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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Why four cardinal compass points?
From: Tibor Miseta
Date: 2026 Sep 27, 13:01 -0700
From: Tibor Miseta
Date: 2026 Sep 27, 13:01 -0700
I think this is much more natural—and predates navigation, having far less to do with mathematics. Or at least, it predates navigation based on the compass. Even the steppe peoples could have used it: if we face north (where the stars "stand") and spread our arms, we are pointing east and west. In our language, the word for "East" is derived from the same verb as "to wake up" while the word for "West" comes from the verb meaning "to go to rest."
