master class – Feng Shui DIY

Flying Star Feng Shui Fundamentals [Master Class Lesson 12]

Welcome to Feng Shui Master Class Lesson 12, this is a lesson about Flying Star Feng Shui. After 10 lessons of basic Form Feng Shui and Ba Gua Feng Shui, plus a revision lesson last week, we will begin the second part of this Feng Shui Master Class, Flying Star Feng Shui. In this part, which consists of a number of lessons, is a core section of this e-course.

Flying Star Feng Shui is used by almost all Feng Shui masters in Chinese society. It is famous for its powerful and fast effects. Flying Star Feng Shui involves a number of factors that we shall tackle one by one.

Time and Its Ever-changing Nature

Time is of essence in Flying Star Feng Shui, not because time is precious but since it is a driving factor. Here I shall explain the different layers of time in Flying Star Feng Shui. The theory below may sound a little bit boring, but it is very important to understand.

The first layer is a Yuan (元 in Chinese). There are 3 Yuans, namely the Upper, Middle and Lower Yuans. Each Yuan consists of 60 years. The Upper Yuan comes first, after it finished the Middle Yuan comes, and finally the Lower Yuan, totally 180 years for the 3 Yuans. The cycle repeats, i.e., after the end of the Lower Yuan, the Upper Yuan comes again and a new cycle begins. There is no ending of the cycles. They simply repeat and repeat.

The next layer of time is Yun (運 in Chinese). Each Yuan is divided into 3 Yuns. During the Upper Yuan there are the First Yun, Second Yun and the Third Yun. During the Middle Yuan there are the Fourth Yun, Fifth Yun and the Sixth Yun. Finally, during the Lower Yuan there are the Seventh Yun, Eighth Yun and the Ninth Yun. Each Yun lasts for 20 years.

In layered bullet form, the Yuans and Yuns could be presented like this:

Upper Yuan
- First Yun
- Second Yun
- Third Yun
Middle Yuan
- Fourth Yun
- Fifth Yun
- Sixth Yun
Lower Yuan
- Seventh Yun
- Eighth Yun
- Ninth Yun
Upper Yuan
- First Yun
- Second Yun
- Third Yun

And then the Middle Yuan comes again, followed by the Lower Yuan. The cycle is endless.

Each Yun consists of 20 years, from 2004 to 2023 it is the Eighth Yun. The next Yun, the Ninth Yun, will begin in 2024 and last until 2043. After that, this Lower Yuan will complete and the new Upper Yuan will begin on 2044.

Difficult to understand/remember? No problem, for now just remember that 2004 to 2023 is the Eighth Yuan.

The third layer of time factor in Flying Star Feng Shui is Year. So as each Yuan and each Yun, Feng Shui changes every Year.

The third layer is Month. The sixth layer is day. The seventh layer is Shi Chen (時辰), i.e. every 2 hours…

To sum up, Feng Shui changes over time. Every 2 hours Feng Shui changes. It is certainly good to follow the Flying Star disposition and change the Feng Shui design in your house every 2 hours, but it won’t be practical to do so. We also do not think that it is wise to change the Feng Shui design every day. So for most Feng Shui masters, we only care about the Feng Shui design that meets the requirements of a given Yuan, Yun and Year, with minor adjustments to be made every month as necessary.

The Flying Stars

There are totally 9 Yuns, and equally there are 9 Flying Stars. Each of them has a particular Chinese name, which I do not bother to list out here because they could mean nothing to you if you do not know Chinese. I would simply list out the 9 Flying Stars and their meanings.

Flying Star 1

The representing number of this Flying Star is 1 (one). Its color is white and it has a “water” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

When the Flying Star 1 is prevailing and triggered positively, it brings good effects in interpersonal relationship and love.

Flying Star 2

The representing number of this Flying Star is 2 (two). Its color is black and it has an “earth” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

This Flying Star is for most of the time associated with sickness and bad luck. Its effects are lower in magnitude than the Flying Star 5 which is also a sickness Flying Star.

Flying Star 3

The representing number of this Flying Star is 3 (three). Its color is jade (you may consider it light green) and it has a “wood” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

This Flying Star could be associated with quarrels and disputes. It also means bad luck in interpersonal relationship.

Flying Star 4

The representing number of this Flying Star is 4 (four). Its color is green and it has a “wood” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

This Flying Star brings good luck in examination, job promotion for the white collar and government officials.

