My Feng Shui journey
Long ago and far away, I had my first encounter with what I thought was Feng Shui. It was the late 80s and I was an undergrad student researching the origins of Bronze Age ceremonial buildings. With no internet available at that time, my search for thesis material led me to a campus book store with a large New Age section. Seeing a sign advertising a class on Feng Shui – something I'd not heard of before - my nascent architect's brain was intrigued by a system that promised to teach me how to "fix health, wealth, and relationships." Who doesn't want to know how to do that?
[Note: This article is offered for entertainment purposes only. I do not offer medical advice, make financial recommendations, or do psychological counseling. Please consult professionals in those fields for your related concerns.]
I didn't know it then, but what I was about to learn was not real Feng Shui; it was a newly-created off-shoot which goes by names like Life Aspirations, Black Hat, Black Sect, and the full-monty of Black Hat Sect Tantric Buddhist Feng Shui. A monk and an interior decorator created this in the 1980s, designed to appeal to a Western audience that was completely ignorant of the real thing and wanted fast, cheap, and easy fixes. This customer would have no interest in the long-form study and commitment required to learn classical Feng Shui.
In this weekend class we were taught how to divide our homes into eight sections, each of which corresponds to an area of life such as the career, wealth, relationships, and so on. Everybody's home has the same life areas in the same directions, relationships in the Southwest, etc. We were told to use objects of certain colors in various places to "activate" the corresponding life sector, or to place objects like a pair of ducks for relationship enhancement. I was advised to hang bamboo flutes from my ceiling to mitigate harmful ceiling beams. Extensive use was made of trinkets like frogs with coins in their mouths and statues of various gods. Beds were always to be placed with the headboard positioned in a certain direction, and that direction was the same for everyone. Emphasis was placed on having in mind a certain intention for what you wanted to create as you were placing the objects. Hanging crystals from strings inside windows was another typical "fix." The two most common recommendations were mirrors1 and wind chimes2, to be placed prolifically both inside and outside of the house.
Post-class I immediately got to work on my house and the homes of five friends. I followed the recommendations exactly even though I wasn't crazy about the way most of them looked. I figured that if it works, I can put up with the eyesore. I journaled my intentions and kept them in mind; then I waited and observed, recording a daily entry so as to monitor progress as scientifically as possible. My five friends all did the same thing.
Six months later, nothing. I saw no changes at all other than the hit my bank account took buying all the recommended tchotchkies, chimes, crystals, and mirrors. It didn't work for my friends either, with one of them even losing her job. Experiment over, I took it all down. I had followed all instructions meticulously, monitored everything carefully, and now I had my proof: this doesn't work. Wasted time and money notwithstanding, I was glad I'd taken the class because in spite of itself it had taught me two important things: 1) What I just learned was useless and ineffective, either because the system being taught was faulty or the instructor was simply not good or both (remember, there was no internet available at this time to research such matters); and 2) despite that, I knew in my gut that there was something to this Feng Shui business – it was real and I wanted to know more.
It took three more years and a fortuitous meeting with a visiting grad-school professor from Taiwan to enlighten me about real Feng Shui a/k/a classical or traditional Feng Shui. He told me what I'd learned was not Feng Shui at all - "fake" is the word he used - and that the real thing was a vast and complicated subject the surface of which couldn't even be scratched in a weekend class. His disdain for westernized Feng Shui was profound. "They made it all up to make a profit, it does nothing!" he exclaimed. My instincts now confirmed, I began my journey of many years learning, mastering, and working with classical Feng Shui. Congratulations on finding your life's work, my first mentor said to me, smiling. Indeed, classical Feng Shui is the perfect bridge between my two fields of interest (and master's degrees), Anthropology and Architecture. It is also my career.
From the Neolithic to the Anthrpocene
Today, we who practice classical Feng Shui are burdened with constantly explaining how what we do is not the same as the more widely-known (in the West) version that unfortunately co-opted its name. Classical/traditional Feng Shui s the art and science of living in harmony with the space around you, be it your home, office, investment property, or any other building you spend time in; it also applies to empty lots or tracts of land and acreage with no buildings on them. The proper pronunciation is fung schway and those words mean "wind water" in Chinese. Its basic philosophy traces origins to about 6,000 years ago and it developed from the same principles that begat acupuncture, acupressure, herbology, Chinese medicine and philosophy, the I Ching, and so much more. Classical Feng Shui seeks to put into balance the flow of qi (pronounced "chee" and also spelled chi or ch'i) inside a building or outdoors on a plot of land. If this sounds flaky, then so is modern science which is reaching the same conclusions that the ancient Chinese knew all along: Everything is part of one, interconnected energy.
Classical Feng Shui developed through millennia of observation, testing, and refinement. Being a supremely pragmatic culture, the Chinese experimented and kept only what worked. Theories and practices used in classical Feng Shui today are no fluke, they are not based on intuition, and they are definitely not new. These are time-tested practices that, when applied properly, produce predictable, observable results. In fact, classical Feng Shui is now taught in a growing number of Western schools of architecture. It'll eventually be taught as a stand-alone degree at the 2-year, bachelor's, master's, and PhD, too. It's employed by many of the world's biggest and most profitable businesses from Disney to Wells Fargo to Virgin Atlantic and Microsoft and most of the casinos in Las Vegas.
It's a shame that this superbly effective, ancient art-science dating back to the Neolithic has been so muddled-up in the West; in the Orient, only real Feng Shui is practiced and they would not recognize the westernized form as being Feng Shui at all. One of my expectations for the new Feng Shui Period 9 (commencing February 4, 2024) is that over the next 20 years classical Feng Shui will come into its own in the West to be known for what it truly is, and take its rightful place in the fields of design, architecture, and philosophy (read my Substack article on Period 9 for more).
