Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space which is claimed to achieve harmony with the environment.
The source of the term is purported to come from the Burial Book written by Guo Pu (郭璞) in the Jin Dynasty (晉朝). Qi (氣) is reputedly dispersed when it rides the wind and stops when it meets water. The ancients collected qi so that it did not dissipate, and directed it so that it was retained. For this reason this art is called Feng Shui.
For a place to have "good feng shui" is for it to be in harmony with nature , and to have "bad feng shui" is to be incongruous with nature. Although people aren't usually described as having good or bad feng shui themselves, believers in feng shui say that certain people by force of personality or visual appearance are able to add or subtract from the feng shui of their surroundings.
Guidelines
Some general rules are:
- When sitting at a desk, the entrance door should be in a clear line of sight, and you should have a view of as much of the room as possible.
- When lying in bed, the entrance door should not be directly facing the soles of one's feet. In other words, the end of the bed should not be in line with the door.
- Straight lines and sharp corners are to be avoided, and especially should not point where people tend to sit, stand, or sleep.
- Avoid clutter.
- Your stairs should never face the front door.
- Roads to and from ancient towns were often curved and windy, an attempt to disorient and keep away evil spirits, who were believed to travel in straight lines.
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Some objects are believed to have the power of redirecting, reflecting, or shifting energy in a space. These include mirrors, crystals, windchimes, and pools of flowing or standing water.
The bagua
The bagua (or pa kua) of the Yi Ching (Book of Changes) is an octagonal diagram used in feng shui analysis. Each direction on the octagon (north, northeast, etc.) is claimed to have certain significant aspects, partly depending on the birthdate of the person using it. By mapping the bagua onto a home, village, cemetery, etc., information about correct orientation and placement can allegedly be gleaned.
The eight parts (directions) of the bagua are associated with the following elements:
- North - water
- South - fire
- East - wood
- West - metal
- Northwest - metal
- Northeast - earth
- Southwest - earth
- Southeast - wood
An example of use of the bagua is -- the stove (kitchen) should not be placed in the north part of a house, as water extinguishes fire. This is only a rule of thumb, and there are many other considerations in locating a kitchen. It is supposed this applies to the Northern Hemisphere . |
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