How to Change the House Period in Xuan Kong Fei Xing feng shui

                                          

In Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui, the most important factor to consider when we are calculating the natal chart of a house is the construction period; because this will define the natal chart or the chi pattern captured when the house was erected. There are times that someone might want to change the house period. For instance, a Period Five house's luck will only last for 20 years (1944 - 1963), now the owner want to change the luck period to the current Eight Period (2004 - 2023) which has a more favourable natal chart, how can he do it?

Answer:

We can apply a procedure which referred as "Replacing the Heart of the Heven" (換天心) in Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui that enabled us to do this. The proper procedures are as follow:

1.  The family first move out from the house,

2. Dismantle the front door,

3. Replace new floor finishes at the center area (中宮) of the house,

4. Replace the interior ceiling at the center of the house if any, or replace a new roof (shingles),

5. Carry out major renovation works like painting the whole house, dismantle of walls etc.,

6. Pick an auspicious date to re-install or replace the front door,

7. The family move back in to the house.

 The house will now become a Period Eight house with a new natal chart accordingly.

Note:  In real practice, this may be a good option to improve the feng shui of the house if someone doesn't want to or afford to move to a new house.

 

 

 

Fu Yuan Feng Shui

Fu Yuan Feng Shui [福元地支三合局]

Let say you have been following some kind of feng shui, have spent a lot of hard-earned money buying books or taking on-line courses from the so-called “celebrities feng shui masters”;  faithfully following their advice and tips, making the house looking like a feng shui artifact’s museum; and at the end of the day, things still doesn’t improve!  So, besides frustration, you decided to give up feng shui and believe it is just another Chinese superstition.

If you are one of these poor victims, let me show you another type of feng shui that might work for you…J This type of feng shui is known as “Fu Yuan” feng shui and had been practised since the Han Dynasty (206BCE-220CE).  As we all know, twelve of the 24 Mountains (directions) on the Lo Pan are represented by the 12 Earthly Branches, with each Branch associates with a Chinese zodiac animals (see below diagram).

 

Fu Yuan feng shui is simply to find the directions that represents our Chinese zodiac animal’s birth sign, then add and subtract 120 degree. The resulting two Mountains will be the auspicious directions for us.

For example, let us look at the example for a people born in the year of the monkey (shen).  From the Lo Pan or compass, the shen Mountain shows 240 degree. So, we add 120 degrees and subtract 120 degrees from 240 degrees, the results are 360 degree and 120 degree respectively, therefore:

360 degree = tzu Mountain represents the rat

120 degree = chen Mountain represents the dragon

Simply put, this type of feng shui is just applying the concept of the “three compatible formation of the Earthly Branches” [地支三合局] from the Four Pillars System or Ba Zi. 

Using the above example, the person born in the year of the monkey can place a rat figurine at the tzu Mountain (360 degree) and a dragon figurine at the chen Mountain (120 degree). These two compatible Chinese zodiac animals will help to create a favourable feng shui environment for this person.

In fact, besides finding the auspicious directions, Fu Yuan feng shui can also use to find the right partners in business operation. Using the above example, a person born in the year of the monkey, shall look for people born in the year of the rat and the dragon as business partners.

The Directions of the 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals (12 Earthly Branches) on the Ba Gua

Rat            352.5 - 7.5
Cow          22.5 - 37.5
Tiger         52.5 - 67.5
Rabbit      82.5 - 97.5
Dragon    112.5 - 127.5
Snake      142.5 - 157.5
Horse      172.5 - 187.5
Goat        202.5 - 217.5
Monkey  232.5 - 247.5
Rooster  262.5 - 277.5
Dog         292.5 - 307.5
Pig           322.5 - 337.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is Wind Turbine bad feng shui or good feng shui?

Wind Turbines – Is it Good Feng Shui or Bad Feng Shui?

Wind turbines have become one of the popular means of green energy in recently years, wind farms are popping up in many parts of the world. As more wind turbines are being built near to the living communities, objections and even law suits are started to emerge. Most of them are from the anti-wind turbines groups and the “not-in-my-back-yard” reactionary property owners near to the wind farms. The main complains they have are people living close to the wind farms are exposed to health risks, many people claimed they are suffering from the so-called “wind turbine syndrome” like heart disease, tinnitus, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines and sleep deprivation. As from the property owners, they are concerned that their property value will be affected.

There has been a lot of scientific studies and research done by both the anti- wind farm groups and the wind energy industry’s lobbyist, each claiming they are right. Recently, as reported from the Toronto Star dated July 11, 2012, Health Canada says it will launch a national study into the possible relationship between wind-turbine noise and health problems as reported by people living near wind power development. I have been following closely to the above development with a lot of interest, since there are still no concrete scientific proofs regarding its effects on the health of people living near to them; I have decided to present my thinking of the wind turbine from the perspective of feng shui.

