For Mongolians, the ger is more than their traveling shelter on the Asian steppes; it is their centering point in a moving universe. For the Mongolians the internal floor plan of the ger is based on the four directions, much like the Native American Medicine Wheel. The door always opens to the south.
Opposite the door, sacred space is to the North.
If the family is Buddhist, this is where the altar sits.
It is also the place of the seat of honor for guests.
Yin and yang, ancient symbols for feminine and masculine and the balance of life, hold space to the east and west. The western half of the ger is the male area and the eastern half, the female domain. Men's possessions (riding tack, hunting gear, and whiskey) are hung on the western wall sections. Men and male guests usually sit on this side. Women's tools, such as pots and pans and looms and felting equipment, are stored on the east side of the ger, where women, children and female guests usually sit. One proceeds around the ger in a clockwise or "sunwise" direction.
In the ancient Shamanist tradition, it is the ger that holds the balance and flow of yin and yang, and of worlds above and below.
All of this is centered around the sacred fire, entryway to the sacred world below and provider of warmth and light and the smoke that rises to the world above. In this way, the ger expresses the balance of all things in the one, the circle.
