Practitioners and believers of Chinese philosophy attest to Feng Shui’s powers in promoting balance and harmony through the emanation of positive energies and deflecting the bad ones.  Through a positive force or dynamism, it is believed to enhance creativity, physical wellness, financial stability and success. 

Feng Shui is said to promote these two fundamental factors in our homes, environment, workplace and most especially within ourselves.  

Before anything, a background in Feng Shui:

Literally, Feng Shui means wind and water.  Historically, this discipline was first applied by Yangshao and Hongshan cultures.   They used magnetic compasses and the science of astronomy to deduce the correlation between human nature and the universe.  To illustrate, grandiose architectural structures in the premier cities of China upheld the Feng Shui discipline.  In this connection, Feng Shui is more regarded as an ecological orderliness or conduct of nature; and man’s behavior towards it.

Also, early Chinese have people applied Feng Shui methodologies to a home’s layout and design during the Zhou era.  This attachment to the metaphysical belief extended to having a practitioner visit a grave before a person’s inevitable death.

Amidst Feng Shui’s multiple practices and foundations lies the basic goal of harnessing the laws of Heaven (through astronomy) and Earth (through geography) to bring forth an improved, more harmonious life.  And although the cultural revolution of the 1960’s saw the demise of this observance, Feng Shui has slowly gained popularity, and practitioners, in the United States and a number of other countries worldwide.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FENG SHUI


As far as Feng Shui is concerned, a set of theoretical foundations is observed:

  1. The positive or negative energy of this philosophy is constantly in motion. 

    2. Actually, it is a molecular composition in relation to the interplay within an environment, landscape or vegetation.  This energy is supposedly a kind of power emanating from the universe, and eventually permeates into our body system

  2. Polarity (Yin Yang Theory) – the opposite but interacting forces  of Feng Shui. 

    3. The philosophy states that the positive (Yin) and negative (Yang) forces move in a manner similar to the qi (the life force).  To simplify, these energies divide and connect again to unify themselves in a delicate dynamic of balance and harmony.  Despite their opposite natures, these two forces’ relationship is described as a “catalytic impetus” to for people’s movements and behavior.

  3. Dao

    4. This is the most unparalleled foundation of some Asian religions.  It is not a philosophy, but a, way of being; more specifically, it is a path or guide to living the right way, according to the laws of the universe

  4. I Ching

    5. In Chinese, this is the “Book Of Changes”, used as a reference by the Chinese for easy and practical advice to acquire harmony. The I Ching has been adjudged as the best tool for the goal of “Divination”. With respect to its function, it provides helpful insights for Feng Shui practitioners and followers alike.

  5. Bagua

    6. This refers to the eight trigrams (a set of three subsequent items from a sequence) exhibiting the eight essential aspects of human existence: family, prosperity, career, love, education health and children.  

    The Bagua is identified as a pattern that can be applied to any size or dimension of a given structure like buildings or a piece of property. Bagua is a common gadget of Feng Shui, and is usually demonstrated in the interior design of most Feng Shui-patterned houses

  6. The Five Elements

    7. Wood, Metal, Earth, Fire and Water.  These aspects of Feng Shui are essential, because they play a vital part for a perfect and harmonious atmosphere.

FENG SHUI SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

In studying this famous philosophical knowledge, different schools of thought have been established to discover Feng Shui to an extensive and intrinsic extent:

A. Form School – A school of thought that emphasizes on shapes and animals to carefully examine landscapes

B. Compass School – Considered to be the most established among Feng Shui’s schools of thought in Asia, the Compass School concentrates on direction – where a building faces, how rooms line up based on a compass – as a basis of analysis and calculation to harmonize energy flow. 

C. Black Sect Feng Shui – This focuses mainly on the Chi. It combines traditional Feng Shui spirituality and practice with science and psychology and,  with significant use of intuition, explores the interactive conditioning and communication between the Chi of an environment, and of a person.

Part 2 discusses the basic elements of Feng Shui, as well as suggestions for application in your own home.