What are the basics of feng shui?

Question

I want to learn more about feng shui. I have heard that what most websites give are "western" takes on feng shui and not right. What are the basics of true feng shui and how can I apply those principles to my home?

Answer 1

I am recommending two books I have found especially helpful in Feng Shui: "Feng Shui Step By Step" by T. Raphael Simons, and "Practical Feng Shui" by Simon Brown. The first gives you an intro into the numerology behind Feng Shui that makes the design fixes more personal. It also deals with a home's layout, and room layouts. The second book explains the principals of Feng Shui, and gives detailed fixes for locations of rooms. Both of these are very helpful in understanding the concepts.

The two main ways of looking at your home are to start from the front door, or from a particular compass direction. The eight directions correspond to the compass points, and to the five "elements." North is water. Continuing in a clockwise manner, northeast is earth. East is tree, and southeast is tree. The south is fire. Southwest earth. West is metal, and northwest is metal. The center of the home is earth. If you use the door method it correlates to the North, and the elements move around in the same clockwise manner. I prefer the compass point method. There is way too much detail for me to even begin to explain, so go to your bookstore and look for the most detailed book available.

The one problem Feng Shui has is in dealing with bathrooms. When Feng Shui was invented there were no baths. Water had to be hauled in, heated, then hauled out after the bath; a time consuming and relatively expensive use of servants. In Feng Shui water is a tricky commodity. It is both creative (rain for crops), and destructive (floods). So the bath is not viewed in the Western sense of being a haven for relaxation and regeneration; it is viewed mainly as a negative area.