external feng shui – Feng Shui DIY

Outside Your House – External Feng Shui Principles (2) [Master Class Lesson 4]

Welcome back! This is the fourth lesson of the Feng Shui Master Class. We shall continue our study of external Feng Shui. In the last lesson we talked about the natural environment, trees, hills, rivers and other natural objects. In this lesson, we shall look at artificial objects outside the building.

In ancient times there are not so many artificial objects that may affect Feng Shui. So when modern Feng Shui masters need to apply Feng Shui, they need to think of ways to interpret the artificial objects using the old Feng Shui theories. How do we do this? We compare things by analogy.

Let’s see how we compare the man-made things with the natural objects.

Buildings

In Chinese Feng Shui theories, “with one inch higher it is the mountain, with one inch lower it is the water” (高一寸即是山，低一寸即是水). Even if there is no mountain around your home, if there is a taller building nearby, we treat it as a mountain for Feng Shui’s sake.

Remember in the last lesson we mentioned that it is preferred to have a mountain / hill behind your house? We used the Forbidden City in Beijing, China to explain this. If you live in a city where it is a large flatland, chances are your house does not have a mountain/hill behind. In this case, the second best choice is to have a building behind your building.

There are two things to remember. Firstly, we consider everything in front of the main entrance of your building as “in the front”, “behind” is the opposite. What if there are more than one entrances? In the past most houses in China has a main entrance and a few side doors. The side doors were only used for delivery of garbage and ingress/egress of the servants. The owner of the house and his family, who are the master of the house, goes in and out via the main entrance door. Nowadays, we consider the mostly used entrance as the main entrance, and certainly we ignore those back doors used for delivery only.

Secondly, not all buildings are useful as an artificial hill behind your house. Only those which are taller count. In other words, if the building immediately behind is lower than your own building, this is bad Feng Shui. It means no support by others.

Then, how about buildings in front of and on both sides of your own building?

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As we said last time, we do not want a hill in front of our own house, so we certainly don’t want a building in the front. Of course, in modern cities it is very hard that you have a house with no buildings in front, unless you live at the seafront. So our next best choice is to have no buildings “immediately in front”, and preferably have a small space there.

On the left and right, we want things on both sides, something higher than the ground but not as high as the back. If I have to make an analogy, I would say something just like the arms of a chair. High at the back, support on both sides and nothing in front.

The photo below was downloaded from the Hong Kong Public Library web site. It shows the Hong Kong central business district in the early 20th century. The big white building in the middle is the old HSBC headquarters (now demolished). HSBC is one of the biggest banks in Asia, it is also a multinational bank with presence in all continents except the Antarctica. I’m not sure if those architects at that time know Feng Shui (probably not), but it so happen the location of the building and it’s design was a good demonstration.

Firstly, there is a hill at the back. Secondly, there is no building in front. What you can find in the photo is a garden in front of the main entrance of the HSBC building. And further in the front is the sea. On left and right are two buildings, none of them taller than the HSBC building nor the hill at the back. This is a perfect Feng Shui example.

After knowing some good buildings around your home, let’s see the bad ones. Look at the picture below which shows the top view of some buildings, your house faces a narrow slit between two buildings (it must be narrow to constitute a bad Feng Shui).

What’s wrong with it? Please looking at the flow of Chi, a narrow slit creates a strong movement of the intangible Chi that comes to your house like a sword. This is bad Chi. Besides, if there is light shining through the slit, the light would be so bright that makes everybody seeing it uncomfortable. All in all, it is not good for the health of the occupiers of the house.

The case below is another innocent crime that could be caused by buildings across the street. The sharp angle of the opposite building looks like a knife pointing to your house. The narrower the angle the sharper the knife and the greater harm caused to the health of the occupier of the house. If you find this situation in your house, you could hang a convex mirror facing the sharp angle to neutralize the adverse effect.

Any more? Yes, as I mentioned before, you can use analogy to analyse Feng Shui. Imagine the window/door of your house as your face, what you don’t want to see immediately in front of you are not good Feng Shui. Use your imagination, you can find lots of bad (and good) Feng Shu examples!

Apart from shapes of outside buildings, the types of building also have impacts on your house. The worst type of community to live in is nearby cemeteries. Besides, it is also not good to live near a power station (and sub-station), fire station and police station. The former is pure Yin while the latter is pure Yang. Both Yin and Yang to the extreme are not good according to Feng Shui theories.