Flying Star 5

The representing number of this Flying Star is 5 (five). Its color is yellow and it has an “earth” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

This is another sickness and bad luck Flying Star other than Flying Star 2. It is usually regarded as stronger in magnitude than the Flying Star 2.

Flying Star 6

The representing number of this Flying Star is 6 (six). Its color is white and it has a “metal” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

Flying Star 6 means movement and change. It also carries the effect of wealth growth.

Flying Star 7

The representing number of this Flying Star is 7 (seven). Its color is red and it has a “metal” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

This Flying Star has the bad effect of bringing loss in wealth and property if negatively triggered.

Flying Star 8

The representing number of this Flying Star is 8 (eight). Its color is white and it has an “earth” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

This Flying Star brings wealth, good luck and good health as the prevailing Flying Star in the Eighth Yun.

Flying Star 9

The representing number of this Flying Star is 9 (nine). Its color is purple and it has a “fire” characteristic according to the Five-element Theory.

This Flying Star means happiness, it brings happy things such as marriage, new baby, new business, etc. Besides, it is also a Flying Star that brings good relationship.

The Prevailing Flying Stars

In each Yun, there are prevailing Flying Stars that has the strongest effects. The strongest Flying Star in a Yun is definitely the Flying Star of the corresponding number. For example, in the Eighth Yun the prevailing Flying Star is 8.

We usually say that the coming Flying Star of the next Yun is also lucky. So in Eighth Yun the Flying Star 9 is also good, although not as strong as Flying Star 8. The next coming Flying Star 1 (which comes after Flying Star 9) is also a good one, with even lower effects (but it is still good).

On the other hand, the representing Flying Star of the immediate past Yun is bad. So in the current Eighth Yun the Flying Star 7 is unlucky. Despite this, since it has just lapsed, the bad effect is not strong. The Flying Star 6 and Flying Star 5 (in this order of ascending bad luck) are two other unlucky Flying Stars in the current Eighth Yun too.

Simply put, we should maximize the use of Flying Stars 8, 9 and 1 in this current Yun (until end of year 2023) to enjoy the best luck. Besides, if we know how to, we could trigger the good effects of the other Flying Stars.

How to Trigger Flying Stars

The simplest way to trigger a Flying Star is to use its representing number, color and five-element characteristic. For example, to make good use of the prevailing Flying Star 8, we should put 8 pieces of items of “earth” nature in white color. To use Flying Star 9, we should put 9 pieces of items of “fire” nature in “red” color.

The above are certainly not absolute. For example, we could simply put a big red thing to trigger the Flying Star 9, because the color itself could bring quite some power. We shall judge in each case how strong we want the triggering effect to be, but the basic principle is always to follow the number, color and five-element characteristics.

If you have downloaded my Feng Shui 2013 guide, and compare the content with the information above, you would know why I told you to do this and that in certain directions. For example, 4 green plants are used to trigger the good effect of the Flying Star 4 because its representing number, color and nature are 4, green and wood.

The above are the basic principles that you should know by the end of this lesson. The information provided above are very critical and useful for Feng Shui design. Please remember them all. Most Feng Shui teachers change a lot of money simply for these fundamental principles. I have seen a popular Feng Shui book sold for a few bucks simply containing the above information. Now you have learnt the essential knowledge of Flying Star Feng Shui, we shall look at more advanced techniques in the next lesson!

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This article is part of my Feng Shui Master Class. The Master Class is an online course designed for beginners to learnt everything they need to know to do Feng Shui for themselves and their friends. In each class I shall disclose the secrets of some Feng Shui techniques that only the masters use.

For example, in the previous lessons we have learnt how to use Ba Gua Feng Shui to design a lucky house for all family members. We have also seen how the external and internal environments affect the occupiers of a flat, and how you could interpret and fix Feng Shui problems.

This article is a special lesson which I have decided to enable the public to view in full, because of the importance of the contents. I have seen many Feng Shui web sites “teaching” Flying Star Feng Shui, but very few could provide useful information in such details. I would very much like everyone could learn real authentic Feng Shui, so I hope that this lesson could enlighten as many people as people.

