Feng shui (traditional Chinese: 風水; simplified Chinese: 风水; pinyin: fēng shuǐ; pronounced /ˈfəŋˌʃueɪ/ foong-shoy in Chinese Mandarin, "fheng-schway" in American English) is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to utilize the Laws of both heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive Qi. The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu (traditional Chinese: 堪輿; simplified Chinese: 堪舆; pinyin: kānyú; literally: Tao of heaven and earth).

The words feng shui literally translate as "wind-water" in English. This is a cultural shorthand taken from the following passage of the Zhangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty:

Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water.

Traditional Feng Shui practice always requires an extremely accurate Chinese compass, or Luo Pan, in order to determine the directions in finding any auspicious sector in a desired location.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Good Feng Shui on a Dime - Or Less

There is a large umbrella which covers all the things we do in the effort to create good Feng Shui. This ancient Chinese art form looks at the many ways our physical surroundings affect us and sets out to correct imbalances which could otherwise sabotage health, well-being, or creative and professional potential.

Some people hear about Feng Shui and they are intrigued with the whole concept, but they shy away from getting advice because they hear that they may need to purchase exotic and/or expensive remedies for their home or work environment. It's absolutely true that some people make big changes to their properties and it is true that sometimes big remedies are required for the maximum results.

But what about being able to take advantage of Feng Shui principles when you're on a tight budget? Especially in the current economic downturn, not everyone can spend hundreds of dollars on water features, d�cor or furnishings purchases, never mind remodeling or landscaping. The good news is that there is a whole cache of practical and easy Feng Shui changes which literally don't cost anything.

There is a branch of classical Feng Shui called the "East-West School" which identifies your best personal directions based on your year of birth and gender. Everyone has four good directions and for different purposes. For example, one personal direction is for relaxing and sleeping while another one is for attracting wealth or good friendships.

Some of the ways these personal directions are used include:
Sleeping Direction
Favorable Entrance to a house or business
Best position for a desk for long periods of working or studying
Most effective standing positions for such activities as teaching or selling
Best orientation of the whole house for ideal personal compatibility

We are all in a relationship with the spaces we occupy and we can either draw energy from those spaces or have the space drain us, depending on how we position ourselves within the structure. It doesn't cost anything to move a desk around or sleep in a different direction. It might take an extra 30 seconds to use an alternative entrance to your home, but these are some of the tried and true ways that Feng Shui applications have been tested for thousands of years.

Much of this information has been kept secret for thousands of years and one had to prove themselves worthy of the knowledge before receiving it. Nowadays, there are hundreds of books and countless websites which can help people determine their best and worst personal directions according to Feng Shui theory. My own books cover this information, focused primarily on showing how you can harness and increase the good Feng Shui inherent in every interior space with a personal approach that is based on something called your Personal Trigram as well as your Chinese zodiac sign. As an example, a woman born in 1963 can attract more financial luck by sleeping head to southwest and a man born in 1964 can get sounder sleep with his head pointed to south. A person born in the year of the Ox should avoid sleeping with their head to the Sheep Direction (South/Southwest) because it can be very draining and make it harder to save money. And a person born in the year of the Rat can be especially creative and even become famous if they enter their house through the North sector. A woman born in 1967 can be more productive at a desk facing east than northeast.

Like making lemonade from lemons, everyone can position themselves in any environment to maximize the good flow of chi that suits each person individually.



Autor: Kartar Diamond

Kartar Diamond is a professional feng shui practitioner, consulting and teaching since 1992.
She has written four books and speaks about Feng Shui on a regular basis. Kartar also writes for several on-line magazines. For more information about Kartar Diamond, go to http://www.FengShuiSolutions.net


Added: May 17, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

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