Feng Shui translates as Wind and Water. Often referred to as "The Chinese Art of Placement" it is part philosophy, part religion and part common sense about how any given environment affects its self and surrounding environments. Its most common gauge is the flow of Ch'i, the Cosmic Breath or Universal Energy, which permeates all things. Just as Wind and Water flow around places, objects and people; Ch'i flows around, into and out of all things.

How Wind and Water currents flow has an impact on their surroundings, either immediately or over time. A sudden rush of can destroy buildings, bridges and towns, while a steady current can wear away stone to form canyons or dunes across a desert. The right balance of quantity and force of water allows one to wash dirt from vegetables for a fresh salad. Just the right amount of wind keeps a kite aloft on a lazy summer day. Finding this balance is living in harmony with Wind and Water.

Living in Harmony with Ch'i is just as simple. Too much too fast can overpower an environment. Too little too slowly and the area can become stagnant. To find the right balance of Ch'i it will help to keep the following principles of Feng Shui in mind:

		Everything is Energy
		Energy Connects Everything
		Everything Changes
		Your Space Reflects Your Life
		Use Nature as Your Model
		Intention is Everything

Energy can be as easy to define as Electricity and as difficult to define as the Human Spirit.

Science tells us everything is made of chemicals, in either a solid, liquid or gaseous state and that these chemicals contain energy either stored or actively being released.

The Metaphysical Sciences of Religion and Philosophy describe Energy as Souls, Auras, Life Force, The Divine--Universal or Specific, even, Young Skywalker, as The Force That Connects All Things. It has been described as Primal, Cosmic and Ethereal. That It is beyond our normal ability to perceive It and is consider "Super-," "Para-," "Extra-," or "Beyond the Normal Human Experience" when, in fact, this is not the case.

A simple experiment. Close your eyes. Recall your current environment. See it in your mind. Select an object. Recall its color, shape, texture, temperature and smell. Select another object and explore it, all sides. Move around the room selecting a variety of items. Notice when you select a large object how your mind draws you along the object until you sense its entirety? Do you sense an object next to it? That is Energy, the Energy of the object and your connection to it. In Feng Shui this is referred to as Environmental Ch'i.

The more physical or emotional contact with an object, the stronger the connection. Another simple, but more strenuous, experiment is to empty the contents of a room or large closet which has not been rearranged for some time.

First stand in the room, close your eyes and sense all the objects, then begin clearing them out. Depending on your connection to the room (or the objects you first select) you may sense an overall change early on or it may take a while. At some point you will pick up an item, move it out of the room and come back only to discover a "difference" in the room. This difference is not only due to a visually emptier space but also to the broken connection of the objects that were in the room; old energies patterns have been removed, new ones are now on the way in.

This is a conscious change of the environment--in the control of the person moving the objects. Other changes are not necessarily conscious or they are in the control of someone else. Change is inevitable. People and objects get older; maturing and acquiring patinas. People move in and move away. Tides and fashions come and go. New buildings are built on the shells of old ones, or on land cleared for them.

Change, in and of it's self, is not good or bad. It's natural. This is the philosophy behind the Tai Chi symbol of two circling swirls (one black and one white) each with an essence of the other continuing the cycle of change at it's heart.

When energetic or physical changes occur they will be considered either beneficial or challenging to the environment. Feng Shui is a way of interpreting how these changes are impacting the Environment and to determine it's possible causes or whether it's affects will be a Challenge or a Bonus.

While Humans have an active hand in shaping their Environments, their Environments also shape them. These affects may not necessarily be sudden, but cumulative. A blocked door causes frustration entering a room. A negative association begins to develop with that room which effects the contents used in the room. If the blockage is not removed the room's use begins to suffer shutting off energy to that room causing It to stagnate which has a negative effect on the rooms Feng Shui Aspiration. Removing the blockage allows for easier access and the room is brought back into harmony with the rest of building.

Original Harmony is found in Nature. Over thousands of years Nature created its balances and created its own Adjustments to maintain the environmental harmony. In the course of progress, Man was part of Nature's original "Checks and Balances." Then Humans began to alter the Natural Environment for their advantage creating "Artificial Environments" in the form of homes and cities.

As these new environments developed they borrowed concepts from Nature. The traffic flow of city streets and guests at a dinner party mimic the flow of water in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. The visual and audible clues provided by mirrors, pictures, fountains and wind chimes simulate the wind blowing around mountains and trees helping birds to soar great distances.

Ch'i flows around Man-made Environments just as the Wind and Water flow around the Natural Environment affecting change. Intentional enhancement or adjustments in the flow of Ch'i should fit naturally into this new environment. The more naturally the adjustment fits into the environment the more successful it is likely to be. Moving items willy-nilly with no specific goal may not bring about desired changes.

Several common adjustments can also be fairly vague. Mirrors can push walls back, or move items across the room. Crystals can speed up or slow down Ch'i. Without a focused goal or Intention the results are likely to be unpredictable if at all.

The more understand and focus behind object placement, the more personal power placed into the goal of the object through intention the more successful the adjustment of energy is likely to be. The more successful the adjustment, the better the Harmony.

Created: 29-February-2000, Last updated: 26-May-2000

© Lori Bogren 2000.

Feng Shui since 10-February-2000:

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