In authentic feng shui, external physical objects are referred as “ luan tao (外巒頭)” which will affect the feng shui of the house, especially if the entrance door or windows are facing at them.  In general, when it is considered an unfavorable “luan tao”, it is referred as “luan tao sha (巒頭煞)”.  Accordingly to the guidelines of the “form school” of feng shui, wind turbine is considered as a wood element due to its tall structure and shape, rather than fire element as some people may think, as they envision that the wind turbines are generating electric power.  Furthermore, the turning (movement) of the blades of the wind turbine is considered as “agitator” to the phenomenon of the “wood element sha chi” generated by the wind turbine.

Let us now look at some of the possible health problems of the people living near to the wind turbine. As reported on the Toronto Star‘s article, many people  in Kingston, Ontario  living near to the wind turbines  are reporting suffering from symptoms of tinnitus and trouble in sleeping. 

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1222858958/Kingston-neighbors-of-wind-turbines-complain-of-ill-effects 

Well,  it is just common sense and easy to comprehend that living very close to the wind turbine will affected by its noise and shadows of lights casted on the house. This is demonstrated in the article  that an elderly couple living just 1 kilometer away from three wind turbines are experiencing the “ wind turbine syndrome”.

This phenomenon can be explained by  the theory of Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui.  When the entrance door or windows are facing an outside “luan tao sha”, in this case the wind turbine, it will acts as an enforcer of the ill effects to the house. For example, if there is an untimely flying star combination, for instance [6, 4] at the sector, it will cause health issue like tinnitus and vertigo, which is the common complaint from the people living close to the wind turbine. Another scenario causing the above health issues is most likely when the NW sector (metal element) of the house is facing the wind turbine (wood element), and at the same time the annual and monthly #2 star fly to the  NW sector.  In short, I believe the critical factor that is causing all the health problems is the distance between the house and the wind turbine.  In fact, an Ontario government commissioned study conducted a review in 2012 that look at more than 100 papers and reports; and concluded that there was no health risk posed by wind turbine sound if the structures are located at least 550 meters away from people’s house; which is the Ontario’s regulated setback distance. Looking from the perspective of feng shui, it does make sense because based on the authentic feng shui principles, "chi got scattered in open air". Simply put, the sha chi of the wind turbine get dispersed when it is far away from the houses and thus will not affect the occupants of the house.

So, what is the feng shui cure for this problem? Well, there are a few things that the onwer of the house can do to counteract its effects:

1. Install curtains or blinds on the windows or keep the windows closed which are facing the wind turbine. This is based on the feng shui idea that “if you do not see the sha, you will not affect by it”.

2. As we captioned above that wind turbine is considered as wood element, therefore, placing metal element objects on the doors and windows is also a very effective feng shui cure against the wind turbine. This is based on the destructive cycle of the Five Elements – metal chops wood.  Examples of metal element objects which can be used as cure are 6 old Chinese coins or a pair of metal Chi Lin. Furthermore, if the wind turbine itself is painted with white or silver colors (metal element), it will further reduce the energy of the sha chi from the wind turbine.

3. Fire element objects are also good feng shui cure to counteract the sha chi of the wind turbine, as fire element  will dissipate wood element. Example is painting the door in red color which is facing the wind turbine (s).

To conclude, the critical factor that we shall concentrate on is the finding of the safety distance between wind turbines and the houses.  The further away it is from the houses , the less chance that it will  cause any health issues. I believe this can be justified by the ongoing scientific studies. Hopefully the results that will soon come out will put to rest a lot of the objective voices on wind turbine!

One last thing I want to point our is under the Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui, in some scenario the moving energy generated by the wind turbine will serve as an enhancement to the auspicious flying star combinations of the house facing them. In light of all the negative things being said about the wind turbine, after all, it might be a good thing for some!

Good Architecture Bad Feng Shui

Sexy Architecture, Bad Feng Shui

Recently, there is an article in the Toronto Star reporting that the Mississauga’s Absolute Towers building project were awarded the prize of Best Tall Buildings in the Americans by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a non-profit group of architects and engineers.  This is based mostly on the merits of its unique high curves design of the façade of the building; which has a “sexy” appeal; and even compared it with the late Hollywood movie star Marilyn Monroe!

I really have no objection to their taste and judgement of the aesthetic appeals on the buildings itself because they are all well trained architects and engineers. However, since the buildings are supposed to be a habitat for humans, I do not see any detailed explanation of the excellence in the interior layout that justified for the award. Function follows form, anyone? Does it provide a comfortable and auspicious living environment to the occupants? Well, judging from the authentic feng shui perspective, I do not think so!

