What we call the South pole (in the Antarctic) is actually a physical North pole, the physical South pole then being in the Arctic. So the red needle that points north is actually South seeking, therefore we want the red needle to point AWAY from a magnet to find it's north pole. A simple way to remember it is that the "northern" end on our compass is actually a north pole magnet.
A simple and informative video demonstrating this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKpviTjRT0Q
I woke up today with a very sore, stiff neck from sleeping in an awkward position. As I am writing this, I have a strong north pole ceramic magnet on my neck, and my pain has become more tolerable after maybe ten minutes.