If you like this lesson, please consider to joint the Master Class. NO, unlike most other online Feng Shui e-courses, you do not have to pay huge money. I set up this Feng Shui DIY web site and the Master Class with an aim to make Feng Shui accessible to everyone. You only have to pay a minimal tuition fee at the price of a burger or a cup of coffee to learn all the secrets of doing powerful Feng Shui. The topics that are covered in this course are numerous, just to list out some:

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Different Feng Shui systems
How to use a compass – twists other masters didn’t tell you
External Feng Shui, e.g. trees, rivers, streams
External Feng Shui, e.g. roads, buildings, towers, etc.
Interior Feng Shui, e.g. door, window, corridor, furniture, etc.
Interior Feng Shui, e.g. rooms, kitchen, bathroom, etc.
Selection of your lucky floor number and house shape
Feng Shui colors, lighting, crystals and ornaments
Interpretation of Feng Shui problems and cures
Meaning of Ba Gua and how to use Ba Gua Feng Shui
How to find out your Gua
How to find a house with a matching Gua
Ba Gua Feng Shui (a.k.a. 8 Mansions) design secrets
What is Flying Star Feng Shui
Meaning of Flying Stars, the good and bad
Yearly and monthly Flying Star Feng Shui
24 Mountains Feng Shui theories
Allocation of Flying Stars
Interpreting relationships among Flying Stars
… and much more

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Besides, I’ll also teach you how to use Feng Shui to achieve specific goals, such as:

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Finding love with Feng Shui
Feng Shui office for the best career
Wealth expansion Feng Shui
Feng Shui for health and children
Feng Shui for study and examination
… and other goals you desperate to achieve!

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If you are eager to shape your life in a better way, if you want to earn more, if you want better health, or if you want a sweet relationship, you should join this e-course. I will equip you with everything you need to achieve these goals using proven Feng Shui techniques. Trust me, Feng Shui is not that difficult. You can do it! Join now!!!

[font family=”Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif” size=”24″ color=”DE0202″ textshadow=”1″ alignment=”center” weight=”bold” style=”normal” lineheight=”110″]>> Learn More about the Master Class <<[/font]

I’m running a time-limited trial offer in which you could try out the Master Class for just $1! Click the link above to find out how to enroll!

Feng Shui Analysis – How to Do Ba Gua Feng Shui? [Feng Shui Master Class 11]

This is a lesson in which I’ll show you how to do a complete Feng Shui analysis using the Feng Shui knowledge you learnt in the last 10 lessons. In the first lesson I have shown you what the different Feng Shui systems are. Since then, we have learnt how to examine the external and internal environments. We dealt with the interpretation of Feng Shui problems in different directions. We also spent three lessons in learning the essentials of Ba Gua Feng Shui.

With all the things you learnt, you should by now have a fairly good knowledge in Feng Shui. You should be capable to do a basic Feng Shui analysis. What you do not have may be practical experience. This is why I would like to use this lesson to demonstrate the correct procedures of a Feng Shui analysis. We will do Ba Gua Feng Shui because it is the basic system that you easily master. When we finished learning more advanced Feng Shui systems such as Flying Star Feng Shui, we will do a similar demonstration here.

Here is today’s rundown. I’ll first explain step by step what needs to be checked. Then, I’ll use a real life case to explain what could be achieved during a Feng Shui analysis. We would also learn the methods to cure Feng Shui problems.

Feng Shui Analysis (1) – Read the Map

The first step to take in a Feng Shui analysis is to read the map. If you have been expecting to go all the way to the site, no, sorry, this is not what a Feng Shui master would do. We always do background research before going to the site.

In the past this could be quite difficult because most required information is not publicly available. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology we could easily retrieve the required information via the internet. The first tool you are going to use is Google Maps.

The use of Google Maps is to check the surrounding environment of the site. You could certainly walk around the site, but nothing beats the satellite view Google Maps provides that shows everything around the site.

What you need to check are the location of everything that projects from the ground level, such as hills and buildings, and the source of water such as rivers, streams, lakes, water ponds (even artificial ones count) and fountain. We also need to mark down the location and routing of roads, highways and flyovers. If there are any special objects outside, such as street light pole, you should also take note of them.

Then, you compare the external environment with the house according to the principles outlined in Lesson 3 (natural objects) and Lesson 4 (artificial objects).

Feng Shui Analysis (2) – Find the Layout Plan

In the past, Feng Shui masters had to draw out the layout plan after actually measuring the dimensions on site. Nowadays, you can easy get the layout plan of your house through your real estate agent. Even if you have to measure and draw by yourself, the tools available to you are much more than the ancient times.

No matter you get the floor plan from the agent or you draw it out, the next step is to find out the center point of your house. We need to do this because we’ll find out the different directions by standing right in the center of the house and use a compass to measure. Without knowing the center point you cannot find out the correct directions.

One extra thing you could do in this step is to check the floor number and building shape. In Lesson 7 we had discussed what are the lucky floor numbers and building shapes for different kinds of people.