First of all, a tall building is considered a wood element structure, but with its curving façade, it is also associated with the water element. In feng shui, this means the chi of the building is not “pure”.  Furthermore, because of the round shape of the structure, it means most of the rooms in the building will most likely in irregular shape, which creates one of the common deficiencies in feng shui”: missing corners. This indicates the possibilities of unstable luck for the occupants and they have difficulties in furniture arrangement.

Another important factor for high-rise condominium units is the entrance door of each unit is located inside the building, most of the time in a long and enclosed corridor. Therefore, the overall feng shui of the unit is very much depends on the exposure to the sun and air through the windows or balcony; where the outside chi can enter into the unit. In feng shui, every direction of the ba gua is associated with an element and chi pattern, and it has significant implications on the feng shui of the room.  Since it is really difficult to identify the proper facing direction in a curved façade; this constitutes the same problem of “the chi is not pure” as mentioned above.

Under the Form school of feng shui, people living in a tall building (in this case 50 storeys and 56 storeys tall) while the surrounding buildings are much lower, this indicates that they will have little support from others! As a matter of fact, there are many examples that when a city has erected a tallest building in its region, the economy will start to decline. A good example is Dubai. Ironically as reported in the article, many buyers of this building project are from Dubai!

Anyway, based on the above, in contrast to what one councillor of the city of Mississauga, who boast that the city is "not afraid to try something different and daring";  I will predict that the economy of the city of Mississauga will start to decline after the project is completed.

Of course, if I can able to study in details about the design and layout of the buildings, I am certain that I will find some more feng shui deficiencies in this project. Another concern I have is its effect to the surrounding buildings. Just imagine what will happen if a "massive curve mirror" is facing at your unit! The reflection of heat and light from the curve glass will form a "luan tao sha chi" to the surrounding buildings.

Another concern I have is the safety of the pedestrian below. As recently, there are many instances in Toronto that the glass panels from a few of the high-rise condominium buildings shattered and fell to the streets below. Luckily, so far there are no serious injury reported.  Due to the curvature design of the buildings, it is  become a real engineering challenge to make certain that the glass from the exterior curtain wall is reinforced and secured that it will not fell to the streets below!

Meanwhile, this building project is definitely not on my recommendation list to my feng shui clients!

Is bigger always better in feng shui?

Is bigger always better? Definitely not in feng shui!

In the mind of many people, especially the North American, they always want a “big” house. There is a very interesting article on the Toronto Star dated April 7, 2012 written by Coin & Justin from which they are proposing how to improve a big and bare bedroom which measured a whopping 33 by 28 feet! Their ideas are based on some sound interior design concepts; and surprisingly it coincides with the feng shui ideas! No wonder feng shui is frequently referred as an ancient study of interior space and furniture arrangement.

Basically they are saying that this kind of extra-large room is notoriously difficult to dress and the quantity of furniture required (and the attendant costs therein) can be the stuff of nightmares. At one point, they even considered this kind of massive bedrooms as Jurassic Park! They are basically suggested to break up the space by using large indoor plants, screens or sliding doors to transform the massive room into smaller spaces.

In feng shui, it is considered not auspicious to sleep in a massive and relative empty room because the chi or positive energy got scattered. Furthermore, it believes that the human body is constantly dispersing energy to the outside. If the area of the bedroom is too large, it will exhaust the energy of the human body, causing poor health and loss of concentration. Therefore, the area of a bedroom shall not be larger than 200 square feet. No wonder that even the bedrooms for the ancient Chinese Emperors were also never more than 200 square feet!

What is the effect of feng shui when living within spitting distance of bustling expressway?

What is the effect of feng shui to live within spitting distance of bustling expressway?

There is an article on Toronto Star today (Monday, March 19, 2012) that really caught my attention. As indicated by the photo below, it is reporting that the high-rise condo project known as Garrison at the Yards is being erected within meters away from the Gardiner Expressway, which is one of the busiest expressways in downtown Toronto. David Fleming, a Toronto real estate agent and blogger were asking the question: “who in the right mind would want to live in a unit that is splitting distance from the expressway?” However, Barry Fenton, president and CEO of Lanterra Developments, the company behind some of the downtown’s most Gardiner-handy buildings defended these kinds of highway-side developments and claimed that the purchasers are not affected by it.

Even though the City of Toronto has make sure that condos near the Gardiner Expressway generally have to be built with thicker walls and window panes to meet noise and vibration standards and developers also have to conduct air quality studies, these kind of condo units are still not suitable for living under the guidelines of feng shui:

Based on the guidelines of “luan tao” or Form feng shui, highways are considered as “false water” [假水], and will affect the feng shui of the building. Since the Gardiner Expressway is a busy multi-lane highway where the vehicles are moving in high speed, it is also known as “relentless water” or [無情水]. This denotes bad monetary luck. Furthermore, a highway cutting through the bottom of the building is also considered as “chopping feet sha” [割腳煞] in authentic feng shui. Again this denotes bad monetary luck, unsettled fortune, conflicts and poor body health. Furthermore, for the units at the lower floors, the bright lights from the vehicles at night also constitute a form of “light sha” [光煞] to the units.

