What Is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is an Ancient Chinese esoteric tradition.  The term translate into the words "wind and water", and the purpose of Feng Shui is to carefully arrange the placement of buildings, structures, furniture and even garden items to work in as harmoniously and peacefully as possible with the environment.  It is pronouced as "fung shway."  There are several schools of Feng Shui; the principles of Feng Shui  are based on Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, East/West compass directions, the solar system, and the environment.  The Five Elements are Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood.  Yin and Yang is an ancient Chinese philosophy that there are two natural, and completely complimentary and contradictory forces in the universe.  Yin represents the feminine energy, and Yang repesents the masculine energy.  Yin and Yang are in a continuous and harmonious state of flux and always looking for the point of balance; one moves, the other responds.  This is natural universal law.     

Everything is made up of energy; and because of this, everything gives off an energy, as well, which can affect our feelings, emotions, and lives.  This natural energy of the universe is known as chi.  It permeates all things, including the human body.  When our chi is in harmony, then we feel peaceful and happy.  Balancing our environment so that it eflects good chi is achieved through living with nature rather than against it; and this is what practicing Feng Shui does.

 It isn't too hard to grasp when you consider that people are naturally drawn to harmonious, calm environments; and that our surroundings definitely do affect the way we feel.  For example, being in a beautiful rainforest with a gorgeous waterfall would make us feel quite differently than if we were in a dirty, gloomy office.  Beautiful, flowing architecture that works with nature resonates a pleasing peacefulness inside of us rather than harsh, non conforming buildings. 

Feng Shui is an ancient set of guidelines for creating beautiful architecture and comfortable interior designs to optimally promote a sense of wellbeing, peace and harmony in people who are using it or looking upon it.  It works upon addressing the Yang aspect of life (living.)  However, it can also be applied to the Yin aspect, as seen in the careful construction of graves and tombs.  Rules for Yang dwellings differ to those for "yin houses" (houses of the dead.) 

The History Of Feng Shui

Traditional ancient Feng Shui is a combination of construction and astronomy, and uses a specialised compass called a Luopan, as well as a massive amount of calculations based upon mathematical iterations. It is a lot more involved and complex than the "modern" Feng Shui which is often practiced today. 

Classical Feng Shui in ancient China was a closely guarded discipline used as a tool to ensure the wealth and good health of the imperial dynasties.  The keepers of this secret knowledge were the Feng Shui masters, highly respected scientists and astronomers.  These masters were highly secretive of their art and selected their protegees very carefully.  

Feng Shui has its origins in Taoism and is approximately 3000 years old.  In the 19th Century, Christian missionaries that travelled to China labelled the practice of Feng Shui as Geomancy, which is divination by means of geographical features.    

Types Of Feng Shui

There are two major schools of Feng Shui; the Form school and the Compass School.  In the Form school, physical of the landscape are in focus of examination;  In the Compass school, astrological or cosmological orientation of the site is the focus.  

Form School

Form School Feng Shui is the oldest form and involves understanding of landforms and waterways based on their positions behaviours and sizes as to how they will affect people living nearby or building on the land.  It is visual and relies on studying the specific energies and then recommending the proper placement of buildings in relation to the land to be as harmonious with the natural surroundings as possible. 

Compass School - Eight Mansions or East-West School

This form of Feng Shui is based on the eight directions of the compass; every building and person has four good directions and four bad directions.  People belong to either the East or the West group.  This is determined astrologically by the year you were born for people, and for buildings determined by their facing positions.  The theory is, by knowing and using the best possible directions for living such as sleeping, working, and so on, a person will be naturally supported by these energies.  This form of Feng Shui assists people to understand their compatibility with other people as well as with rooms and buildings. 

Life Aspiration School

This is a very simple school of Feng Shui and very popular as a result of being easy to learn and apply.  This school uses the Pa Kua  (Bagua) is used as an energy map, broken into eight directions.  The Pa Kua are the eight trigrams described in the I Ching.  Each direction is responsible for a specific colour, and life aspiration.  The directions can be activated by "cures" that increase luck in whatever area that direction rules over.  The eight aspirations are:  wealth, benefactors, career, knowledge, fame, health, family and marriage.  The Pa Kua is placed over the home or building based on the direction of the front door, and determining a persons "good" and "bad" directions is also important in applying this Feng Shui. According to this school, each person has four "good" and four "bad" directions. 

Compass School - Flying Stars

This school of Feng Shui uses the eight Trigrams of the I Ching, and the Lo Shu magic square.  The Lo Chu square is used to divide a building or room into nine sectors;  the trigrams are related to compass directions, elements, parts of the body, specific colours, shapes, and family members.  It is based on the Yin Yang theory, the five element theory, Chinese astrology and numerology.  A special compass called a Lou Pan is used, to take directional readings from a building or house.  Date of birth or construction date is also taken into account.  This school of Feng Shui is heavily reliant upon scientific formulae and mathematics to read the energy of buildings or rooms.  It is based on scientific observations of energy patterns. 

Black Sect Feng Shui

This is a very modern form of Feng Shui, which was founded by Professor Lin Yun in 1986.  It derives in part from Tibetan Tantric Buddhism.  This school combines Form School with psychology, interior design, colour therapy, Yin Yang theory, the I Ching, the five elements and intuition.  Many people refer to this Feng Shui school as Western Feng Shui.  Instead of using a magnetic compass, this school uses a Bagua from the main door of each room being evaluated.

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Dreamers Online Recommended Books

The Feng Shui Bible, by Simon Brown

Feng Shui for the Soul by Denise Linn

Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life - by Karen Rauch Carter