We live in the Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand). A few months ago, I worked on a herb spiral. After I finished it and showed it to my family, they jokingly questioned if it was going in the right direction.
I had spontaneously chosen an anticlockwise direction. But clockwise is often perceived as positive, whilst anticlockwise as negative. So in hindsight I did some reading on it.
My conclusion is that in the Southern Hemisphere, the herb spiral should indeed go anticlockwise just like the water flows down the sinkhole. Does it also have to do with the direction of the sun moving from East to North to West?
But whilst reading about this topic, I also came across various sources confirming that anticlockwise is perceived as negative, e.g. not stirring the food in an anticlockwise direction, not walking backwards, not walking in anticlockwise direction around a church etc. Where does this "negativity" towards anticlockwise come from? Could it be related to the fact that this perception arose in civilizations who lived in the Northern Hemisphere, so that clockwise is "right" as it follows the movement of the sun?
Also I wondered about the direction of sea shells and snail shells, but could not find good information. One reference said that only 2% of snails are "left-handed", i.e. anticlockwise. Do the directions of their shells differ in the Northern and Southern hemisphere too?
Please share comments to any of those aspects, i.e.
Direction of the herb spiral: Due to the movement of the sun?
Why is anticlockwise perceived as negative?
What explains the direction of snail shells and sea shells?