Besides facing the above feng shui problems, it has also many unfavorable living conditions. For example, people living in this kind of building cannot open their windows for fresh air or enjoy the view at the balcony, due to the noise, dust and exhaust from the fast moving vehicles.

As a matter of fact, the City of Toronto has made sure that condos near the Gardiner Expressway generally have to be built with thicker walls and window panes to meet noise and vibration standards and developers also have to conduct air quality studies, these kind of condo units are still not suitable for living.

However, there are problems both in terms of feng shui and common sense that need our attention. First of all, under the “luan tao” or Form feng shui, highways are considered as “false water” [假水], and will affect the feng shui of the building. Since the Gardiner Expressway is a busy multi-lane highway where the vehicles moving in high speed, it is also known as “relentless water” or [無情水]. This denotes the bad monetary luck. Furthermore, a highway cutting through the bottom of the building is considered as “chopping feet sha” [割腳煞] in authentic feng shui. Again this denotes bad monetary luck, unsettled fortune, conflicts and poor health. Furthermore, in some extent, the bright lights from the vehicles at night also constitute a form of “light sha” [光煞].

Besides facing the above feng shui problems, it has also many unfavorable living conditions. For example, people living in this kind of building cannot open their windows for fresh air or enjoy the view at the balcony, because of the noise, dust and exhaust from the vehicles.

Even with all the above shortcomings both in feng shui and practical reasons, the project is still selling well! Nonetheless, according to most of the real estate agents, they believe most of the units are purchased as investment properties – by people who don’t always see them before they buy and then rented to young professionals who don’t spend a lot of time at home.

At the end of the day, I will advise those buyers of these kinds of home that situated meters from the Gardiner Expressway to seek feng shui help when they plan to call this their livable home and intend to spend a lot of time in it!

The Most Popular Feng Shui Question Asked in Feng Shui Forum

My house is exactly North South East West. In traditional my front door is facing South - Fame & Reputation. In Western Feng Shui my front door is Career. Exactly the opposite. I've been working on using the Western Ba gua, should I turn the whole thing around and use the Traditional Ba gua (compass)? Will that turn my life upside down?

This is one of the most popular question asked in many feng shui forum and web sites; most of the time get no response or some general reply that lead to nowhere! The main confusion is caused by the emergence of some different interpretations or creation of different school of thoughts from the classical Chinese feng shui. One good example is the Black Sect Tantric Buddhism and its ba gua map which is gaining wide acceptance and popularity in the Western world for quite a while.  Adding to the mix is a new wave of self-proclaimed experts who are mixing up different school of feng shui which incredibly known as the New Age feng shui and has been causing all kind of confusions and conflicting ideas in feng shui!

As a consultant who practice the authentic Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui, my answer to the above question is make up your mind which type of feng shui that you want to follow. Since you are referring to the Western ba gua, just stay on the guideline of the BSTB feng shui, and ignored the compass direction from the compass school. Don't be mislead by the New Age feng shui experts. According to the doctrine preached by its founder, Thomas Lin Yun, the ba gua map is always orients according to entrance of the house or room. In fact, in most of the books about BSTB feng shui, there is not a single word with reference to the directions of the compass!

I am not here to discredit any school of feng shui. Every school has its own merits and followers. Therefore, my advice to the people who want to follow feng shui is choose the type of feng shui that you want to follow or whichever make sense to you; it can be the BSTB, the Eight Mansions school or the Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui but definitely not the New Age feng shui. Try it out, if you did not see any results, drop it and pick another school to follow. Eventually, you will find the type of feng shui that will yields effective and quick results. Don't fallen into the trap from the so-called New Age experts who are giving people only "general" feng shui advice which does not solve your specific feng shui problems! In fact, when applied correctly, feng shui shall give you positive and quick results. It is only those "mixed up" type of feng shui that have no effect at all rather than telling people to "balance the elements in the house" and " paint the rooms with certain colors" or "place a pair of mandarin ducks beside your bed to improve the romance luck"!

At the end of the day, there is no Traditional v. Western feng shui, it is the type of feng shui that works count! Just like a famous Chinese saying, "It doesn't matter it is a white cat or black cat, if it can catch mice, then it is a good cat" [不管是黑貓, 白貓, 能捉老鼠便是好貓]!

Is This Good Feng Shui or Bad Feng Shui? Or the Rich are Different?