Feng Shui Analysis (3) – Check the Interior Design

If you are examining the Feng Shui of an existing occupied house, you need to check and mark down the interior design. You need to record the whereabouts of the main entrance, kitchen (and the stove), bathroom, bedrooms, bed, desk, couch, flower vase, aquarium, clock, mirror, etc.

If the flat is completely new (and vacant), you have greater flexibility to design. I recently helped a guy to re-design his house. I found that the master bedroom his wife and him occupy was not good. The bad Feng Shui affects their health (and the couple really had a bad time in the recent months). The problem was that if they do not sleep in the master bedroom, they could only choose to sleep in a much smaller bedroom. And they have to remove everything in the smaller bedroom and tailor made a double bed. This caused a lot of troubles. So if you have a choice, please carefully design the Feng Shui of your house before you move-in.

The principles of interior Feng Shui design are explained in Lesson 5 (door, bedroom and kitchen) and Lesson 6 (study room, toilet and living room).

Feng Shui Analysis (4) – Check the Gua of Occupants

In Lesson 9 we have learnt how to find out the Gua of a person according to the year of birth. We could base on a person’s Gua to find out the lucky and unlucky directions of him/her. This is a critical step because we must do Feng Shui according to the actual “likes” and “dislikes” of his/her fate. If we know that having a bedroom in East is good for a person we should definitely do so. Go and re-read Lesson 9 if you forgot how to find out the personal Gua.

Feng Shui Analysis (5) – Check the Gua of the House

Similarly, we should also find out the Gua of a house, and subsequently the lucky and unlucky directions inside. The method is explained in Lesson 10. Of the eight directions, which are lucky and which are unlucky? I have a detailed explanation in Lesson 8 about the meanings of the eight Xing-yaos.

Feng Shui Analysis (6) – Combining Everything Together

The last step of the Ba Gua Feng Shui analysis is to combine everything mentioned above. After knowing where we should put the bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, entrance door etc in a house according to the personal Gua and the house’s Gua, we could design the interior following the form Feng Shui principles.

On the other hand, if there is bad Feng Shui in a particular direction, you could follow the method explained in Lesson 2 to find out who in the family may be affected and the nature of the effect. Each of the eight directions represent one family member and particular parts of the body. Simply refer to the list in Lesson 2 you could easily figure out the impact of the Feng Shui problem.

Example

This is a real life case where I have actually gone there and inspected the Feng Shui. The location of this apartment is in Tai Po, Hong Kong, the city where I live.

Continue reading “Feng Shui Analysis – How to Do Ba Gua Feng Shui? [Feng Shui Master Class 11]”

Ba Gua Feng Shui Essentials (3) – Ba Gua House [Feng Shui Master Class 10]

Welcome back to the last lesson of the Ba Gua Feng Shui essentials series. In the last two lessons we have learnt the nature of the eight Xing-yaos (星曜) and how to find out the directions of your personal Xing-yaos. We also knew how to maximize the use of the lucky Xing-yaos. This time we shall look at the Xing-yao locations in different houses.

Ba Gua Feng Shui, and most other Feng Shui theories, examine the relationship between people and the living space. If there are eight Xing-yaos belonging to you personally, there should also be eight Xing-yaos in different directions of the house. Our aim is not only to find out your lucky directions and make use of them (which we learnt in last week’s lesson), but also to match your own Xing-yao locations with those of your house. It is just like buying a car, if you enjoy the excitement of speed, you would look for a racing car. If we put you in a family car, you won’t feel like driving it.

Once again, let me clarify the difference between the Ba Gua Feng Shui being taught here and what most other Feng Shui web sites tell you. The authentic Chinese Ba Gua Feng Shui theory classify people and houses in eight types. The reason is simple, there are only eight Guas (卦) in the universe (Ba Gua means eight Guas in Chinese, Ba means eight). If you have read I-ching (易經), the Chinese philosophy book which is also the origin of most Feng Shui and Chinese astrology systems, you would know that there are only eight Guas and we categorize everything in the universe into eight types.

