trying to learn feng shui

[KimSullivan]

hi all

I am just getting my feet wet and I'm not exactly sure where even to start. Any suggestions for me?

I'm a Realtor in MA. I became interested in Feng Shui after marketing a condo that was feng shui. I didn't know it at the time, but I did know that I felt very calm and that my blood pressure felt as though it went down everytime i walked into her condo.  I want to do that for my home and help my clients do it when trying to selltheir home. I figure it can only help!

[silkconcepts]

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Feng Shui: The Complete Guide to the Art and Practice of Feng Shui

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui: How to Apply the Secrets of Chinese Wisdom for Health, Wealth and Happiness

These are 2 very good books by Lillian Too to start. They will help get you off and learning. There are several schools of thought with FS but see which one sounds best for you. Most important is to learn and understand the 5 elements. After that, 8 mansion, then flying star, then 4 pillar if you so desire. There is no order really just what you find fits better for you. Just note, there's so much contradiction out there on schools of thought and even within same school. Go with what feels right to you. And you don't have to decorate with only Chinese theme (unless you want to).
Happy learning!   silkconcepts

[sarjon]

Hello,
I'm just start my study to Feng Shui By myself that beceause I live in Syria and we don't have any master or teacher in our country, though, can you help me to fine a usefull books as eastern in english because our region is the near east.
Best regards

[silkconcepts]

I too have limited resource where I live. The idea of Feng Shui is not even mentioned. I came across it by accident after praying long and hard for something to help me with my life and marriage.  I've been muddling around with many sites, books and e-courses.  Much of what you'll find is contradicting. What I've found is it's important to learn the following:

5 elements (get very intimate with these)
8 Mansion (for the personal aspect)
Flying Star (for house's aspect)
BaZi aka 4 Pillars (for a more complete personal addition)

Lillian Too has many books that are very helpful. Basics to Feng Shui along with the others I mention in the previous post have been very helpful for me. Eva Wong has a very good one for Flying Star but it varies slightly from LT. Flying Star Feng Shui from Stephen Skinner is another very good one. There are many out there but I suggest checking out your local library to see if you can get them before you purchase. Amazon.com has a lot of great deals on used books. Also check out the forums on geomancy.net and Lillian Too's wofs.com   Hope this helps.

[pirbid]

Hallooo!

After reading and puzzling through dozens of books on FS for the past ten years or so, I find that some concepts are a little tricky to tackle at the very beginning: Flying Star is one of them, as it requires quite a bit of calculating.

My advice for a beginner is:

- Do not be concerned at first with the differences in teachings. In time, you will get to keep that which you find most useful and still applicable to you in the long run (bear in mind these concepts are many millennia old and a few are slightly out of sync with modern living: learning to tell superstition from truth is another tricky bit).

- Start with the School of Shape, just to learn to look around you with FS eyes. Master Lam Kam Chuen has a great introductory book, "Chinese Science of Feng Shui", by Gaia books. Then he takes you a bit further with his "Your Personal Feng Shui", also from Gaia. These two books are beautifully illustrated and you can easily understand how the energy flows by looking at the pics.

- When you are confident about knowing your 5 elements and your 4 animals, you can start taking the 8 directions into account. Lillian Too is by far the most prolific author on FS, but I recommend you to start with "Essential Feng Shui", by Rider (although by now you can find it under many other publishers, I guess). This is one of the most complete FS books you can find, nearly a FS bible by itself. One little thing, though: L.Too is a really enthusiastic applier of FS and can lead you to get a little obsessed with following everything exactly to the letter. Just breath and relax... There is no such thing as the perfect dwelling, unless you make it yourself.

- Before going on to the more complicated Flying Star stage, another beautiful book for beginners to look at FS and the 5 elements from a wider point of view (including your personal health, changes throughout life, etc) is Jon Sandifer's "Feng Shui Journey", by Judy Piatkus, London. Only those who really know what they are talking about can manage to explain it in such a simple and entertaining way (btw, in case you get carried away into 9 Star Ki, like I did, he has another great book on the subject called "Feng Shui Astrology", also by Piatkus).

- When you feel ready to really dig your elbows down, Eva Wong's "A Master Course in Feng Shui", by Shambhala, is just the thing. Mind you, you must feel really awake and keen to tackle this book.

I have read many other books on FS. Curiously enough, most of them written by western authors. While a few of them have a great mastery of the subject (like Sandifer), I find many only kept to those essentials they felt they could deal with. Some of them left out the 8 directions, which I feel is really central to this art, even if you do not tackle them first thing. So I am not including any of them here. In fact, I only included those I kept after reading and rereading a few dozens.

Another interesting parallel art to FS is Vastu Vidya, the Indian version, which I believe is as old as Chinese FS (give or take a few hundred years). Unfortunately, I only got to read one book about it, written by a western decorator, so I have no way of knowing how knowledgeable she is on the subject. Books on Vastu have only appeared in the last few years and there aren't many authors available to the western world.  :smt115 : I know! I will ask at the Vedic forum in case someone can recommend books by good authors on the subject!  :smt002

[silkconcepts]

pirbid-- I totally agree with you on "Essential Feng Shui" I can't believe I forgot to mention that one. One other thing I forgot to mention is that Lillian Too has a lot of Chinese folklore and superstition mixed with her remedies. She believes a lot in the use of symbolic objects. (It also helps when you own your own megamall that sells them.) I personally try to just stick with the 5 elements and use symbols that fit my environment.  

