Achieve a Balance – Feng Shui All the Way

Achieve a Balance – Feng Shui All the Way

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese belief that involves the study of both the natural and the built environment.  The arrangements of these objects affect the yin and the yang, as well as the energy of a room.

Feng Shui has developed into many different versions based on religion, geography, symbolism and culture.  One commonality of all Feng Shui practitioners, however, is the belief in energy.  The different schools of Feng Shui have developed into seven different predominant forms.

The first school of thought is the Compass school.  The compass school uses 8 trigrams of the I-Ching.  These 8 trigrams are known collectively as Pa Kua, which is based on the eight main directions of a compass.  Each of these directions is associated with a specific chi.  A southern direction, for example, is vibrant energy and is associated with the middle of the summer.

Another school is the Eight Mansion School, also known as the Eight House Feng Shui.  This school of thought is based on the individual number of a person.  The number of the man living in the home is used to bring harmony and balance to the home.  Furthermore, people using this system have both lucky and unlucky numbers, with the west numbers being 2, 6, 7, and 8 and the east numbers being 1, 3, 4, and 9.  

The Form school of thought is based on the landscape’s shape and uses four symbolic animals.  These animals are used to identify the type of landscape.  The Form school is easy to use along with the Compass school to increase chi both in and out of the home.

The Black Hat Sect is another school of thought.  The Black Hat Sect used a fixed entry point for determination of the life areas.  It is similar in philosophy to the Compass school, but the areas are different.  In addition, the Black Hat Sect mixes psychology, Buddhism and basic design principles, as well.  

Another school is the Nine Star Key School.  This form used stars to help identify lucky and unlucky days.  Using complicated math formulas, this school can pinpoint when a person will get married and the astrological sign of the person to be married to.  This form is very inflexible and is based purely on science.  The Nine Star Key will also tell the practitioner what house he lives in and makes suggestions on how to live based on the house.

The Flying Star philosophy is the most common Asian form of Feng Shui and is based on astrology and numerology.  This form is difficult to understand and to learn.  It, too, is based on mathematical principals and is used to determine a person’s fate.

The final school of thought is the Four Pillars.  This form is not very common and is based on astrology according to the person’s date of birth, right down to the minutes.  This form is also used to determine a person’s fate.

After determining which school of thought is best for an individual, it is important to also understand the five elements of Feng Shui.  These five elements are:  Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood.  The elements are capable of destroying each other’s energies and forming a continual cycle.  Through the use of these elements, balance and harmony can be created in a home.  If these elements are used incorrectly, however, the energy can be destroyed or lessened.

Each of the five elements is also associated with a color, direction, and number.

Earth (Brown/Beige) - 2,5,8 - Southwest 

Fire (Red/Purple) – 9 - South 

Water (Blue/Black) – 1 - North

Metal (Grey/Reflective) - 6,7 - West 

Wood (Green) - 3,4 - East 

Each of these elements has both a destructive and a productive cycle and must be used carefully.

The productive cycle uses the following pattern:  

Water – Wood – Fire – Earth – Metal 

Water feed feeds Wood for it to grow.  Wood then feeds Fire and produces Earth.  Earth, in turn created Metal.  Metal holds water and, thus, continues the cycle.  To keep this cycle flowing, bring into the room the elements before and after the main element 

The destructive cycle reduces energy and can be used in a room where one element needs to be lessened.  It follows this pattern:

Water – Fire – Metal – Wood – Earth

Water puts out Fire and Fire melts Metal.  Metal cuts Wood down and Wood clogs Earth, while Earth muddies Water.

All rooms in a Feng Shui home should be balanced with these five elements, but different items may weight heavier than others.  For example, a chair might score as three counts of an element while a throw pillow only counts as one because of the difference in size.

Feng Shui can bring both beauty and balance to a home.