Ba Gua Feng Shui House

Now let’s begin our last lesson of the Ba Gua Feng Shui essentials. To refresh your memory, here are the eight Xing-yaos you need to know and memorize:

The four lucky Xing-yaos are:

Sheng-chi (生氣)
Yien-nian (延年)
Tien-yi (天醫)
Fu-wei (伏位)

The four unlucky Xing-yaos are:

Jue-ming (絕命)
Wu-guei (五鬼)
Liu-sha (六煞)
Wuo-hai (禍害)

You may refer to the first Ba Gua Feng Shui lesson for detailed explanation of each Xing-yao and how to use them. They are not universal in their disposition, in fact each person has his/her own Xing-yao map which has the eight Xing-yaos in eight different directions. In the second Ba Gua Feng Shui lesson we have seen there whereabouts for eight different types of people. Some students said that it is not easy to remember them, so this time I reproduced the information in graphical form:

In the last lesson we learnt that the Western group Guas are Qian, Gen, Kun and Dui while the Eastern group Guas are Kan, Zhen, Xun and Li. Do you know why they are grouped in this way, and how we could use this Eastern/Western distinction to create good Ba Gua Feng Shui?

Continue reading “Ba Gua Feng Shui Essentials (3) – Ba Gua House [Feng Shui Master Class 10]”

Ba Gua Feng Shui Essentials (2) – Personal Lucky Directions [Feng Shui Master Class 9]

Welcome back! In our second lesson of Ba Gua Feng Shui, we shall learn how to find out your true personal Gua and the lucky directions of yours accordingly. After this lesson you would be able to tell which direction is good for you so as to maximize the use of these directions in daily life.

Actually according to authentic Chinese Ba Gua Feng Shui, people born in different years could be categorized into 8 types, each with a matching Ming Gua (命卦). In the image below you can see eight Guas surrounding the Tai Chi (太極) logo. These are the Ming Guas I have been talking about.

If you have read other Ba Gua Feng Shui books before, you may have came across a term “Gua Number” or “Kua Number”. What does it mean? The 1 to 9 Gua Number that you are used to see in other Feng Shui books are a modified version that originated from the Chinese Ba Gua Feng Shui theories. I would not say the 1 to 9 Gua Number system is incorrect but it is certainly not the authentic Ba Gua Feng Shui practised by Chinese Feng Shui masters. If you have chance to ask any Feng Shui master in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong, he/she would tell you that there are only 8 Ming Guas.

At the end of this article, I shall also tell you how to choose the luckiest couch for you. Do you know the color and shape of a couch affects the Feng Shui of your flat? Read on to know more!

Interpretation of Eight Directions for Eight Ming Guas

We shall see the dispositions of the eight Xing-yaos (星曜) in eight directions for people of the eight different types of Ming Guas.

Qian (乾) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – West
Yien-nian (延年) – Southwest
Tien-yi (天醫) – Northeast
Fu-wei (伏位) – Northwest

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – South
Wu-guei (五鬼) – East
Liu-sha (六煞) – Southeast
Wuo-hai (禍害) – North

Gen (艮) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – Southwest
Yien-nian (延年) – West
Tien-yi (天醫) – Northwest
Fu-wei (伏位) – Northeast

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – Southeast
Wu-guei (五鬼) – North
Liu-sha (六煞) – East
Wuo-hai (禍害) – South

Kun (坤) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – Northeast
Yien-nian (延年) – Northwest
Tien-yi (天醫) – West
Fu-wei (伏位) – Southwest

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – North
Wu-guei (五鬼) – Southeast
Liu-sha (六煞) – South
Wuo-hai (禍害) – East

Dui (兌) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – Northwest
Yien-nian (延年) – Northeast
Tien-yi (天醫) – Southwest
Fu-wei (伏位) – West

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – East
Wu-guei (五鬼) – South
Liu-sha (六煞) – Southeast
Wuo-hai (禍害) – North

Kan (坎) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – Southeast
Yien-nian (延年) – South
Tien-yi (天醫) – East
Fu-wei (伏位) – North

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – Southwest
Wu-guei (五鬼) – Northeast
Liu-sha (六煞) – Northwest
Wuo-hai (禍害) – West

Zhen (震) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – South
Yien-nian (延年) – Southeast
Tien-yi (天醫) – North
Fu-wei (伏位) – East

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – West
Wu-guei (五鬼) – Northwest
Liu-sha (六煞) – Northeast
Wuo-hai (禍害) – Southwest

Xun (巽) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – North
Yien-nian (延年) – East
Tien-yi (天醫) – South
Fu-wei (伏位) – Southeast

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – Northeast
Wu-guei (五鬼) – Southwest
Liu-sha (六煞) – West
Wuo-hai (禍害) – Northwest

Li (離) Ming Qua

The four lucky Xing-yaos:

Sheng-chi (生氣) – East
Yien-nian (延年) – North
Tien-yi (天醫) – Southeast
Fu-wei (伏位) – South

The four unlucky Xing-yaos:

Jue-ming (絕命) – Northwest
Wu-guei (五鬼) – West
Liu-sha (六煞) – Southwest
Wuo-hai (禍害) – Northeast

If you map out the eight directions of the eight Ming Guas and superimpose one another , you would find out an interesting fact. There are four Ming Guas that always have Northeast, Southwest, West and Northwest as lucky directions, while the remaining four Ming Guas always have these directions as unlucky ones. Why so?