Not long ago, there was an article in Toronto Star reporting that David Thomson, chair of global media company Thomson Reuters, also considered Canada's richest man have bought a historic property next to his own house and building a two-stored addition connecting the two properties. It was reported that his neighbours are curious, some concerned!

I have read this article with a lot of interests especially when I am considering about the feng shui implications for this decision. First of all, I have suspected that Thomson does not believe in feng shui or has not seek any advice from a feng shui consultant especially from a consultant who practice Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui. The reason I am saying this is under Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui, it is not auspicious to connect two houses together to form a large house. This is due to the fact that each house has different facing direction which means a different natal chart. Furthermore, from the picture in the article, we can see that one building is a historic house and his house has a very modern design which means most likely different House Period for the two houses. For instance, one house may be a Period Five house and the other is a Period Seven house. Furthermore, there will be other concerns once we know where the new entrance is located; however, without further information about the actual layout plan, I am not able to discuss this issue here.

Anyway, by joining the two houses together will definitely create the scenario of mixing two different chi pattern together, this means the chi pattern of the new house is not "pure" [氣雜] under the concept of Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui, which implies unstable feng shui conditions (refer to the following diagram).

Therefore, my prediction is things may get "unsettled" both at home or at work when he moved into the new building. Nonetheless, this is not a difficult feng shui deficiency to fix, any consultant who practice authentic Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui can solve this problem without any difficulty!

This has nothing to do with feng shui

In an article on the Toronto Star on November 8, 2010, they are reporting that a home seller is requesting the local council in Markham to change the No. 4 home address to another number so that he can sell his house faster in a Cantonese-speaking area. Further bad news from the realtor agent is that having a 4 in the address can lower a home's value between $25,000 to $35.000! The explanation is in Cantonese, the word "four" is a homonym  for "death" - different meanings, same sound. The irony of this story is the sellers has been living happily in the house, successfully raised a healthy son and daughter, nothing related to "death" ever happened to them.  While on the other hand, recently in a house address of 238 Helen Ave. in Markham have a deadly home invasion where the wife was shot dead and the husband serious wounded, and now the daughter has been charged for the murder! Go figure!

It is really shocking that this kind of superstition still exist in this modern world that we live in. In fact, this behaviour has been classified as "Tetra phobia" - an aversion to or fear of the number 4, this kind of superstition most common in East Asia regions such as mainland China, Hong Kong, island of Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

The reason that I have to bring this up is I really do not want to see the feng shui haters saying that people has been fooled by feng shui again. As this kind of "sperstitious" behavior of some Asian property buyers also witnessed recently in New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/realestate/25feng.html 

In fact, traditional feng shui has nothing to do with numerology. All the numbers that it used are based on Hetu (河圖)where the numbers from 1 to 9 are representing the directions and elements of the ba gua. For example, No 4 and No 9 represent the west and its element is metal. Therefore, rather than saying that No 4 is not auspicious because it sound like "death" in Cantonese, it stated that if the birth element of a person is water, it is instead considered auspicious because "metal  carries water" under the concept of Five Elements Cycle.

Not surprisingly, in the article they also reporting that Paul Ng, an authority in the ancient Chinese practice of feng shui, whose his house number is 24, explained that "from the strict feng shui point of view, the number 4 means scholarship". He also saying that he would never live in a house without the number 4!

I need feng shui cures? Are you kidding me?

According to some Western feng shui guru, they claimed that the sha chi or poison arrow (a building corner form another building) pointing at your home or office can be easily cured by using a mirror (6" mirror for small arrows, and 12" mirrors for big arrows to be exact) to deflect the strong energy away. They also claimed that It is so powerful that it can even deflect circular driveways, cemeteries, funeral homes, noisy neighbors, trash dumps etc. away from you....:-)
Let us look at the above photograph of a typical landscape of Hong Kong. If according to the Western feng shui guru, then a lot of people will be in serious trouble because there are so many corners from the buildings pointing at each other. However, contrary to what they are saying, a lot of the local people  are multimillionaire, because of the value of their property! Furthermore, it will be very interesting to see a war of mirrors pointing at each other if they follows the advice of the Western feng shui guru.....:-)

Authentic Feng Shui Way

"To disbelieve is not disapprove, to believe is not to prove "