Roads

We said “with one inch lower it is the water”, therefore roads are usually considered by modern Feng Shui masters as water streams. So the good and bad Feng Shui originated from natural rivers could also be applied to roads.

Remember the image below we saw in the last lesson? Consider the river as a curved road and the two farmlands as two houses. You can easily figure out that the Feng Shui of house A is better than house B, applying the principle I taught you in the last lesson. In fact, we have two terms specifically used to call these two situations. A is “環抱水” or “玉環帶腰” (“embraced by water” or “jade belt around one’s belly”) and B is “反弓水” (“convex water”).

In traditional Feng Shui, water means wealth (水為財). However, if there is a long and straight road pointing directly to the entrance of your house, it is not good.

Imagine a water hose with strong running water pointing to your face. You won’t feel comfortable since the splash of water goes into your mouth and nose. For the same reason, a long and straight road/water stream creates a movement of Chi which is too strong to the occupiers of the house.

A road is not limited to one on the ground. Flyover (or overpass) also counts. Look at the photo below, you will see that the buildings fronting the blue circled area have bad Feng Shui due to convex water (just like the Farmland B).

(Photo source: http://kxcyg.blog.163.com/blog/static/59492764201010795324443/)

Besides, even if a flyover is not curved, if it passes right outside your window, it is not good. Firstly, it will block the natural light and ventilation. Secondly, the view outside would look very tense. Finally, the traffic outside may bring sound and air pollution.

Lighting

Having sufficient lighting is good, but if there is strong light from outside it is bad. The image below, which shows a real situation in China, is a good demonstration of bad Feng Shui due to strong light from outside. On the right hand side is a residential building and on the left there is a giant signboard. Do you think you can sleep well if you live in this building? Certainly not.

(Photo source: http://www.hj.cn/html/200710/09/098266510.shtml)

Another common source of strong light is the sunlight reflection from glass wall of the opposite building. Although the light would only exist in daytime, the annoyance it brings is not to be under-looked.

On the other hand, if your house is surrounded by buildings that shade the natural sunlight, it is also a bad Feng Shui situation. Sunlight is Yang, without sufficient sunlight the house would be heavily inclined to Yin, which is a source of bad luck.

Sound

Just now we mentioned how roads could affect Feng Shui. No matter the shape of the road, if the traffic is heavy and the road is close, there is chance of noise pollution. You don’t need to ask a Feng Shui master to tell how bad living in a noisy place is.

Similarly, if unfortunately you live in a community with many pubs that operate overnight, chances are you had the experience of annoyed by noise (from strong music and the drunk men who yell).

I has the experience of living on the second floor of a building which faces a garbage collection station. Everyday at 6am garbage trucks come to that station to collect the garbage, while producing lots of noise. It worked like an alarm, I could wake up everyday at 6. This experience told me that I should never live nearby a source of noise again.

Other Objects

Remember the image below that I showed you in the last lesson? Imagine it is not a tree but a light pole. The bad effect is the same. Basically, we don’t want any think similar to a flag pole that goes directly into the heart of a building.

Other artificial objects outside your home that could cause bad Feng Shui include electricity pylon (transmission tower), chimney and any other things that looks bad. Just use your imagination and you could find out more.

Human Actions

We studied the effects of artificial objects. How about our actions? Would what we do affects Feng Shui? Sure.

Years ago I examined the Feng Shui of an office. The company that occupies that office ran into trouble. I tried Ba Gua and Flying Star Feng Shui but found no reason of that problem. Later, I found that the trouble was caused by the fault of the gardener.

What did the gardener do? He trimmed a tree right outside the office entrance! The tree originally looked like a big umbrella that shelters rain and wind. Now with much less branches and leaves, it became a bad-looking fork! A folk that is pointing towards the office! Now you see why the company experienced a bad time since the tree was trimmed.

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Takeaway Feng Shui

In traditional Feng Shui we call the above bad Feng Shui designs “Sha” (煞). Usually Feng Shui practitioners in Chinese society recommend hanging a Feng Shui compass on where the Sha exists. The rationale is that a Chinese Feng Shui compass has all kinds symbols representing all elements in the universe. No matter which type of Sha there must be one or more symbols that could neutralize the Sha effects, like acid neutralizing alkali. Knowing that Feng Shui compass is less common outside China, an alternative is to print out the graphics of a Feng Shui compass.