We call the former four Ming Guas as the four “Western Ming Guas” (東四命) and the latter four Ming Guas as the four “Eastern Ming Guas” (西四命). For Western Ming Guas, Northeast, Southwest, West and Northwest are always good directions. For Eastern Ming Guas, Northeast, Southwest, West and Northwest are always bad directions. In other words, Qian, Gen, Kun and Dui are Western Ming Guas while Kan, Zhen, Xun and Li are Eastern Ming Guas.

Western Group Ming Guas:

Qian
Gen
Kun
Dui

Eastern Group Ming Guas:

Kan
Zhen
Xun
Li

By utilizing the similarity of the lucky and unlucky directions in the same group (Eastern or Western), we could plan the interior Feng Shui and maximize the good effects. You will learn this useful strategy below.

Continue reading “Ba Gua Feng Shui Essentials (2) – Personal Lucky Directions [Feng Shui Master Class 9]”

Ba Gua Feng Shui Essentials (1) – Eight Xing-yaos and Choosing Ceiling Light [Feng Shui Master Class 8]

We’ll start learning Ba Gua Feng Shui in this lesson.

If we have to classify Chi calculation Feng Shui systems, Ba Gua Feng Shui should be belong entry level. According to this system, houses are categorized into 8 types. All people are divided into 8 groups as well. The basic requirement of Ba Gua Feng Shui is to match the house type with the type that the occupiers belong to.

Ba Gua means eight different Guas. A Gua is a symbol consisting of three lines, either broken or complete. Eight Guas represent eight directions. To have a serious study of Ba Gua requires knowledge of Chinese Taoism and the concepts of Taiji (太極), Yin (陰) and Yang (陽). But for this Master Class, we’ll skip these difficult concepts and let you know only those necessary ideas.

Not only do the eight Guas represent eight members in a family, they also represent virtually everything on earth, such as colors, body parts, shapes, stages of a process, etc. We have already seen the meaning of the eight directions, which is in fact originated from the Ba Gua theories. We shall see more about the meaning of the Ba Guas in the coming lessons.

What is Ba Gua Feng Shui

Ba Gua Feng Shui examines the qualities of different directions according to what Xing-yao falls on different directions in a house. There are four good and four bad Xing-yaos. The location of these Xing-yaos depends on the orientation of a house.

The Best Ba Gua Feng Shui

But only knowing the disposition of the Xing-yaos in your house is not enough. The second level of Ba Gua Feng Shui is to find out the whereabouts of your own Xing-yaos. In fact, you personally also have the Xing-yaos in eight directions. The most desirable situation we want to achieve is to have the Xing-yaos of your house matching exactly your own Xing-yaos. For example, if the Tien-yi (天醫) direction of your house is the same as the Tien-yi direction of your own, this is the best Feng Shui, because by using your house’s good direction your own good direction is also triggered, thus doubling the lucky effects.

The Second Best Ba Gua Feng Shui

The second best situation is to have the four good Xing-yaos of your house the same as your personal four good Xing-yaos in a collective way. For example, if the four good Xing-yaos of your house is in North, East, South and West, even if the exact four Xing-yaos of yours are not in exactly the same four corners (e.g. the house’s Tien-yi in North while your personal Tien-yi is also in North), as long as they also occupy North, East, South and West (e.g. the house’s Tien-yi in North while your another personal good Xing-yao such as Yien-nian is in North), this is good Ba Gua Feng Shui too.

The Worst Ba Gua Feng Shui

The worst scenario is certainly the total mismatch of the house’s Xing-yaos and your own. Why? For example, if according to the house’s Xing-yaos the bed room should be located in South, but South is your bad direction according to your own Xing-yao, no matter you put the bedroom in South or not there is one set of Xing-yaos that could not be satisfied. In this case you should consider relocating.

The Eight Xing-yaos of Ba Gua Feng Shui

Let us first learn what the eight Xing-yaos are and what meanings/effects they carry.