If you talk to the non-believers, feng shui is an ancient Chinese “superstition”. They do not believe hanging a wind chime and a new arrangement of furniture will improve the fortune. While on the other hand, those who practicing feng shui will swear to you that it really works and their life has improved after applying feng shui guidelines to enhance their environment.
The foundation concept of feng shui is based on the "Book of Changes" or I Ching, the Taoist belief of yin and yang, Lo-Shu numbers, the principles of Five Elements, Pa Kua and the Flying Stars calculations etc., all combined to form a sophisticated philosophy of our relationship with the universe. Therefore, if someone did not buy into these concepts, then feng shui can be deemed as a superstition or belief that has no scientific grounds as the most important element of feng shui which is "chi", can not be seen or measured.
In my personal experience, I believe that feng shui is a form of Chinese metaphysics, existed a few thousand years ago. It is the experience and study into what types of things there are in the world and what relations these things bear to one another. Unlike science, its phenomena cannot be measurable through experimental studies; rather it has to be experience through our inner minds. Therefore, to believe or disbelieve in feng shui is all up to one’s personal decision.
If someone already living in a steady and comfortable environment, it is not advisable to pick up feng shui. The reason is once you believe in feng shui and follows the advice from the feng shui guru, then there will be a lot of “do's” and “don’t's” to be followed; consciously in the mind there will be worries and concerns which will affect the daily life. However, if one really adopt feng shui and even willing to hire an expert to make sure everything is fine in the house, there is no reason to criticize or discourage this kind of practice. The most important thing in life is to achieve the peace of mind which is the Tao of feng shui - to live in harmony with the environment.
Remember, feng shui cannot bring you everything you want; it still needs your own efforts to achieve your goals! Interestingly, in his book “Joey Yap’s Pure Feng Shui”, Joey Yap has the following insight:
“Feng shui constitutes only 33 percent of the equation for success in life-the earth luck factor. Your capacity of success, in whatever area you want, is also dictated to the extent of 33 percent by what is known as your destiny code-this is the heaven luck factor. And your own efforts (perseverance, patience, persistence, hard work, determination etc.)-the man luck factor-account for 33 percent of the outcome as well. So, while feng shui is important, it is not the be-all and end-all.”

Feng Shui in the Modern World

From all the years of pursuing my interest in feng shui, it never ceased to amaze me with the growing of its acceptance and popularity to so many people and big corporations in different parts of the world. Some example of famous believers often mentioned are Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Richard Branson, Madonna and Boy George etc., and also the Bank of England and major UK real estate agents/developers like Hamptons and Wimpey homes. Recently, the Los Angeles Zoo paid $4,500 to a non-Asian feng shui expert to ensure three endangered gold monkeys on loan from China can have a strong life force (ch’i) in the enclosure. As in the most Asian of mainland American regions, California State Assemblyman, Leland Y. Lee has introduced a resolution that urges the Californian Building Standards Commission to adopt standards and the use of feng shui principles by the planning agencies, building departments and design review boards. Last but not least, in 2005, Disney acknowledged feng shui as an important part of Chinese culture by shifting the main gate to Hong Kong Disneyland by twelve degrees in their building plan, among many other actions suggested by the master planner or architecture and design at Walt Disney Imagineering, Wing Chao.
With my background in Architecture, together with lifelong research and personal interest, I approached feng shui with an open and questioned mind. Indeed, I can see most of the essential points of feng shui can be transformed into the Western planning and design of physical environments without any difficulties. In fact, most of its practices have a basic in common sense. Professionals like town planners, architects, interior designers and landscape gardeners can all use this ancient technique as the guide lines to design their projects. An extreme example is an architect in Australia who designed a house without any corners as per his client's feng shui master to make sure that it had perfect ch’i or "positive energy" which is the most important component of feng shui, to flow freely in the house. Also, in Indonesia, an university lecturer had written an article in Indonesia’s biggest newspaper, advocating feng shui as a guiding principle to Indonesia’s future architecture. There are also other institutions like Singapore Polytechnic and the New York College of Health Professions, where many students (including engineers and interior designers) take courses on feng shui every year and go to become feng shui consultants.
Feng shui has also widely adopted in interior design profession in the Western world. An interesting example is a McDonald’s fast food restaurant in Hacienda Heights, California, which was redesigned using the feng shui principles and ideas, in which customers are responding positively with comments like “relaxing”, “open” and “don’t feel any pressure”. Therefore, it is not surprising that Alex Stark, who is a graduate at Yale in architecture, has used mainly feng shui concepts and ideas to design all his commercial shops and offices and with great success.
However, in recent years, we have witnessed the development of feng shui in the Western world is in the stage of an explosion of different theories and practices of feng shui especially among non-Asians, who has created a chaos of conflicting interpretation of ideas and techniques. One can easily find many feng shui books and numerous Web sites offering consultation service and  "quick" trainings by the so-called masters.
A ludicrous example of which I believe did not have much ground on traditional feng shui principles is a new version of feng shui called “feng che” (literally means “wind” and “vehicle”) had emerged and gain ground in LA. They deal primarily with the ch’i of the vehicle by telling people how to “dress-up” the vehicle (like putting a tiny fish tank attached to the rear windows etc.) to tap the positive ch’i. Interestingly, it also advising people to avoid the number of four-way intersections (which generate negative ch’i), in driving from one’s home to the office. Meanwhile, the desire of the believers to drive to and from the office via winding roads with a minimum of sharp angles has contributed to the massive traffic jams reported on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Mulholland Drive and the Bel Air portion of Sunset Boulevard! I suspect there were some people all smiling as the consultant fee is a whopping US$500-$700 per hour!
Besides the bizarre form of feng shui used in vehicles, some “experts” think it also works for pets! There is another variation of feng shui called “fur shui” which claims will create harmony between pets, and some owners are willing to rearrange their lives so the lives of their pets are in balance! If this is not enough, how about a feng shui “make over”? Yamaguchi, in his new book “Feng Shui Beauty”, believes you can feng shui yourself. According to him, feng shui beauty is reading people’s energy by accessing which of the feng shui “elements” best described his or her characters and reflecting that on the outside by beauty make-up.
Understandably, it is with this kind of “intuitive” approach to feng shui by some that prompted numerous negative comments and accusations from the “critics” and non-believers. Terms like “failures of feng shui”, “architecture acupuncture”, “new age scam”, “corrupted art” and "McFengshui" etc. appeared in a lot of blog sites and even in some television shows like the “Bullshit” documentary. In view of this, recently there is a move by some feng shui schools toward certification programs to ensure quality among their practitioners. Consequently, feng shui associations are springing up all over the world; continuous education is being stressed to recent graduates, and advanced certification requirements at some institutions are regularly “raising the ceiling” on quality.
However there is far to go, because feng shui is an ancient art which is complicated even to the Chinese practicing professionals. It requires many years of dedicated study of Taoism, a profound knowledge of the classical Chinese texts like I-Ching,( 易經)“Book of Changes”, Kaogong ji (考工記)“Manual of Crafts”, and Rules for builders codified in the carpenter’s manual Lu ban jing (魯班經), before one can set out as feng shui practitioner.
To conclude, I like to quote what Douglas Adams presented in his speech at Digital Biota 2 Cambridge U.K., 1998 about feng shui:
“…So, my argument is that as we become more and more scientifically literate, it's worth remembering that the fictions with which we previously populated our world may have some function that it's worth trying to understand and preserve the essential components of, rather than throwing out the baby with the bath water; because even though we may not accept the reasons given for them being here in the first place, it may well be that there are good practical reasons for them, or something like them, to be there. I suspect that as we move further and further into the field of digital or artificial life we will find more and more unexpected properties begin to emerge out of what we see happening and that this is a precise parallel to the entities we create around ourselves to inform and shape our lives and enable us to work and live together…”