BTW, what is your take on LT vs. Eva Wong's comparison of star combinations? LT compares water star with mountain star but Eva compares water star with base star. If I use Eva's method, the outcome in some of my sectors vary greatly from LT's method and I'm not sure which one feels right. Which method do you feel is correct?  Anyone....

[pirbid]

Oh, Silk, I would not dare contradict any of those eminences but, if you must know, the one time I bothered to make the calculations for both my homes, I used Eva's book and method. I don't know, she looks so serious and professional in the picture on the back cover...  :smt003

However, I usually cannot be bothered to recalculate every aspect of my home for every year and month (I used to, and then I forgot to keep track of the information even though I had a chart posted in each room!). I just make sure the views from the windows are nice, the water where it should, seats against the walls, bed correctly positioned in regard to doors and windows...

Actually, I find the school of Shape to be the easiest to take into account the whole time, i.e. keeping the center of the house and each room clear so that one can comfortably move about! I enjoy using pakua elements and directions when choosing colors and materials because it narrows down my choice of options and makes it easier. Other than that, as long as I feel happy at home, I do not worry overmuch.

One thing I fear a little about LT is that she does not make very clear which are the priorities: she seems to believe you must have everything absolutely right, lest you attract terrible misfortune upon yourself. But I find that unrealistic, so I decided which were "my" priorities: healthy home environment, the best possible sights, sun and light all over and comfortable, cozy but uncluttered spaces.

Btw, my kitchen, toilets, bedroom, etc are situated exactly as Vastu recommends, so I am not bothering too much with things that are so hard to change.

Nice to meet you, Silkconcepts!  :)

[silkconcepts]

Same here pirbid  :smt006

I don't know about Vastu. I'm going to have to check it out. The journey with Feng Shui is such a frustrating one and life's hard enough as it is. Guess that's why you should know your BaZi. (heehee) Without growing up with an oriental background it's that much harder to pick up. It's like trying to learn a foreign language for the first time after you're like 60 something.

[alee]

Hello there,

I would suggest a Malaysian author called Lillian Too if anyone is interested in studying feng shui. She is very famous in Malaysia.

[silkconcepts]

Here's an interesting article from Lillian Too's site  www.wofs.com
Vaastu & Feng Shui - Similar Sciences or Worlds Apart?

pirbid mentioned this topic and I thought others might want to check it out.

[tootsiewon]

Lillian's directional Feng and Eva's entry Feng might seem to be at odds with each other.  Maybe they're not.  

My first encounter with Feng Shui was through Eva Wong.  When I applied her concepts to my home I was amazed at the result!  Within two months, my business took off like an SST - still going well 10 years later.  My kids did better in school and my relationships with my teenage kids improved dramatically - and that's no small feat!  Friends, extended family and all other relationships began to be smoother and more fulfilling.  My love relationship flourished.  

I found the Directional School confusing, when I first encountered it.  Everything seemed to be at odds.

When I moved my business from a home office to a public space, I focused on the Directional School and found that, once again, things flourished.  Customers entering my business would often comment, "It feels so good in here!"  

When I started paying attention to Flying Star Charts, things became less peaceful.  I think Flying Star complicated and confused my space.  Or, maybe my rudimentary skills couldn't cope.  Maybe it was Feng Clutter!

I'm considering returning to a simpler focus:  Entry point ala Eva Wong.  Massaging that has what's worked best for my home.  Directional has worked best for my business, so it seems best to retain that particular focus for my business locations.

I'm not yet willing to discard Flying Star Feng.  I could use some insight into its application, however.  

Of course, I'm interested in all perspectives.  (Being a Virgo, I like analysis!)

Sending this with love...

[pirbid]

Yep, Tootsiewon, I also find Flying Star a positive nightmare! (I do not think I ever got to the four pillars Silkconcepts was mentioning, unless I know them by some other name; I just know the 4 animals).

Not only because it requires a scientific mind to calculate everything, but also because you must keep recalculating every year and keeping track of changes throughout the year. I just cannot seem to focus so much on FS.

I understand directional and find it quite logical, just as Shape, so those make my home comfy. I am afraid there is nothing I can do about things at work, save for watering the plants, so...  :smt003

[tootsiewon]

That's why I say, "If it feels right..."  When something's not going right, look around your space and find what feels wrong.  OR, just keep the plants watered!  LOL!

[silkconcepts]

Hey all, clarification: 4 pillars is also called BaZi

I'm not into it since it's hard enough trying to understand flying star, 8 mansion and the 5 elements
Perhaps one day all this will come together for me. But like a true Scorpio I have to keep trudging forward until I've figured this out. This has become personal now. Like a dog chasing a bone  GRRR!

silkconcepts

[alex_1982]

i am here in jamaica and i would love to learn fung shui. how can i improve my life with fung shui?