Sheng-chi (生氣)

It means success. It is the best Xing-yao among all, which brings good health, wealth and luck. It would be very best if the critical elements in your house are located here, such as entrance door and bedroom.

Continue reading “Ba Gua Feng Shui Essentials (1) – Eight Xing-yaos and Choosing Ceiling Light [Feng Shui Master Class 8]”

Feng Shui Floor Numbers, Building Shapes and Colors [Master Class Lesson 7]

Hello! Welcome back to the Feng Shui Master Class. We have studied the internal environment in the last two lessons. The internal Feng Shui is what you could control via interior design. In this week we will look at things you cannot control after buying the flat. They are the floor number and shape and color of your apartment.

Yes, the floor number and building shape could affect Feng Shui. Usually when I check the Feng Shui of an apartment, I would firstly check if the floor numbering is good. I would also look at the shape of the whole building. The reason is simple, you can change the interior design to whatever style as long as the structure of the building so allows. But you cannot change the floor number nor the shape or color of the building unless you relocate. These are what many people overlook but actually quite important Feng Shui elements.

Your Five-Element Characteristic

To check whether the floor number of your apartment and the shape and color of the building fit you, we need to know which of the five elements you belong to. This could be very complicated because usually we need to check your actual birthday. An easier way to do so is to check your year of birth and thus the zodiac sign. Below is a list of zodiac signs according to the year of birth.

Rat: 1924, 1926, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032

Ox: 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033

Tiger: 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034

Rabbit: 1927, 1939, 1951 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035

Dragon: 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036

Snake: 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037

Horse: 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038

Sheep: 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039

Monkey: 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040

Rooster: 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041

Dog: 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042

Pig: 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043

There is a trick here. If you were born before 4 February of a year, you should treat yourself as born in the previous year when finding out your zodiac sign. For example, if you were born in 20 January 1981, you should be a “monkey” instead of “rooster”. Why? According to Chinese Feng Shui principles a year begins in Spring, and Spring usually begins on 4 February. Before 4 February the new year is not actually arrived.

OK, by knowing your zodiac sign, we could tell which one of the five elements’ characteristics you have:

Pig, Rat: Water

Snake, Horse: Fire

Tiger, Rabbit: Wood

Monkey, Rooster: Metal

Dragon, Dog, Ox, Sheep: Earth

Should I Live on High or Low Level?

Not all people are suitable to live on high levels. Some people would be more suitable to live in low-rise buildings or the lower floors of a high-rise building. There is no exact definition for “high” and “low”, it really depends on the general situations of the place you live.

For example, in the city where I live in, Hong Kong, most residential buildings are over 30-storey high. So we are used to count the 10th floor and below as lower floors, and 21st floor and above as high. But in cities where the population density is lower, the buildings are usually lower. A general rule of thumb is to divide the building into three portions, the lowest 1/3 being the lower floors, than the middle floors and the rest 1/3 are the high levels.

Pig, Rat

Lower levels are more suitable to you for residential purpose.

Snake, Horse

If possible, you should choose to live on high levels.

Tiger, Rabbit

High levels are most suitable for you to live.

Monkey, Rooster

Same as Snake, Horse, Tiger and Rabbit, high levels are most suitable for you to live.

Dragon, Dog, Ox, Sheep

You are most suitable to live in low to medium floors.

Your Lucky Floor Numbers

(Photo by Gideon Tsang, CC License)

With the knowledge of your zodiac sign and the five-element characteristic you possess, we could find out the floor numbers that are good for you:

Continue reading “Feng Shui Floor Numbers, Building Shapes and Colors [Master Class Lesson 7]”

Feng Shui Interior Design (2) – Study Room, Toilet and Living Room [Master Class Lesson 6]

Hello! This is the second Feng Shui Interior Design lesson, also the sixth lesson of the Master Class. In the last class we learned the three critical elements of Feng Shui interior design – door, bedroom and kitchen. This time we shall learn the principles governing the interior design of other parts of your house/flat. Do you want to know how to design your study room/home office? Where should you pay attention to when designing the toilet? How to decorate the living room? We shall look at these topics in this lesson.

Feng Shui Interior Design – Study Room/Home Office

It is quite common nowadays to have home office in residential units. Many people who work freelance or even full time prefer and have the luxury to work at home. Even not, if you have a kid at home who goes to school, the study room is where you need to put a lot of efforts in when doing Feng Shui interior design for your house/flat.