What classical Feng Shui is NOT
If you go online and search for any Feng Shui question, thousands of results will appear. For English readers, most of these will be westernized Feng Shui. You'll see a lot of suggestions for removing clutter and dividing the house into eight sectors and oodles of opportunities to purchase Feng Shui "cures" in the form of figurines, trinkets, and the ubiquitous wind chimes and mirrors. To be clear, if you happen to love the look of such things and they work for you, that's great; just know that what you're doing is decorating and that is not real Feng Shui. As for de-cluttering, that's just common sense as a well-ordered home or business always functions better than a messy one. One out of every 20 search results might contain useful classical Feng Shui information but since it's not a simple subject, it probably won't give you a satisfactory answer as to where to place the bed in your guest room. Even worse, an increasing number of websites and books are conflating faux Feng Shui with real Feng Shui, which is even more confusing. I can see why many would just throw up their hands and give up.
Being aware of the differences between classical Feng Shui and the other version is crucial. Here are some things that classical Feng Shui is NOT:
An Eastern philosophy based on superstition
A religion or derived from any religion
Magic
A New Age discovery
A quick fix for everything that ails you
About getting "lucky" or winning the lottery
A practice that requires you to set any "intention" in your mind to get results
Interior decorating
About clearing clutter
Using "cures" like crystals, mirrors, bamboo flutes, red ribbons, and statues or sculptures of various people, animals, and objects3
Known by any of the following names:
Black Hat Feng Shui
Black Sect Feng Shui
Black Hat Sect Tantric Buddhist Feng Shui
Western Feng Shui
Life Aspirations Feng Shui
If you read something on Feng Shui and cannot clearly see which type it is, be skeptical; it is probably not classical Feng Shui. Check out the source or provider of the information and verify which type they are practicing very carefully. Most of us who practice classical/traditional Feng Shui stress this affiliation, making it known sometimes to a very fine point.
Look for these hallmarks of faux Feng Shui:
Dividing a home into eight divisions often called "stations" labeled as career, helpful people, knowledge, children/creativity, family, marriage/relationships, wealth, and fame
Analyzing your home based on the placement of your front door (and not using a compass to determine this)
Advising you to put up mirrors, bamboo flutes, statues and trinkets, to paint walls and doors a certain color, to always have your bed facing a certain direction, and to hang numerous wind chimes to "fix" problems in your life
The absence of the words "classical" or "traditional" before Feng Shui in the name. Some authors and practitioners combine faux and classical Feng Shui, which is especially misleading and confusing
What classical Feng Shui IS
You'll know you've found a practitioner, school, or book on classical Feng Shui when you see these things:
The practitioner does her/his analysis using a luopan, which is a specialized Chinese compass made for Feng Shui. Real Feng Shui cannot be practiced without one and westernized Feng Shui does not use one at all.
Analyses are done based on the time, date, and place of birth of the occupant(s) of the home, the owner of a piece of land, or the principal actor(s) at a business location. All work is personalized according to these data.
The year the home/building was constructed or last had extensive remodeling done is used to create its basic chart.
The magnetic direction of the house/building's sitting (often but not always the back side) and facing (often but not always the building's front side) directions are used to determine the degrees used to calculate the Flying Stars chart.
A thorough analysis of surrounding land, roads, water, other buildings and features like electrical poles or 5G towers is done to create a qi map. Many Luopan readings must be taken on the exterior because what's outdoors is more important than what is indoors.
The practitioner will tour in and around the building and land in person or using remote technology to properly analyze the site. Ideally, the practitioner will "run the dragon" which means physically walking on the land, up and down hills etc. to find dragon veins, entry and exit points for water, roads and qi, and more.
Math . . .big compasses written in Chinese . . . years of study and practice . . . it's no wonder somebody created a watered-down way of presenting classical Feng Shui to a Western audience. And yet the authentic, old-school form has survived and thrived for thousands of years. Even when the great masters left China after the Cultural Revolution of 1949, their knowledge moved with them. Today, classical Feng Shui practitioners work for individuals and businesses all over the world with major centers in cities like Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Taipei. It survives because it works.
1I advise clients to take great care with all mirror placement inside the home and I never use them outside a building. Generally, I recommend no mirrors other than what is functionally necessary, like a bathroom vanity mirror because they tend to create problems where none existed before. Mirrors in the bedroom are particularly problematic as they disrupt sleep patterns, increase nervous anxiety, and more.
2 On rare occasions, I do recommend the hanging of one outdoor wind chime, as when a strong metal influence is needed to balance an important doorway; here, a large wind chime made of high-quality metal like bronze, stainless steel, pewter, or silver can help. I like the ones made by Cosanti in Scottsdale, Arizona. I do not ever recommend indoor cures using wind chimes.
3Some classical Feng Shui masters do use occasional placement of certain objects, like an animal sculpture or image of a protective god, in their designs. I've found that I get best results when I place enhancements and guardians based on the element they're made of perhaps combined with their shape and size; it's less about item's image or likeness than what it is made of.
Katarina Lang, MArch, MA, advises clients on classical Feng Shui projects for residential, investment, commercial, and corporate properties. She works with individuals, businesses, and corporations from all over the world to improve their well-being, encompassing career, relationships, health, creativity, and wealth. In addition to holding master’s degrees in both Architecture and Anthropology and being a master of classical Feng Shui, Katarina graduated from culinary school and is a professional Dowser.
Visit Lang, Barisoni & Song for more information or to schedule a consultation.