Yin and Yang

According to the I Ching, or the Book of Changes, the Chinese believe there are two cosmic forces, Yin and Yang, two opposing yet complementary energies that shape the universe and everything in it. It can also express as “polarity” which is similar to a bipolar magnetic field. That is, it is of two parts: one creating an exertion and one receiving the exertion.

The yin and yang accomplish changes in the universe through the five materials agents or “elements” in feng shui (metal, wood, water, fire and earth/soil), which produce one another and overcome one another. In general, all phenomena can be understood using yin-yang and the five agents. For example, under yang are the principles of male, the sun, creation, heat, light, Heaven and so on; while under ying are the principles of female, the moon, completion, cold, darkness etc. Each of these opposites produces the other: Heaven creates the ideas of things under yang; the earth produces their material forms under yin, and vice versa. This production of yin and yang and yang and yin occurs cyclically and constantly. Together yin and yang constitute a balance whole known as Tao – or “the Way” – the eternal principle of heaven and earth in harmony.

Thus, achieving good feng shui results has much to do with balancing the yin and yang elements in our environments. Lillian Too, a feng shui consultant, in her book, “The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui” make a telling point:

"Because the intangible forces that determine environment balance are continually changing, practitioners of feng shui must constantly alert to the alternations – whether they are man-made or caused by natural phenomena… it requires constant adaptation, and a true feng shui practitioner will be constantly alert to the need for change."

In recent times, the air pollution problems that contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer have shows that the world has lost its balance of yin and yang. More environmental problems have cropped up of late. For instance, the polar ice caps are melting faster, the world’s forest is being depleted; pollution is spreading fast, a lot of species of animal life are on the brink of extinction. In short, all this shows that the force of nature are often no longer in harmony with the presence of Earth’s most destructive occupant, which is the severe weather changes in different parts of the world. Furthermore, the pollution problem in modern industrialization had affected the forces of air and water (which are the masters of change); therefore, it is only natural for the elements to spread these contaminants with the changes that they bring.

