a structure in Vastu Shastra, borrowed in Lo Shu practice to describe the centre cell where Number 5 sits.
Chaldean numerology — a letter-to-number system assigning values 1 to 8, with 9 unassigned. Used on this site for name and number alignment only, not for the grid itself. See name and number alignment.
Compound number — the unreduced total of a name or number before it is reduced to a single digit. Certain compounds are traditionally treated as fortunate or as karmic-debt numbers.
Destiny number — every digit of the full date of birth added and reduced to a single digit. Describes long-term direction. See Destiny number.
Driver number — the day of birth reduced to a single digit. Describes instinctive operating style. See Driver number.
Golden Yog — the 4-5-6 rising diagonal, associated with recognition and material success. Also called Raj Yog in Lo Shu context, which is unrelated to the Vedic Raj Yog. See Golden Yog in the grid.
Graha maitri — the traditional system of planetary friendships, used on this site to score Destiny harmony in compatibility readings.
Kua number — a Feng Shui figure from birth year and gender identifying favourable compass directions. Not placed into the grid.
Line — any of the eight straight paths through the 3×3 square: three rows, three columns, two diagonals. Six are planes, two are Yogs. See the eight lines of the Lo Shu Grid.
Magic constant — the number every row, column and diagonal of a magic square sums to. For the Lo Shu Grid it is 15.
Missing number — a digit from 1 to 9 appearing in none of the date digits, the Driver or the Destiny. See Lo Shu Grid missing numbers guide.
Mulank — Hindi term for the Driver number.
Personal year — a cycle number calculated from the birth day, birth month and target year, used for timing rather than for personality.
Plane — one of the six non-diagonal lines: the three rows (Mind, Emotional, Practical) and three columns (Planning, Willpower, Success).
Pythagorean chart — a different numerology layout in which numbers are arranged 1-2-3 / 4-5-6 / 7-8-9. Its sequential lines are not Lo Shu lines. See Lo Shu vs Pythagorean and Chaldean charts.
Silver Yog — the 2-5-8 falling diagonal, associated with assets and long-term wealth. See Silver Yog in the grid.
Strength tier — how a line is reported: Strong (3 cells filled), Moderate (2), Weak (1), Absent (0).
Yog — either of the two diagonal lines. Both pass through the centre cell, so a missing 5 closes both.