To fully explain the requirements of a study room/home office, it would take the length of a whole book (in fact I have an e-book in this topic: Feng Shui Office – Your Quick Start Guide). Here we look at the essential elements that all Feng Shui masters consider when looking at the Feng Shui of a study or working place.

The above is a perfect setting of a desk for study or work. Because it conforms with all requirements. In regardless of directions and calculations, this is how an office should look like.

Firstly, there should be a solid backing support. Just like what we studied in the external Feng Shui lesson, it is preferred to have support at the back. The full height solid wall in the figure above meets this requirement. If the back of your seat is not firm and stable, e.g. an aisle, the sign of “flow” and “movement” would affect your career life.

Secondly, the left hand side is higher than the right hand side since the computer / cabinet is on the left. Why is this important? According to Form Feng Shui theory, left means benefactors (support) while right is bad person (challenge). In the past, when people find a location to build a house, they look for places where the mountain on the left is higher than the right.

We re-create the same in the office. The best situation is you have a full-height cabinet on the left hand side of the desk. If not, put the desktop computer or piles of documents on the left hand side of the desk. The ultimate goal is to have a higher-left and lower-right.

It is not difficult to achieve the second requirement, because you usually can decide what to put on your desk. But what if the back of my seating is not a wall? What could I do? Read the paragraph below.
Continue reading “Feng Shui Interior Design (2) – Study Room, Toilet and Living Room [Master Class Lesson 6]”

Feng Shui Interior Design (1) – Door, Bedroom and Kitchen [Master Class Lesson 5]

Welcome back to the Feng Shui Master Class, this is your lesson 5, Feng Shui Interior Design. In this lesson, we’ll look at how the general layout of your house affects all people living in it.

Feng Shui Interior Design Critical Elements

There is a traditional saying about Form Feng Shui: “The 3 most important elements of Feng Shui are door, bedroom and stove” (陽宅三要門、房、灶). We shall have a look at the guiding principles around them, with particular focus on the modern society, i.e. how these principles about the door, bedroom and stove could affect Feng Shui interior design for a modern house.

Door to Door

Architects like symmetrical designs and sometimes this cause troubles. Door-to-door is one of the most commonly found bad Feng Shui interior design in modern buildings. In apartments, if the entrance door of your flat faces straightly to the door of another flat, it is a bad Feng Shui. According to traditional Feng Shui theory, it looks like two people confronting face to face. People living in both flats are prone to having quarrels with others.

Remember in the last lesson we said that Feng Shui theories contain a lot of analogies? The reason of door facing door being bad Feng Shui is because it looks like two people confronting each other face to face.

The same also applies to door within the same flat, say, bedroom’s door facing the main entrance door. The person who occupies that bedroom has a higher chance of having quarrels with people around him/her. In the following example, bedroom 2 and bedroom 2 suffer from this problem, occupiers of both rooms would have higher chance of having disputes with others.

What if the doors are not in exact opposite but only overlaps partially? Well, in this case, if we door a straight line passing through the center of both doors, we would get a line not exactly in 90 degree (i.e. not normal to) either side, but somehow an inclined line. You may think that this is a weaker “sha”, but unfortunately it is not. In fact, this is an even worse situation, meaning that the magnitude of dispute would be greater.

Another variation is door facing the door of kitchen or toilet. So it is not simply door to door but door to kitchen/toilet in effect. What’s wrong with it? Well, in these cases the bad effects would mostly be about bad temper and/or health.

If this is the case of your house, don’t worry. Try putting something in between two doors, say a tall plant, fence or cupboard. For entrance door to entrance door case, hang a curtain or blind in front of your door. It works like covering your mouth by a mask, thereby reducing the chance of direct confrontation.

Door to Window

According to traditional Feng Shui, it is not good to have the entrance door of a flat faces a window opening into the external air. It may be difficult to understand but let me explain.

Feng Shui is about managing Chi. The ultimate aim is to bring in good Chi and store it (聚氣) in your house. This gives energy and wealth to all people in the house. Doors and windows are openings that could let Chi go in and go out. Door and window along the same line means the Chi flowing in could leave immediately. It’s like a company that makes a lot of money but soon spend it all. Money comes and go and nothing is left.

Of course, in the eyes of modern architects cross-ventilation is good for health. Therefore, to have the best of both worlds (health and wealth) it is better to have door and window on opposite planes of a house but NOT directly face to face.
Continue reading “Feng Shui Interior Design (1) – Door, Bedroom and Kitchen [Master Class Lesson 5]”

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!