What Is Feng Shui?
Feng Shui is the ancient art of creating harmony and success through applying the natural principles of how energy moves through nature. The energies present in any physical location can have a profound influence on every area of our lives. If we can understand what these influences are, how they are created and operate, we can use this information to our benefit. Feng Shui can not only “diagnose” the nature of a place, but tell us how to manipulate the influences there in a practical way.
A Feng Shui Consultant is one who has studied these principles and can determine what influences are present within our home or business location, and how they are affecting our health, wealth and personal relationships. If the influences there are not helpful, physical “cures” are recommended to increase the beneficial energies and neutralize injurious ones. It is also often possible to make a good situation even better.
Physics tells us that any physical object has an electromagnetic field in and around it. The exact properties of the field vary depending upon the object. This field interacts with and has influence on the fields of other physical things nearby. This is the situation with buildings and people. The homes and offices we live and function in interact with us–since we also have energetic fields in and around us–and constantly exert their influences. Because we spend large amounts of time in these places, the influences become significant. Older civilizations, though they lacked the tools of modern science, were very aware of these influences and how to make the best use of the information.
“Feng Shui” literally means “Wind & Water”. Developed in China, the history of Feng Shui spans at least 7000 years. Throughout that time a very deep and complex understanding of these principles was acquired by the Chinese people through painstaking observation. The understanding within Feng Shui is based on The I Ching, the Book of Changes, which describes and predicts the cycles of change which we undergo during our journey through consciousness. Feng Shui is a highly systematic approach to understanding and interacting with the natural world. Even though its history is rooted in the long past, the principles of nature have remained the same, so it is completely relevant to modern life.
Feng Shui is considered to be so important that many Chinese businessmen will not even build a building unless the architecture has been approved by a Feng Shui expert. If there are problems in a business, the Feng Shui expert will often be called in, even before a business analyst, to remedy the situation. A couple experiencing marital difficulties will be likely to consult a Feng Shui expert to resolve their difficulties.
There are systems of geomancy or sacred geometry similar to Feng Shui in different cultures around the world on every continent. Every long-lived culture has made use of these basic principles to promote survival and success. An examination of famous government buildings, such as The Forbidden City in China or Buckingham Palace in England, reveals the way in which their design and construction supports the maintenance of power. These principles are now finding their proper place in the modern Western world.
People from all walks of life are coming to understand and to take advantage of the benefits of Feng Shui. Donald Trump is now quoted as saying “Location, location, Feng Shui”. There is no type of person that this cannot benefit. As Feng Shui becomes more known, lawyers, business people, actors, entrepreneurs, architects, hospitals, families, etc. have found Feng Shui consultations to be very helpful.
Everyone is sensitive to a variety energies in different places. We are automatically comfortable in some places and uncomfortable in others. Sometimes the reasons we react a particular way are obvious, such as feeling soothed in environments which are aesthetically beautiful. Sometimes what we are reacting to is much more intangible, as in times when we are in an attractive home but somehow cannot get comfortable there.
Likewise, success hinges on both tangible and intangible factors. A good business in a good location, with other aspects working for it such as good marketing and staff, will likely succeed. Sometimes a business with many good factors working for it will not succeed. Why? Often Feng Shui can reveal the answer with its ability to determine the unseen factors.
Like any field professing to have useful information, there is also some amount of misunderstanding and wrong information in the field of Feng Shui. This is due to the differing schools of Feng Shui in existence, some of which have deeper understandings than others, and also to the recent popularization of Feng Shui in the media, which seeks to quickly explain a science which can only truly be understood through in-depth study with a highly competent teacher. Good but incomplete information poorly applied can lead to bad results. A legitimate approach should be able to provide beneficial results consistently, and be able to a large degree to predict outcomes.
There are two primary traditions of Feng Shui. They have many approaches in common. Both make use of information about the specific influences of different land formations and the other elements of nature. Both consider how “chi”, or vital energy, flows in and around buildings and natural formations, energetically nourishing, attacking or starving the different areas. Both schools use a model called the Ba Gua, depicted as a square containing nine smaller squares or a circle with the eight directions radiating from the center, which is laid over a schematic drawing of the building. The 9 areas of the Ba Gua represent important areas of our lives and how our individual home or office is helping or hurting these areas. Both schools look closely at the architecture of the building and the interior design, as
well as the area in which the building is situated. Both also consider the “nature” of the occupants, based on their birth dates, and whether they are compatible with the “nature” of the place.
In addition, the Compass School tradition uses an intricate set of calculations, based on the compass orientation of the building and the year it was constructed, to determine it’s basic “personality”. This personality is equivalent to its set of energetic characteristics. The Ba Gua for that building is like a map describing these characteristics.
An individual person’s characteristics are determined by not only their genetics but by the time period during which they live. Similarly, the effects a building has are based on both its physical make-up (location, architecture and interior design) and its “birth-date”, or date of construction. In either case, the individual and the building will undergo change over time, based on the interaction of the fixed characteristics and the energies of changing external conditions. As time passes, the way in which the occupants of a building are affected by the place will change in predictable ways.
Feng Shui is the study of the laws of change. Since fixed qualities in a building interact with annually changing energies, if you know what the inherent or fixed energies in a building are, and you know the nature of the annual changes in energy, you can then predict how these influences will change and how they will be likely to affect the occupants at any given point in time. Virtually every building has areas which can be improved, sometimes greatly.
Changing the effects of the energies is accomplished by several means. The Compass School recommendations are based in large part on Five Element Theory of Chinese Medicine. Five Element Theory is the basis for acupuncture treatment. It also has application for home or business use. The intent is to establish harmonious, growth-oriented energy cycles in the nine areas of the building represented in the Ba Gua. This is done by using different natural
elements both inside and outside the building. Additional remedies may employ repositioning of furniture, different color schemes, moving activities to different areas (when practical) and, in unusual cases, modification of the building itself. Most recommendations are quite simple and inexpensive, involving readily available resources. Some remedies will be permanent, and some will be different as required to offset the different annual energies, which change on approximately February 5th of each year.
Feng Shui Consultations can be used to benefit very specific situations. These include: business success, investments, fame and reputation, creativity, ability to study and learn, health conditions, increasing the likelihood of having a romantic partner, preserving an existing relationship, having children, harmonizing competitive situations in business, legal problems, protecting residents from accidents and a building from burglary or fire, etc.
Of course, the Feng Shui of our homes and businesses is not responsible for everything we experience. Attitude, destiny and personal habits are major factors as well. A good way to understand Feng Shui is to realize that it is one major way in which we can give ourselves support for what our purposes are in this life. “Good” Feng Shui won’t necessarily predestine us for success just as “bad” Feng Shui won’t assure failure. Clearly, the better it is, the better our chances are for success and happiness.
Learn More About Feng Shui
Feng Shui Services
Feng Shui services include an overview, remedies for each of the nine directional areas to harmonize the property, suggestions and directions.
5 Elements Feng Shui Remedies Guide
The 5 Element Remedies are used to establish harmonious energy in different areas of your home.