Frequently Asked Questions about Feng Shui

Some Basics:

1. What is Feng Shui?

"Feng" (Wind) and "Shui" (Water) is the ancient Chinese art of harmonizing our environment with nature dated back five thousand years. It believes the balance between man and nature will bring things that surround us to their optimal states, including our health and happiness. It is done through an energy link, called Qi.

2. What is Qi?

Qi is the life force of our universe. It is energy. It is invisible, but it is everywhere. Positive Qi is sometimes called positive energy, good energy, or good Qi. The Chinese refer to it simply as Qi. Qi meanders and flows slowly around us in our environment. It brings with it harmony, and promotes prosperity, happiness and good health. Positive Qi is Yang Qi.

Qi is sometimes hampered by sharp edges, both of architecture and personality. And sometimes the flow of Qi will be stopped abruptly when it encounters an atmosphere of negative vibrations. The negative vibrations are called "Sha Qi" or negative energy. Unlike, good Qi, Sha Qi travels fast in straight lines and around sharp corners. Sha Qi is dangerous. And it is Yin Qi.

Everything is a balance between those two. Good Qi could turn to bad Qi when it is sluggish or stagnant caused by obstacles. If your environment is unbalanced in favor of Sha Qi, it will foster poor health, hostile emotions and misfortunes.

3. What are Five Elements?

Five elements are metal, wood, water, earth and fire. Qi is manifested in these five basic elements. The elements are not fixed, they are constantly changing and interacting together to create an object, an event, a situation, or en emotion. They produce each other, and they also destroy/control each other depending on the combinations. They should be all present in a balanced way to achieve harmony in our lives. (Attract positive energy)

Metal: Besides mineral metal like silver and gold, the element also includes the energies of man-made fabrication. The metal element enhances mental acuity, independence, and organization. Too much metal creates mental rigidity, stubbornness while too little metal leads indecisiveness and procrastination.

Water: Water is very special in feng shui. It is a part of Words Feng Shui. This element nourishes all energies of growth. It carries tremendous amount Qi energy. The water element enhances spirituality, inspiration, relaxation, and the ability to go with the flow. Too much water in an environment can diminish productivity, while too little water will lead stress and anxiety.

Wood: Wood is the energy of spring. It encourages the growth. It is the symbol of beginning. Energetically, the Wood element fosters your intuition, creativity, and flexibility. When there is too much wood in an environment, it can promote a sense of being overwhelmed, while too little wood stagnate growth and impede intuitive and creative flow.

Fire: Fire activates leadership qualities. It promotes passion, expression, and sociability. Too much fire in an environment amplifies aggression, impatience, and impulsive behavior, while too little fire can promote emotional darkness or less self-esteem.

Earth: Earth is another special element. The earth element enhances physical strength, durance and stability. Earth element also has nurturing, caring characteristics in family life. Too much earth in a home creates an atmosphere that is heavy, or conservative, while too little of the earth element promotes instability, clutter, less resourcefulness.

4. How the elements interact with each other?

The five elements continually produce and destroy each other in a special sequence. The correct understanding of Elements' relationship sequence is perhaps the most useful thing you can learn about feng shui. It helps you to understand the process of change. More importantly, it enables you to manipulate the process of change to your own advantage.

The production cycle:

Metal produces water. (cold surface on which forms dew)

Water produces wood. ( nourishes wood)

Wood produces fire. (feeds fire)

Fire produces earth. (burns into ash, or earth)

Earth produces metal. ( is the mother in which are found veins of metal)

The Destruction/Controlling cycle:

Metal (axes) cuts down wood.

Wood puts its roots down into the soil and feeds on earth.

Earth silts up water.

Water puts out fire.

Fire melts metal.

5. Locate the Five Elements on BaGua.

BaGua came from I-Ching. It is the foundation which most of the Chinese culture and art was based on. It has eight sectors. Each sector has an element besides other notions. The following is a simple BaGua for our discussion:

Use the BaGua map to locate each sector or direction of your home. Take a look at the physical placement of your home and compare it with the elements from the map. Are they in harmony?

6. How to balance the elements?

After you correlate the directions with the BaGua map, you probably will find out some of the areas are quite nicely balanced. Don't fix it if there is no problem. For the area that needs work, you can stimulate the element's Qi by activating it.

There are two simple ways of activating an element. First, add some more of the same element. Second, you could stimulate the element that produces the element you are trying to activate. For example, if you were trying to activate wood energy, you could apply water, since water produces wood:

My secret of stimulate an element is to use its "producer," the Parent-Element relationship. For the same example, water process wood, so by introducing water, you automatically stimulate the wood energies. I also like to use the Element-Child relationship to balance an element instead of using destroying nature of the elements. I use the element's child to reduce the power of the mother element. (Counter example, to minimize the effects of an element, Wood, For example, metal destroys wood, so by introducing metal, you limit the wood energies in that room)

Sector

Parent of the Element

Element Itself

Child of the Element

W, NW

Earth

Metal

Water

N

Metal

Water

Wood

E, SE

Water

Wood

Fire

S

Wood

Fire

Earth

SW, NE

Fire

Earth

Metal

To produce more...

To drain or weaken...

Fire: (South)
Fire is located in the south sector. To activate it, add fire or things symbolic of fire. Wood is the producing element for fire, so adding wood in the south would also be good. Candle is an excellent activator of fire. There are other fire enhancers, such as lights and red-colored items.

Water: (North)
Water is located in the north sector. To activate it, you could add actual water, or things symbolic of water, like the color black, or pictures of waterfalls. Metal is the producing element for water, so adding metal in the north would be good too. A fountain is an excellent object for this area also because it is carries moving water (Yang water) vs. stagnant water (yin water).

Earth: (Southwest, Northeast)
Earth is located in the center and the southwest and northeast sectors. To activate it, you could add earthy things or symbolic representations. Fire is the producing element for earth, so adding fire would work too. Any crystals in these areas will bring you amazing results.

Wood: (East, Southeast)
Wood is located in the east and southeast sectors. You can add growing plants or things symbolic of wood. Water is also the producing element for wood, so adding water in the east or southeast would also be appropriate.
Bamboo or bamboo deco are very good in those areas. Bundles of vigorously shooting bamboo canes constitute an excellent symbol for prosperity and growth.

Metal: (West, Northwest)
Metal is located in the west and northwest sectors. To activate it, you could add metal, or symbolic metal. Earth is the producing element for metal, so adding earth element in west or northwest would also be appropriate. It is literally the metal extracted from its "mother", the earth. Put any stringed or loose Chinese coins in those areas will bring you financial success.