Harmony in Chinese: Feng Shui Basics

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Who hasn't heard of feng shui in our time? It seems that there is not a single area left in which this teaching did not bring its own rules. But not so many people understand it deeply and professionally. If you are far from this and the mention of feng shui only makes you smile, then it's time to get acquainted with its basics, basic concepts and symbols.

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of home improvement and life in harmony with nature, using certain forces for your health, happiness, and prosperity.

Feng Shui is not a spiritual or religious practice, it does not require deep faith or mastery of extrasensory perception. This technique is based on a comprehensive set of principles that express the Chinese view of the universe.

Chi energy

The main criterion of the teaching is a certain mysterious metaphysical power of qi, which, according to certain laws, is distributed and moved in space and changes in time. Sheng Qi is the breath of nature, life energy, source of strength. Its lack becomes the reason for the emergence of sha qi, called "deadly breath" - the embodiment of negative energy, the cause of unhappiness and illness, conflict and failure. In feng shui, there is always a way to neutralize sha chi and strengthen sheng chi.

Feng Shui is not a spiritual or religious practice, does not require deep faith or mastery of extrasensory perception.

Balancing Yin and Yang

Yin and yang are opposite forces that are constantly transforming into one another. Yin - darkness, silence, immobility, smoothness, isolation, composure, pedantry. Yang - light, loud sounds, movement, direct, sociability, thirst for activity. The balance of these forces is very important in everyday life.

Five elements

Any phenomenon or object of the surrounding world is a synthesis of the qualities of five elements in a certain proportion: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. There is a certain system of mutual influence of the elements on each other - Wu Xing.

The elements form a cycle in which each previous element gives life to the next. The tree burns, gives rise to fire. The fire leaves ash and feeds the earth. A metal is formed in the earth, which is capable of melting, that is, passing into a liquid state, characteristic of water. Water is the source of life for the tree.

The elements form a cycle in which each previous element gives life to the next.

But there is also a cycle of destruction: wood depletes the earth, the earth absorbs water and does not give it movement, water extinguishes fire, fire destroys metal, metal (as a tool) destroys wood.

Each of these five elements has its own symbolic direction, color, way of expression. You can determine your element by year of birth.

Bagua Zones and Lo-Shu Square

Another fundamental concept of feng shui is the "sacred octagon" of Bagua, built on the basis of eight trigrams. The sectors of the octagon indicate aspects of life and physical areas, they correspond to certain compass directions, elements, numbers, various types of energies, emotions, spheres of human life, colors. In feng shui practice, the Bagua octagon is a tool for understanding the energy state inherent in a home, apartment or office.

To analyze the energy configuration of any room, the Lo-shu magic square is also used. The square is divided into nine parts, each of which corresponds to a specific number. The sum of the numbers in any direction is 15. Lo-shu is closely related to the Bagua symbol.

With the help of one of these two systems, feng shui masters divide the room into sectors and determine which area of a person's life this or that area is responsible for.

Four defenders

In feng shui, the external environment of the house is of great importance. Defenders are usually called the Black Turtle (behind the house, in the north), the Green Dragon (on the left, in the east), the White Tiger (on the right, in the west) and the Red Phoenix (in front of the house, in the south). Ideally, there should be a mountain or a larger house behind the dwelling, a small green hill on the left, a low white building on the right, and free space in front of the house.

But in urban realities, it is not easy to create such a picture, and the lack of defenders can leave home residents vulnerable and deprived of support. Therefore, when there is no way to change the external environment, it is worth turning to the symbolic embodiment of protecting your apartment. To do this, you need to place figurines of animal protectors or other accessories and feng shui symbols in the house.

Feng Shui symbols

Certain items and accessories can be tools to help fix bad feng shui and attract additional energy. They symbolize the elements of water, fire, metal, earth and wood and enhance or neutralize this or that energy in the room.

Fountains, waterfalls, aquariums, air humidifiers or just water in a vessel are very powerful activators in feng shui that can awaken good luck.

Wind music passes energy through the tubes, turning it into positive energy. Crystals evenly dissipate energies throughout the room: they activate positive ones or neutralize negative ones.

Flowers, potted plants and bamboo are used in those places where it is necessary to activate the energies of the elements of the tree and neutralize the unfavorable energies of other elements. Wu-lu pumpkin is used to neutralize diseases.

Mirrors play a very important role in feng shui and are often used to construct missing angles or direct chi energy.

The most powerful symbol of Feng Shui is the Bagua mirror. Its purpose is to fight off the streams of negative energy emanating from the environment. Mirrors play a very important role in feng shui and are often used to build missing angles or guide qi energy.

Dragon Skulls, Fu Dogs, Pi Yao are traditional mythical animals that are used in feng shui to pacify negative influences of various origins. Three-legged toad, mandarin ducks, hotteys, figurines of three deities are used to attract good luck to one sector or another.

However, it is not enough to place any of these or many other symbols in the desired zone. There are many rules for placing objects in the house, and their correct placement can open up really fantastic opportunities for attracting all kinds of good luck, and the wrong one can attract trouble and negatively affect business and health.

The teaching of feng shui, although not as difficult as it might seem at first glance, nevertheless requires a thoughtful attitude and deep study. Indeed, in order to achieve the desired results, you need to understand well which of the many techniques to use in one case or another, which zone to pay more attention to, how to correctly arrange the symbols. But do not forget that the living space should first of all be organized so that it is convenient and comfortable to live in it.