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From the many questions
I receive via email and at lectures, there is a lot of confusion
about the different schools and methods of feng shui: "They
all conflict." "Which one is right?" "How do I activate my
wealth corner?" "Where is my wealth corner?"
As
many of you know, I adhere to Classical or Traditional feng
shui and am the co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to
Feng Shui, a book which seeks to dispel the many misconceptions
about the ancient art and science of feng shui.
Currently,
there are over 300 feng shui books in print. The books are
split into 3 categories (or schools): Black Sect, Life Aspirations,
and classical feng shui. The vast majority fall into the first
two groups. Let me briefly define each of these in a series
of three short articles. Here's the first one.
CLASSICAL
FENG SHUI
Feng
shui has its roots in ancient China. As early as 6,000 years
ago the Neolithic Chinese were practicing some sort of astrological/astronomical
feng shui. We know this because of a gravesite unearthed in
the Henan province. The body faced north. At its sides, figures
of a dragon (on the east side) and tiger (on the west side)
were outlined in clam shell. In the center of the body, lay
an illustration of the Big Dipper. Although we do not know
the reasons why these ancient peoples oriented their graves
around the revolution of the Big Digger, was can assume that
direction or SPACE was an important consideration.
The
creatures represented in the grave are actually macro-constellations.
Formally called the Four Celestial Palaces, the four macro-constellations
are the crimson bird (south), the cerulean dragon (east),
the white tiger (west) and the dark turtle (north). Composed
of seven constellations each, the macro-constellations comprise
the 28 constellations of the Chinese zodiac. You may wonder
about their choice of creatures. With the exception of the
fantastic dragon, birds are more abundant in the south. They
travel south. Tigers are indigenous the more west one travels
toward India. Like the east's dragon, the northern turtle
is puzzling. An educated guess tells us the turtle is symbolic
of turtle shell divination, which is derived from northern
China.
These
creatures were ancient Chinese totems. All primitive societies
had its own totems that represented their environment. These
were then deified as celestial bodies and worshipped in exchange
for protection. At that time, the ancients were one with their
environment. Any deviation from the norm rocked their world.
Thunder, an earthquake, an eclipse were signs, omens, or messages
from the totem.
Over
the millennium, these totems have become superstitious oddities.
Although the tiger is certainly a powerful animal, we now
understand that its symbol doesn't bring us courage. In the
same way, does a rabbit's foot bring us good luck? Will stepping
on a crack really break our mother's back? I guess a case
can be made for the placebo effect. That if you think something
has an effect, it will. But, such superstitious nonsense has
no place in classical feng shui.
Somehow,
the Four Celestial Palaces came down to earth to represent
landforms. The key word here is 'form.' Form School feng shui
(which is under the umbrella of classical feng shui), therefore,
studies how landforms effect your well-being. In the modern
world, we can extend this idea to include buildings, fences,
greenery, etc. While we won't dwell on this here, Form School
is all about studying external SPACE. And doesn't space change
with TIME? Of course it does. Life is not static. We move,
grow, and develop with TIME and SPACE. In fact, this idea
adheres to Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity. He understood
that time and space were not separate entities. Instead, they
are two sides of a coin. One cannot exist without the other.
Succinctly, the study of TIME and SPACE is the gist of classical
feng shui.
The
TIME your home was born into and the TIME you were born are
important considerations in a classical feng shui analysis.
What's this mean, you ask? Well, the Chinese believe the first
breath you take at birth seals your innate destiny. In the
same way, when the foundation is set and the roof is affixed,
your home is born. It, too, has a core personality. But, remember,
despite our inherent personality, we still change! So, an
inherently good home will encounter TIMES of misfortune. Likewise,
we go through lucky and unlucky TIMES.
In
Classical feng shui we use several methods to measure how
TIME and SPACE effects our well-being. Perhaps the most sophisticated
method is Flying Star (aka Xuan Kong or The Nine Floating
Stars). In a nutshell, this theory combines the numerology
of the Luoshu, the After Heaven sequence of trigrams, and
the Five Phases to analyze the quality and movement of qi
(the physical and meta-physical force at the center of all
things) in your home. The intention is to balance life's vital
force. With balance come better health, wealth, and relationships.
Understand
that classical methods like Flying Star and Eight House (aka
The East/West System) are representative of Compass School
feng shui. This is because the directionality of SPACE must
be measured using a compass. Today, Form School and Compass
School are combined into one system commonly called Classical
or Traditional feng shui.
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