Another common Feng Shui items for Sha neutralization is calabash. According to traditional Feng Shui theories, calabash can absorb negative Chi and Sha and trap them inside. Therefore, if you want hang a calabash facing a source of Sha, make sure it is opened. A top-sealed calabash does not neutralize Sha. If you live in places reachable by Amazon online store, you can easily purchase one by searching for “Feng Shui Calabash“.

Or you can hang a convex mirror out, facing the Sha direction. It reflects the Sha and decentralize its effects. However, since the mirror may accidentally reflects the Sha to the building opposite to you, I usually would not recommend this method unless there are no other choices.

Outside Your House – External Feng Shui Principles (1) [Master Class Lesson 3]

Welcome to the third lesson of the Feng Shui Master Class. This time we’ll look at external Feng Shui, things that surround your house but affects you. Although they are not inside the house, their impact to occupants in the house could be as great as the internal Feng Shui. This is why all authentic Feng Shui masters must check the external environment in the first place when commissioned to do a Feng Shui diagnosis.

There are lots of things that you should check when examining the external Feng Shui. We’ll split this topic into two lessons. In this lesson, we shall look at the natural environment and objects, i.e. mountains, trees, rivers, etc. The next lesson will be completely focused on artificial objects such as roads and buildings.

Mountain / Hill

Is it good to have a mountain / hill outside your house? Well, it depends. Generally speaking, we love mountains and hills behind your house, and dislike those in the front. By saying “front”, I mean the location where your house’s entrance door faces. “Behind”, would mean the opposite.

Why a mountain / hill at the back is good? Because the back is supposed to be the support, and with an object bigger and taller than your house is effectively a good support. It means you could get support in real life when you are in trouble.

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The photo below shows the model of the Forbidden City in Beijing China, which was the palace of 24 ancient emperors in two dynasties. I downloaded this image from Wikipedia. The blue arrow I added points to the front of the working place of the emperors. The red arrow points to a hill, which is located behind the palace. You probably know that Feng Shui was used by ancient Chinese emperors as a tool to strengthen their power. So you know why when they chose the location of their palace, they selected such as place with a hill behind.

So if you work in the office, you’d better have a seat where there is a wall behind you, because the wall is just like an artificial hill. If you cannot find a wall, at least you should get yourself a high cabinet to create this effect.

On the other hand, a mountain / hill in front is not good, because it blocks the view of your house. It is always good to have a large space without obstruction in front of the house. This makes the accumulation of wealth more easy. Besides, it is also good to health.

How about a mountain / hill on the left / right of the house? In this case, usually we prefer a mountain / hill on the left than the right. It is believed that, generally speaking, the left is a good position while the right is not.

River / Stream

In traditional Feng Shui, water means wealth (水為財). Generally speaking a house with water nearby should have good Feng Shui. However, if there is a long and straight river/stream pointing directly to the entrance of your house, it is not good.

Imagine a water hose with strong running water pointing to your face. You won’t feel comfortable since the splash of water goes into your mouth and nose. For the same reason, a long and straight water stream creates a movement of Chi (氣的流動) which is too strong to the occupiers of the house.

How about water going in front of your house? Well, it depends. If the water stream does not go straightly but bend to embrace your house, it is good Feng Shui. On the other hand, if the water runs like a sickle against your house, it is bad.

Let’s have a look at two parcels of farmland, A and B. With the river running in this shape, A and B receive “embracing water” (環抱水) and “sickle water” (反弓水) respectively.

As time goes by, sediments in the water naturally accumulate along the perimeter of A while the soil of B would gradually be washed away by the movement of water. It turns out the farm land size of A would grow and that of B would shrink. In the past farmland is the source of income, so the income generated from A would increase while that from B would drop. Now you know why a house with an embracing road is good!

If you want some proof about this natural phenomenon, the following photo downloaded from Wikipedia shows the accumulation of sand and mud on only one side of the river at Mississippi River. The soil on one side is eroded by water while the other side has a sand bar formed.

Trees

Similar to modern living science, in traditional Feng Shui trees are considered good for people in general. However, trees are not always good in Feng Shui.

The location of vegetation in relation to your house could have significant impact on the occupiers. For example, Flying Star 3, when meeting “wood” elements, would cause interpersonal disputes. If there is a tree outside your house in a direction where the Flying Star 3 occupies, you may have quarrels with people or even get involved in lawsuits easily. We will learn Flying Star Feng Shui in this course soon, you’ll know what how trees could affect Feng Shui in detail.