In his book “The Way to Harmony Feng Shui”, Albert Low illustrated that:

"In feng shui, it is said that to disturb the Heavens and Earth, and to throw them out of harmony with the natural order of things, is like pushing the living Dragon down a steep, high cliff. If the powerful Dragon decided to fight back, Man must be very careful with his next move, because the angry creature would surely unleash a terrible vengeance on the offenders."

With the main emphasis on keeping the yin and yang in harmony with our environment, I think to a certain extent, we can label feng shui as the oldest form of “environmental science” or “green science”!

Feng Shui Parallels With Western Science

The main objective of Feng Shui is to harness ch’i, which is invisible and apparently all around us. Parallels can be drawn between ch’i and various forms of energy described in Western science where energy fields are investigated using various instruments. Compasses, for instance, are sensitive to magnetic fields. Feng shui masters also use compasses. Professor Max Knoll suggested in 1951 lecture that ch’i is a form of solar radiation. Compasses reflect local geomagnetism which includes geomagnetic induced currents caused by space weather.

Feng Shui hold that the heavens influence life on Earth. This coincide with the study of space weather which indicated that it can have profound effects on technology (GPS, power grids, pipelines, communication and navigation systems), and the internal orienting faculties of birds and other creatures. There is some evidence that suicide rates in Kirovsk, Russia, fluctuate along with the geomagnetic field. If we look at feng shui practice, the feng shui masters also advised against living too near to transmission lines and towers, but explain the reason as being the likelihood of being affected by the shar ch’i.  As in Cesano, Italy, the Vatican says it has been reducing electromagnetic emission form its broadcast antennas due to its link to an inordinately high level of child leukemia in the area.

In urban landscape, feng shui practitioners considerd streets are little like rivers. Under this logic, it is not safe to live in a house situated at the top of a T-junction where a long, straight road aiming at the house, the reason is that the straight road will generate the shar ch’i which will cause harm to the occupants. To a certain extent, this make sense as when a vehicle traveling along the straight road might, if it did not brake or turn adequately, will end up in the property. This is well justified in the incident happened recently in Toronto, Canada, where two vehicles sail through an intersection and slammed into the same house within three weeks! Is this a coincidence or not? 

Is Feng Shui For You

[“氣乘風則散, 界水則止.” 古人聚之使不散, 行之使有止, 故謂之風水.] -郭璞 [葬經]

“Ch’i rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water.”
The words feng shui literally translate as "wind-water" in English. This is the cultural shorthand taken from the above passage of the Zhangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty.
This sentence form one of the ancient classic text basically summed up the essence of feng shui: To capture the vital ch’i (氣) which is the energy and the life force that pervades human existence.
 In the ancient times, feng shui practice can be divided into two categories: a) to locate the auspicious sites of grave for the dead, b) auspicious habitable dwellings for the living, both using similar ideas and principles. In general, there are two different school of thought, the Form School (巒頭) which primarily dealing with the formation of the hills and mountains and the direction of the watercourses and its relationship with the surrounding; and the Ba Gua or the Compass School (理氣), which emphasis on certain calculations, using the symbols of I Ching (易經) or “Book of Changes”, the Lo Shu numbers, the concept of the Five Elements and the 24 directions of the compass to determine the good or ill of the site.
In short, feng shui is an ancient Chinese philosophy of seeking and creating an environment that will nourish our homes and our lives. It is the combination of traditional theories, a few thousand years of tried and true methodologies and applications used by the Chinese to ensure that all things are in harmony with their surroundings.

According to an ancient Chinese proverb “一命，二運，三風水, 四積陰得, 五讀書” - which means the astrological order of factors that affect one's fortune is fate, luck, feng shui, good deeds and lastly, education. According to the Chinese, apart from the influence of good feng shui, hard works and good deeds are also required to be successful in life. To a certain extent, this is quite true. I believed that feng shui will not help you to win the lottery and it is not magic. Therefore, it is amazed to see so many "masters" claimed that fortune and fame will come in abundance if you follow their advice! There is another Chinese proverb saying that “福人住福地” which literally means that a lucky person will always able to find an auspicious house to live even though he does not believe or practice feng shui. In truth, if you are now in good wealth, healthy and living in a comfortable home, you don't need feng shui, because you have already achieved its ultimate goal: living harmonious with the natural order.
Very often, it is the rich and famous who can afford to hire expensive feng shui “experts” and the expense of the massive altering of architecture or design, and even the moving from place to place that is sometimes will cost a fortune. Therefore, some people who can’t afford all these expenses start to lost faith in feng shui, saying that it is only a game for the rich. Nonetheless, I believe if you can approach feng shui with an attitude of open mind, and the desire to improve the quality of your life, you can still well on your way to some rewarding feng shui experience without being rich or famous!