Feng Shui has often been referred to as the Mother of the
Natural Sciences. Its origin began
in China and is as old as the culture itself.
The earliest form of feng shui was more concerned with the auspicious
orientations of the tombs of the dead rather than the homes of the living.
It is believed that a good burial site will bring peace and prosperity to
the descendants of the deceased. LO’PAN
The south-pointing compass, also called the lo’pan, was first invented by the Chinese to ensure that the burial sites were correctly positioned to conform to the earth’s vital breath, called chi,which the Chinese believed flowed through the earth the way blood flows through the veins of the human body. Ancient texts trace its invention to the legendary Huang-Ti, or the Yellow Emperor, where it is said, that the “Lady of the Nine Heavens” gave him this knowledge. This ancient compass was called the Hin Shi and it is described as a square base, called a diviners board, holding a bowl of water which floated a magnetic south pointing spoon.The Hin Shi slowly developed into the lo’pan between 200 AD to 700 AD. During the Sang dynasty, the compass was adapted for navigation at sea. By the 13th century, Arab traders brought the compass to the West. The arrival of the compass in Europe couldn’t have come at a better time and was essential for navigating out-of-sight of land. Before this sailors would hug the shore, a dangerous practice but was the only way they had of knowing where they were going.In feng shui, the lo’pan is used to analyze the orientations of a site in relationship to the main door, the bed and the stove. The lo’pan is an intricate circular object of a simple compass surrounded by movable rings encrypted with Chinese characters. There is a maximum of 36 tiers, with each tier having its own purpose for divination. It is then divided into 8 sections, or trigrams. The Eight Trigrams were further developed into 64 hexagrams of the I-Ching with the astrological information of the Ten Heavenly Stems, Twelve Earthly Branches, the Five Elements, geological and celestial bodies. CHI
(QI) The first time the actual use of the term feng shui appears
in any ancient text was from a passage found in the Book
of Burial, written by Guo Po
in the 4th century. "Qi rides the feng (wind) and scatters, but is retained when Encountering shui (water)" The principal of feng shui states that a geographic site that attracts water is optimal, followed by the site that catches the wind. It is these two elements that effect and shape our environment, which is alive with the hidden force of chi. Chi is often a difficult concept to define. It is often described as, vital breath, or life energy. It is found in the environment and is carried by the flow of air. Strong winds can disperse chi and water can retain it. Barriers, such as, mountains, buildings, walls or furniture can block the movement of chi. Steven Post writes in his book, Modern Book of Feng Shui, that in “Chinese calligraphy, chi is depicted as steam rising over rice, which provides nourishment.” It is this essence that nourishes and energizes nature, creativity and existence. It is the intrinsic substance or the vital breath behind all things in the universe. We are all immersed in it! In an attempt to understand and describe the mysteries of the universe, ancient Chinese philosophers, astrologers and doctors, used the yin/yang and five element theories to describe everything in the cosmos. These theories have been the fundamental thought behind all Chinese natural sciences. The ancient Chinese believed that the production, development and the changes of everything in the universe were the result of yin/yang interacting with each other. This interaction of yin/yang can also be described within the five elements. These elements are, wood, fire, earth, metal and water, which make up the universe. Within these five elements contain, colors, shape, numbers,
organs, variables of time and space, seasons, directions, emotions, etc,.
For example:
METAL/NW & W/white, gray, gold,silver/autumn/circle/spicy/sorrow WOOD/SE & E/green, blue/spring/rectangle/sour/anger WATER/North/black, dark blue/winter/wavy lines/salty/fear FIRE/south/red/summer/triangle/bitter/joy EARTH/NE, SW & Center/brown,yellow/square/sweet/pensiveness The basic theory behind the five elements can be summed up
by three cyclical interactions. The
creative cycle, the destructive cycle, and the little mentioned, reductive
cycle. The creative cycle works in
this way: water nourishes wood (trees and plants need water to grow); wood feeds
fire; fire creates earth (ash); earth creates metal (mined from the earth);
metal creates water (condensations on the outside of a metal cup).
The reductive cycle is used as feng shui cures. It corrects the imbalances that are seen in the destructive cycle.
Almost everyone is familiar with the symbol of yin/yang, or the Tai Ji: Two tear drop shapes of black and white fitted into one another, symbolizing movement. As a kid in the late sixties and seventies, it was the emblem of the hippie generation. The popularity of martial arts films, and now, feng shui, has reprised this symbol into our Western culture.
Yin/yang is from the T’ao, its symbol represents everything in the Universe (the “The Ten Thousand Things” of the Tao Te Ching). They are complementary opposites, one cannot exists without the other. Yin/yang are always relative. What’s yin and yang in one situation, can sometimes be the opposite in another. Yin is dark, yang is light; yang is active, yin is passive; yang is male, yin is female; yin is sinking, yang is rising. As soon as there’s a yang, there’s a yin. It’s instantaneous. When they come together they merge and try to interpenetrate each other. The way of the T’ao states that yin/yang should exists naturally in a dynamic state of balance and harmony. Feng shui adjusts the imbalances that we inadvertently create in our own environment Read About Feng Shui In Modern Times You
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