Latest Feng Shui updates!

So here is one movie that goes over the basics for you. Also on you tube there are many examples of rooms and the arrangements in them. None of the videos are particularly amazing but I think the overview this one gives wraps it up nicely.

There is also this website http://www.wofs.com/ which is dedicated to "The World of Feng Shui" which gives you everything from the tip of the day to enhace onces life to articles by scholars and practitioners of it.

I found that here in San Francisco we have a school of Feng Shui http://www.fengshuischool.com/
where one may become certified in the art of Feng Shui and i also found the Feng Shui directory which is a directorymade up of practitioners, teachers, educators, professionals, consultants, and schools all of which are a part of feng Shui net working http://www.fengshuidirectory.com/cgi-bin/find.pl?state=CA_Northern.

what i found facinating was the market today for Feng Shui consultants and specialty designers. Basically the American way of commodifying traditions which were once sacred and passed but today can be bought. Through a book, consultations, videos, tapes, and then some. There are sites for quick and easy tips all the way to ones way of life There is no shortage of business for architectural Feng Shui work.


Hello hello!
Okay so in my research of Feng Shui I came across many different meanings of it. Perhaps this is why it seems somewhat muddled when different people I have spoken to try to explain it to me. It seems as though in the USA we commonly refer to Feng Shui when talking about arranging a room in a certain way, painting something certain colors, or mainly overall for architectural purposes. There is a ton of information out there on the details of how one can go about making changes to their everyday life using Feng Shui techniques but I chose to focus more on the theories of history and the stuff that wasn’t just on wikipedia. But feel free to check out the wikipedia article if you want more hands on info.
Feng Shui is presented in many forms. Science, art, philosophy and religion are all different interpretations of how it can be practiced.

Theory one:
“Feng Shui means “wind and water” and it is so called, “because it’s a thing like wind, which you cannot comprehend, and like water which you cannot grasp” (page 3 Eitel).
Eitel views Feng Shui as a “Chinese natural science a spirit of sacred reverence for the divine powers of nature.”
He speaks to the order of nature and how “the laws of nature and all the workings of its vital breath are in strict accordance with certain mathematical principles (this is called Li), which may be traced and illustrated by diagrams exhibiting the numerical proportion of the universe called So, or Numbers” (page 8) Also, nature is Hi “subtle energies and Ying, natures appearance – together these create the system of Feng-Shui.

From this he derives that Feng-Shui is the interpretation of the laws of nature, deciphering the astrology of the planets to match up with the 28 constellations, 5 planets, the seasons, and the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water).

Though he does say that, “practically speaking it is simply a system of superstition, supposed to teach people where and when to build a tomb or to erect a house so as to insure for those concerned everlasting prosperity and happiness” (page 4 Eitel).

Theory 2
“The science of Feng Shui analyzed this force in the environment with the intention of controlling its manifestations in the individual. Such analysis was scientific only insofar as it was based on empirical observation. When other factors such as numerology and astrology were consulted, Feng Shui became less a science and more an art. The "art" of Feng Shui derives little or nothing from the elemental, physiological plane but requires adherence to a belief in something like a force of destiny or fate.”

Some Misleading Concepts
The following are some concepts and believes that have been found not corrected or even totally wrong in Kan Yu theory: (this man interprets Feng Shui as having derived from Kan Yu Theory) “Kan Yu is the proper term of Feng Shui. Kan means the theory of cosmology and Yu means the theory of terrestrial (Shen, Xu). To be precise, they refer to the theory of time and location in the Chinese history”

1. Facing south is the best.
2. Feng Shui comes from Taoism or Buddhism.
3. Kan Yu is totally a superstition.
4. There are dragons under the ground explained by the theory.
5. It is related to soul and mediumistic.
6. This is about evil and god.
7. Mirror can enhance Qi.
8. Walk through Nine Stars is cure.
9. It is about palmistry or face observation.
10. Hanging flute and ba-gau can avoid evil.
11. Color can totally adjust and enhance Qi.
(http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/k/kan_yu_feng_shui.html) by Thomas Wai-pang Lee

He also has an explanation for what chi (qi) is which I thought was interesting -
“Thousands of pages of commentary have been dedicated to the explication of this term and, quite frankly, no English translation can do it justice. While "energy" may capture some of its physical characteristics, such a word does not address its metaphysical qualities.”


Third theory: seems to be the most common
“Feng Shui is concerned with the ebb and flow of chi, which refers to the energies around us. It's a resource Feng Shui experts try to harness for the homeowner's well being. This flow reacts to color, light, sound, temperature, smell and movement, which makes it harder to measure, but easier to manipulate.”

“Feng Shui dates back thousands of years to China where people first used it to find the most appropriate and honorable places to bury the dead. Today, it's embraced in both original and westernized forms. The latter has a more pragmatic, less spiritual approach to the practice. The belief in and understanding of chi unites the disparate schools of thought.” Christian Toto, The Washington Times “wind, water flow at home; Feng Shui will bring balance, and happiness to rooms at home, some say.”


Helpful sights I came across

http://www.amfengshui.com/olfaq/#1

“http://www.amfengshui.com/intro-seminar/

http://www.fengshuigate.com/qimancy.html

http://www.fengshuigate.com/Art-of-Fengshui.html

http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.ignacio.usfca.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?risb=21_T3012633825&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T3012633828&cisb=22_T3012633827&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=8176&docNo=3

Feng Shui, or the rudiments of natural science in China by Ernest John Eitel. 2004
Pages 1-35

Stephen L. Field, (http://www.fengshuigate.com/qimancy.html)