Feng Shui Study

The classical Chinese systems work around a series of concepts that provide a framework to understand and make sense of the universe and all that is within it. It should be noted that several of these concepts are unique to Chinese culture and bear little or no resemblance to concepts that exist within Western or other Eastern schools of thought, even if their names are similar. Please therefore empty your mind of any assumptions or preconceptions before moving on.

Chi or Universal Energy
Chi, sometimes spelt Qi, is a definition of energy that flows around the universe and emanates from living things. The presence of Chi is usually a sign of health, and the Chinese have developed numerous skills to manipulate Chi on a personal level. You may well be familiar with Tai Chi, Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. These are methods for channelling personal Chi to promote health. In Feng Shui we realise that the Chi of an individual is slight and impressionable by the Chi resident within the environment. We look to balance it, promote vibrant personal Chi and safeguard it.

Yin & Yang
Yin and Yang is often known to the Western mind as the concept of Duality. Where there is light, there must be dark in order for us to see that there is light at all! Without two ends of a spectrum, the human mind cannot discern what a thing is. The Chinese divide everything in the universe into Yin and Yang. Yin is the female particle, Yang the male.

It must be stressed that both are, at all times, inherently equal and both contain a little of the other. It's like the saying, "Within every bad there is a little good and in every good there is a little bad". Thus Yin and Yang are equal, opposite and interdependent.

The Five Elements
The Five Elements of classical Chinese thought are Water, Earth, Metal, Wood and Fire. Within the framework of this concept, anything and everything can be assigned to a particular element. A given 'thing' need not physically be made of its particular element, although it can be, and it will display similarities with the root element.

The Five Elements interact with each other in logical ways. Water feeds plants to give rise to Wood. Wood in turn can create Fire. The by-product of Fire is ash, in this case the Earth element. From the Earth comes Metal, which in turn can help collect Water, thus going full circle. This is called The Cycle of Birth.

Conversely, Water puts out Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal axes fell Wood, the Wood tree roots hold down Earth and Earth absorbs Water. This is called The Cycle of Destruction or Conquering.

Obviously, this is not meant to be a literal science, it's a concept to enable us to explain the universe. Also remember that each element is subject to the Yin and Yang principle. That means that there are two forms of each element, for example there is Yin Fire and Yang Fire.

Trigrams or Kua
Trigrams are the symbols commonly seen in I-Ching Divination. Their purpose is to add accuracy to readings by allowing for the many shades there are between the opposites of Yin and Yang. For example there are pure Yin and three further Yin Trigrams each with less Yin. There are Yang equivalents of each.

Pure Yin Trigram or K'un

The Eight Characters, or Ba Zi Method
The Ba Zi Method gets it's name of the Eight Characters by the way it analyses a person's date of birth. From the hour, day, month and year eight elements are drawn, one for a person's Earthly Branches of Destiny and one from their Heavenly Branches of Destiny for each element. The ways in which these interact with each other, with those around the individual and with the elements in each year allow for forecasting a person's future or for matchmaking. Each individual's unique attributes are reflected in the Ba Zi Method unlike other horoscopes that make sweeping generalisations.

Karma
Karma, loosely translatable as destiny, is the highest force in operation in the universe, also known as the Law of Cause and Effect. To some degree, our Feng Shui and our Ba Zi will be predetermined by our Karma.

While we cannot do a right to fix a wrong, it is always worth cultivating good deeds as these sow the seeds of future happiness for us. Sadly they don't cancel out what bad we've done, they simply start new good. To change bad Karma we will need to repent sincerely for what we've done in our hearts and in front of heavenly witnesses, be that at Church, Temple, Mosque, Synagogue or whatever place your faith allows. We need to learn lessons and be prepared to change ourselves for the better. It's all too easy to do, but very hard to take back. That's why it's best never to act without consideration first!

Feng Shui
Feng Shui is variously pronounced Foong Soy or Feng Shway, it depends what dialect of Chinese you speak! If you speak any Chinese you'll probably be aware that there are many dialects such as Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Hokkien Chinese, Hakka and Tejiu. It is because of the varieties within the Chinese language that we get such a variety of sounds when spoken. However, what's important is not the pronunciation; it's understanding that Feng Shui works by utilising complex formula and trained eyes to work with three principal causes within your environment:

1. Energy or Chi - The Chinese say that without Chi there is nothing but death. Having the right balance and flow of chi around the home is vital

2. Magnetic energy - When a house is built it has a magnetic field. Humans also have a magnetic field. Whether these magnetic fields attract or repulse one another will be essential in creating auspiciousness

3. Land Spirits - There are energies from the unseen realm that can also exert a profound influence over one

There are additional factors to consider at a higher level, but for the basis of understanding the logic of Feng Shui, the above are the most important.

There are many different recognised schools and methods of Feng Shui stemming from the Form School and the Compass School. Within the later are numerous techniques such as the Eight Mansions Method, the Twenty Four Mountains and the Flying Star School.

It must be noted that whilst any attempt to balance one's elements and energy is good, some methods sacrifice accuracy in order to make Feng Shui more accessible to the uninitiated. A good example would be the see-through grids or Bagua maps cheaply available now days. This is practice originated from Black Hat Sect Feng Shui.

These 'Bagua maps', sometimes called the Eight Life Aspirations Grid are designed to be placed over one's floor plan. Lacking personalised information they categorise everyone everywhere to fit the same preferences. This is why the success rate with such methods is extremely low. The powerful formulas that have taken hundreds of years to perfect by some of the greatest minds in Feng Shui are ignored to make the art accessible to the mass public.

Such methods are a great nuisance to consultants as they distort public perception of what actually is a system of precise mathematical formulas. They reduce Feng Shui to appearing as superstitious nonsense. If you want to use Feng Shui to gain results, begin learning now and get the help of experienced professional. With the help of such a guide you can soon make the right first steps and begin using powers far greater than you may ever have imagined.