Feng Shui, which literally means wind and water, is an ancient Chinese art and science that is a blend of architecture, interior design, Chinese mathematics and old fashioned common sense. Feng Shui reveals methods of improving your relationship with the environment around you as well as aspects of intelligence, relationships, and movement. While Western Horoscopes might be fun and offer you a glimpse into your monthly love life, Feng Shui is an essential part of your daily life like eating, sleeping, and breathing. It is a way of life.
Throughout ancient China, classical Feng Shui was a closely guarded discipline used as a tool to ensure the good health, wealth, and power of the Imperial Dynasties. T he keepers of this secret body of knowledge – Feng Shui Masters, were highly respected meteorologists, astronomers, and other scientists and who were charged with sustaining the good fortune and prosperity of the royal court. Since then, the craft has been transferred down the generations through very specific lineages.
Today, Feng Shui is commonly found in restaurants, private homes, shop houses, and corporate offices. Whether it’s the placement of a tall green plant or the particular angle of a desk, Feng Shui at work is not obvious to the untrained eye.
The Principles of Feng Shui
(Yin & Yang)
Feng Shui is based on the principle of Yin and Yang. Balance, harmony, consistent change, and the interdependency of all things are but a few of the deep meanings within this simple representation. Yang represents heat and light while Yin symbolizes cold and darkness. This analogy can be applied to time, seasons, directions, and many other cycles of change.
(The Five Elements)
Another simple, yet powerful representation are the five elements, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The elemental wheel demonstrates how these elemental energies interact. In its balanced state, it is in harmony. Yet each element can strengthen or weaken other elements in a variety of beneficial and detrimental ways. When calculating the energy map of a property these interactions provide the key to correcting issues within a property.
(Chi)
Feng Shui is based upon a set of theories and complex calculations derived from the I-Ching. Using these principles and taking into account the physical relationship between the natural environment and the magnetic fields of the Earth provides a “blueprint” of the influences around us. With this blueprint we can see clearly the energies or “Chi” that effect us in our properties.
The Feng Shui Compass or “Lou Pan” is an indispensable tool for geomancers in charting “Chi” energy and directional influences. Without it, Feng Shui is not truly Feng Shui and one is only practicing design and personal preference. While Martha Stewart may have excellent design sense, Feng Shui is the true Chinese science that can explain why a house’s layout creates a calming effect or how to remedy a room that feels unsettling.
Why Feng Shui?
As we embark on the new millennium, people are looking for answers in the face of global uncertainty. You only need to read current newspaper headlines to know the world is out of sync. Feng Shui is about balance, comfort and harmony; it is not a religion or a mystical belief. Rather, Feng Shui is a science that offers the ability to create a balance in your dwelling or place of work. Feng Shui is not a fad, but a means to build one’s prosperity and well being.
Today, many are realizing the benefits of properly aligning their homes, offices, and new developments within the principles of Feng Shui. Using these principles, people are creating comfortable, cozy environments which encourages prosperity and happiness. Because people are searching for peace and stability in this fast-moving world, the home has become an important sanctuary in cleansing and re-energizing the human spirit.
