homes can represent world centers. the symbolism for their residents is the same as for inhabitants of palaces and other sacred mountains. the hearth participates in the symbolism of the altar and a central garden participates in the symbolism of primordial paradise. in asian cultures houses were traditionally laid out in the form of a square oriented toward the four compass directions. a traditional asian home was oriented toward the sky through feng shui, a system of geomancy, just as a palace would be. traditional arab houses are also laid out as a square surrounding a central fountain that evokes a primordial garden paradise. mircea eliade noted that "the symbolism of the pillar in [european] peasant houses likewise derives from the 'symbolic field' of the "axis mundi". in many archaic dwellings the central pillar does in fact serve as a means of communication with the heavens, with the sky." the nomadic peoples of mongolia and the americas more often lived in circular structures. the central pole of the tent still operated as an axis but a fixed reference to the four compass points was avoided.