Celebrating Chinese New Year: The Contribution of Feng Shui

[Guest guest]

Good Morning!

 

This is the beginning of the new lunar calendar. In celebration of

the Chinese New Year, I will be discussing the many wonderful

contributions the Asian cultures have given the world in relation to

alternative medicine.

 

Celebrating Chinese New Year: The Contribution of Feng Shui

 

Feng Shui: Wind and Water

 

" Allow things in your life which make your heart sing, feed your soul

or nourish you on a daily basis. "

 

Feng Shui (pronounced Fung Shway) is the ancient Chinese art of

placement to enhance the flow of " vital life energy " known as Qi.

Practitioners believe that rooms, buildings and all environments can

be arranged and decorated in a way that maximizes the flow of Qi and,

resulting in improvements to health and happiness of those who live

in that environment. Although the translation of Feng Shui basically

means " Wind and Water " , its scope and breathe are much deeper than

this.

 

Feng Shui is an expression of the oneness and interconnectedness of

all things on all levels and all dimensions. This is a " key concept "

in understanding how our essence relates to everything else around

us, including our environment. As we begin to sense this oneness we

then find that it is possible to gain insight from looking at our

environment on a broader scale. It is often said that " Feng Shui

teaches us what we already know " .

 

 

Schools of Thought

 

" A place for everything and everything in its place "

 

The Art of Feng Shui is just that; an Art. You may have heard that

there are several schools of thought in Feng Shui- the Form School,

the Compass School and the Intuitve School. Yet another Feng Shui

derivative, Blackhat sect is said to have originated in Tibet, is

newer, and was introduced to the West by Professor Lin Yun.

 

Form School is a more traditional Chinese, older form of Feng Shui.

This school of feng shui began in southern China. It is based on

looking at and evaluating land forms, waterways and geography.

 

Black Sect Tantric Tibetan School, which has gained popularity in the

United States, disregards compass directions. Instead, you stand at

and use the entrance of the room, house or office as your main

reference point. Then you place objects and other enhancements

according to what you aspire to and wish to accomplish.

 

Both the Form school and the Black Sect are used extensively in the

West, and both are good introductions to Feng Shui. The difference is

that in Blackhat sect, the career area is centered on the wall that

contains the main entrance, while Form school has the career area

always in the North.

 

Compass School is the most predominate practice. The absence of

geographical and geological features and the relative flat topography

of northern China necessitated the development of the Compass School,

which dominates throughout most of the world. This is the

traditional, classical feng shui practice which uses either a Chinese

(luo pan) or Western-style compass to determine the eight compass

directions in a room, office or home. This compass is used to

determine the direction in which a building faces, and where the

portents will fall based on that direction. Because those directions

govern various aspects of your life, you place the corresponding

colors, animal symbols, numbers and elements in the areas that you

wish to activate.

 

The ancient text, the I Ching, describes the one universal flow of

nature's energy. Feng Shui derives from the ancient Taoist tradition.

The I Ching is the definitive text in which all Chinese Metaphysics

is based. It includes a full range of techniques that include Chinese

Astrology, compass methods, form methods and divining techniques.

Feng Shui utilizes two Chinese astrological systems. These are called

the Batzu - or " eight word " (also called " the four pillars " ). And the

Jyo Hsing - or " nine stars " (also called the " north star method "

or " study of Qi " ).

 

 

The Bagua

 

In Feng Shui, a map called a Bagua is used to maximize the Qi or

energy of a given environment. The map divides a room into 9 squares

of equal size, with each grid corresponding to a specific " gift " in

life, such as health, love, and knowledge. The various schools of

thought in Feng Shui all use the bagua in one form or another. The

bagua, generally an octagon or square divided into nine areas, which

are sometimes referred to as " guas " , is superimposed over a floor

plan of the building, room or property. Blackhat sect and Form school

Feng Shui use essentially the same bagua.

 

The nine areas of the bagua are (clockwise, from the northern area)

career, knowledge, family, wealth, fame, marriage, children, and

helpful people. The ninth area is the center. Each area is associated

with direction, elements, and I Ching trigram (the ancient system of

Divination). In arranging a room, 9 areas are noted to be of special

significance. The following table, which cooresponds to the Baqua,

illustrates the relationship of areas in a room (or home) in relation

to the room's Main Entrance. Imagine dividing your room (home,

office) into the following 9 areas. We have highlighted the ideal

items to enhance the movement of Qi within each location.

 

Career

Direction -- north

Elements -- the color black, and water

I Ching trigram -- K'an (This is the water trigram.)

 

 

Knowledge

Direction -- northeast

Elements -- the color blue (black and green may be substituted or

used in addition to blue), and earth

Trigram -- Ken (This is the mountain trigram.)

 

 

Family

Direction -- east

Elements -- the color green, and wood

Trigram -- Chen (thunder trigram)

 

 

Wealth

Direction -- southeast

Elements -- the color purple (blue and red may be substituted or used

in addition to purple), and wood

Trigram -- Sun (wind trigram)

 

 

Fame

Direction -- south

Elements -- red and fire

Trigram -- Li (fire trigram)

 

 

Marriage

Direction -- southwest

Elements -- pink (red and white may be substituted or used in

addition to pink) and earth

Trigram -- K'un (earth trigram)

 

 

Children

Direction -- west

Elements -- white and metal

Trigram -- Tui (lake trigram)

 

 

Helpful People

Direction -- northwest

Elements -- gray (white and black may be substituted or used in

addition to gray)

Trigram -- Ch'ien (heaven trigram)

 

 

Health

Direction -- the center

Elements -- yellow and earth

Trigram -- none, but it is represented by the Tai Chi symbol which

symbolizes balance, the ultimate goal of Feng Shui.

 

 

Once the bagua is superimposed over the floor plan, one can see what

parts of the building, room or property lie in each area of the

bagua. Feng Shui may be begun, using the colors and elements to

correct deficiencies or an overabundance of an element.

 

 

Deficiencies are corrected by adding the needed element or by using

its associated color. An overabundance of an element can be corrected

by adding its controlling element, by lessening the element itself,

or by using the associated colors. For example, if fire were

overabundant, then a water element could be added, thereby bringing

fire back into balance.

 

Everything is relative to each other. When using the bagua to

determine the Feng Shui layout, start with a floor plan of the

building and superimpose the bagua over it, as a whole; then apply

the bagua to each individual room.

 

 

Discover Feng Shui cures for your particular situation here:

 

http://www.peacefulmind.com/feng_shui.htm

 

 

 

Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac.

http://www.peacefulmind.com/workshops.htm

Therapies for healing

mind, body, spirit