For now, you should remember that trees are not always good. When trees are in close proximity to windows and doors, they shelter natural sunlight. Houses with insufficient daylight are believed to attract spirit of the departed easily.

You may not believe in the existence of ghost. Let’s say “seeing dead people” is simply a psychological phenomenon. Modern science has already proven that always living in a dark environment could cause depression more easily. No matter what, if your house is blocked from access to sunlight due to trees, it is definitely not good.

So does it mean that my house must be very bright inside? No. If your house does not have sufficient shading and the windows are large, the sun light may go directly into the house through windows. The interior may be too bright, which is not good. Bright is Yang (陽) and dark is Yin (陰), we do not want the two extremes but a balanced condition. People living in a house with over-strong natural lighting may have anger easily. It is also not good for health. So a house should not be too dark or too bright. Sometimes trees are good to provide some shading to your house.

Another case you need to beware of is tree outside entrance door of your house. In the following top view, you could see that there is a tree right in front of the main entrance door of a house. Is this good? No, certainly bad.

Why? To have a tree in front of the door is like a gun pointing to your mouth. You won’t feel good if this actually happens. Besides, this may also bring bad health according to Feng Shui theories.

Wind

Is wind good? What if my house is located up on a hilltop where it is windy? Same as lighting, we want a house in balance. It is not good to live in a house without natural wind. However, a windy place is not a good place for living.

The first problem with wind is sound. In windy places you can hear the annoying sound of the wind blowing through windows, tree leaves and other objects. The constant noise is not good for health.

The second problem with wind is temperature. Usually when wind blows over a house it takes away the heat. This makes the house cooler. It would be nice if the house is located in hot and humid places, but not so good if the place is already cold.

What if I live in a windy place? Should I move? Well, if you cannot afford moving, the best thing to do is to build a fence or plant some trees in the yard as wind shield.

Smell

Odor is definitely bad Feng Shui. If you live in a place with bad smell, your health is in threat no only according to medical science but Feng Shui as well.

Usually the origin of bad smell is man-made. We will cover these locations in more detail in the next lesson. However, there are some places that are natural odor generators. For example, some dried streams may have sludge accumulated. The sludge is a good place for microorganisms to breed, and bad smell may be generated easily. Avoid living in such places.

Sound

Similarly, noise is not good for health. Living in a noisy place is not easy, I had this experience before. It would be difficult to fall asleep. Insufficient sleep could make you feel drowsy during the day (of course), besides it also means losing temper easily and poor concentration.

What are the natural sources of sound? Well, it certainly depends on the sound level. If you live at a distance from a water stream you may think it is nice to hear the sound of the water. But if you live right next to a river, the sound may be too loud.

It also depends on the quality of the sound. High pitch sound produced by wind blowing through a narrow slit is definitely bad. It takes some judgment to decide, but the rule of thumb is if an ordinary man would hate the sound.

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Takeaway Feng Shui

In the “Trees” section above, we mentioned having a tree right in front of the entrance door is bad, because it looks like a gun pointing right towards the mouth. In fact, personification is commonly found in Feng Shui theories. Just consider your house as a person, you could easily think of many Feng Shui principles by analogy.

If you say the facade of your house/flat is the face of a person, than having a lift (elevator) right in front of the door is just like looking at a pair of scissors everyday. In ancient times there is no lift, so no Feng Shui master in the past would imagine any Feng Shui theories about lifts.

By analogy, you may consider the lift doors as medical scissors that are used in medical operations. Believe it or not, according to my observation over the years, for flats in a multi-storey building which faces a lift directly, the occupants may have bad health conditions easily. Many of them may need to have operation.

Another interesting observation I made over the years is the impact of air ducts and air conditioning louvres. Some residential flats, especially those in the densely populated areas in Hong Kong, faces the air duct openings and air conditioning louvres of the opposite buildings. It is already not so good to see one or two of these, but what if you see many of them right outside your window?

My find is that, since these openings looks like mouths, it seems like there are many opened mouths in front of you. In Chinese we call quarrels “口舌” which literally means “mouth and tongue”. People living in such a place may have disputes with people easily. The problem would be aggravated if there is a blowing fan inside the air duct or behind the louvre.

These are just a few of the examples of personification in Feng Shui. We will come across some other examples in this Feng Shui course. In fact, if you can imagine, you can think of some other Feng Shui principles. Everyone could be a Feng Shui master!