Feng Shui

Feng shui (Chinese for “wind, water”) is an ancient Chinese belief system that concerns the relationship between objects and their environment and the effect that this relationship has on people. According to feng shui, placing objects in certain locations within a house, for example, or aligning buildings in certain ways, will bring good luck, prosperity, and feelings of harmony by allowing an invisible life energy (called chi) to flow more smoothly—much like wind or water does—through the environment. Conversely, blocking this energy by positioning objects improperly will bring bad luck, poverty, and feelings of disquiet. It is also considered bad to allow energy to flow through an environment too quickly, via an uninterrupted straight line called a secret arrow, because then the energy is going so fast that parts of it fly off and disappear. (However, a secret arrow is considered acceptable if the straight line is on a ceremonial route leading to a sacred shrine.)

Believers in feng shui use these principles and others to make many decisions in their lives. For example, building sites are chosen based on whether the topography is believed to have a good, strong flow of energy. Without such a flow, feng shui devotees say, the building will be weaker structurally, and the activities within it will be performed in a halfhearted, sluggish manner. If the landscape lacks the right conditions but using a different site is impossible, then a feng shui expert is called upon to alter the site’s contours to improve the energy flow and/or to place objects around the building, such as fountains or decorative walls, to contain or deflect energy as required. Similarly, the architects of a house built according to principles of feng shui are careful not to place walls, windows, or doors in ways that will bring the home’s residents bad luck. For example, they do not align doors because if a series of doors were to be left open it would create a secret arrow. Similarly, architects avoid positioning stairways so that they lead directly to—and therefore rush energy out of—the front door, because this is believed to drain good fortune, particularly in the form of money, from a household.

Residents of a home who believe in feng shui are equally careful in the placement of their possessions. For example, they keep rooms free of clutter because it blocks the flow of energy, and they hang small wind chimes near the front door (called the “mouth of chi” because it is where energy enters a building) in order to keep away bad luck and bring more money into the home.

Furniture placed in the wrong spot in a room is said to cause all kinds of problems for the household’s residents, including fights and illnesses, so practitioners of feng shui take particular care in decorating their homes. To determine the placement of furniture and other movable objects, a feng shui expert creates a ba-gua, an octagonal map that divides spaces within a building or within each room into eight sectors, each representing a different aspect of life: wealth, fame, marriage, children, helpful people, career, knowledge, and the family. This map is then consulted before furniture placement. For example, beds are positioned in accordance with the sleeper’s age and marital status. Children’s beds are put in the “children’s area” of a room; couples’ beds belong in the “marriage area”; a young adult’s bed should be placed in an area connected to his or her pursuits, such as the “knowledge area” for a college student or the “career” or “helpful people” area for someone just starting a new job; and an older, unmarried person’s bed should be in the “family” area. Mirrors in a bedroom are believed to cause bad dreams, whereas beds placed directly below ceiling beams are believed to cause chronic bad health or ongoing arguments between couples.

Numerous books have been written on the subject of how to create good feng shui within a home. Moreover, there are so many complicated beliefs and practices related to feng shui that believers often hire professional feng shui consultants to tell them where to put their possessions within a home or office. Some people also consult feng shui experts before designing a building so they will know how to orient stairs, doorways, walls, and windows.

SEE ALSO:

• Earth energy

SOURCE:

The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning