Using Feng Shui can seem daunting. If you read one book, you might understand it; read another and you'll start getting confused. The harder you try to learn, the many different schools of thought you come against until you get lost. Here are some of the different forms and schools of Feng Shui and why they're all SO different:
There are no early books on the subject because it wasn't permitted to be written. It was considered Sacred Information only to be passed down from Mentor to Student. We estimate it's origins to be between 3 to 5,000 years old. While it's called Feng Shui in China, people of Indian decent use Vastu or Vastu Shastra. Native Americans had their own form as they built in to the land and respected it.
The earliest form we know of is called The Form School. Having a Mountain behind you (to protect your back) and water in front (to bring in Good Energy), Feng Shui was initially used in wide open spaces in China to choose the most Auspicious Direction to bury a loved one. Later on, homes and businesses were also sighted this way.
Many consultants still use the Compass method, which of course goes by direction. Using your birth information and much other data they can choose the best direction to face your home or business. It is confusing at best because everyone is different; what might work for one may not work for another in the home. It is still widely used, however and with great success.
It was HH Holiness Professor Lin Yun, the most highly respected Feng Shui Expert in China who came to the United States in the early 1980's. He is not only credited with bring Feng Shui to the United States, he is credited with developing what most of us use today called The Bagua Method. He saw that homes here were already built facing different directions and they couldn't ALL be "bad" Feng Shui. He also teaches Black Sect Feng Shui and has provided the blessings that are such an essential part of a Consultation. The Bagua Method is basically a "Life Station Map" for you to easily figure out where your areas are for Romance, Money, Health, Careers, an area called Helpful People, Children, Fame, Knowledge and Ancestors. *the Blessings I refer to are NON Denominational.
Because the Black Sect method is so strict (such as having a bathroom in the Wealth area will flush your money away), there was a highly respected teacher of Western methods who only taught for a few years. He gave simple and inexpensive solutions for Feng Shui "Difficulties" so a person would not have to renovate, not buy a home they love or move. Since he only taught for a short time, many of the schools only teach a Black Sect method but it is impractical in today's world. And for any Realtors who might be reading, finding a consultant if your client asks it is best to have one who can practice with Western methods and NOT deter the sale of a home, something I have heard quite often! Learning all the different methods is too confusing because they will all tell you a different thing.
There is also a matter of PERSPECTIVES. What one consultant might see as a good Feng Shui perspective, another might see as harmful. Having a fireplace in a Wealth area can be seen as the Element of FIRE, stimulating your money and absolutely igniting it to take off (my perception) or as having your money just burn and go up and out the shoot. Can it GET any more confusing? Yes :) I have found practicing through the years that learning all the priciples which are so important and giving people simple and inexpensive things to do to change the energy, as well as the blessing is the most effective. It is done with things like plants, mirrors, wind chimes and crystals and always done with INTENTION (aka The Law of Attraction, the very thing so many people resonated with in The Secret).
This can give you an idea of WHY you are so confused and what you should look into depending on the difficulties you may be having. The principles, the elements, and the cures are long and involved but there are EASY things which I can teach you to help you gain a knowledge. Trying the Bagua method first (Google Bagua and print one out) can start you on your way....
Some important topics will be posted next....and if you're read this far, Congratualtions!!
That's a 5 in my book Carole - EXCELLENT information! I can tell you I am far from being a Feng Shui expert and would never even call myself a consultant but have used the compass method in my own homes and feel comfortable with it. Why the compass method? because we have no mountains in Miami and the biggest natural factor that affects our daily life is the sun.
Thanks so much for the explanation....I would also add for people to read deeper into Feng Shui and not fall into those very superficial solutions like.....placing a crystal with a red ribbon 7 inches below the main window of your common areas to attract well being - generalizations like that cannot work. The space, the use the users need to be studied and jumping into those "quick fixes" in my opinion does not work.
Carole,
As always, you wrote an interesting post! I have learned so much from you!
Rick and Innes,
As Carole pointed out, it is by reading deeper into Feng Shui that so many people become completely confused. I have read many books on the subject and they all seemed to contradict each other in many ways. I much prefer doing something as simple as hanging a crystal with 9 inches of red ribbon in order to change the energy in an area because it is do-able and if my intention is pure (which it is), I believe that the goal will be attained.
VAL
Carole, Carole, Carole, I would have saved you a couple of headaches if I had found this post sooner. And what a thrill it is to know the West has only been exposed to Feng Shui in a general way for 20 some years...it is so new to us (like home staging as a business is to real estate agents) and here we are on the cutting edge of New Age adventures. Nothing new there!!! :)
Off to my next read...
Sheron, I didn't get them yet. No headaches, PLEASE....I can't believe you went back so far on the posts!
Carole,
Thank goodness it's not just me that's confused! I just listened to The Secret on audio and am just beginning but want to incorporate as much as I can into the experience. Have a blessed day.
Very interesting read. I also know Fengshui and Bagua although not quite an expert according to China standard by a pretty good expert considering a majority of the readers here knows nothing about it. This article is pretty nicely written in my standard.