ABCD of FengShui
ABCD of FengShui
ABCD of FengShui
Welcome folks! You made it through my preamble, so let's get right down to it!
In this first part we will be looking at the concept of Yin and Yang.
You've all seen folks walking around with those black and white swirls that look like two tadpoles
within a circle on surfboards, necklaces, rings, ear-rings, back-packs, stickers, etc..... right? Well,
let's have a good look at what that symbol is actually about, OK? It's not really the lucky amulet
Here is the Tai Ji symbol, referred to as the Yin/Yang symbol by most folks.
First things first, alright? This is not a 2 dimensional (flat) symbol, it is actually 3 dimensional.
Think of a tennis ball with its two sections, imagine one part being white, and the other part being
black. The white part is Yang, whilst the black section is Yin. Notice how there is always a part of
Yin within the Yang half of the Tai Ji symbol, and vice-versa through the use of those little dots?
Well.... things change constantly. There is no absolutely correct way to draw the Tai Ji symbol,
feel free to orient it however you like. Let's grab that tennis ball again. Now throw it up into the air
and catch it. Look at it briefly. Quick, throw the ball in the air and catch it again, look at it briefly,
then repeat this over and over until the reality sets in that there is not always the perfect balance
Now take the ball and turn it so that you are staring at the largest proportion of the Yang side, you
can still see a little bit of Yin there can't you? There is no absolute Yang or absolute Yin. That's all
that the dots are telling you in the 2 dimensional drawing. That there is always the seed of Yin
within Yang, and vice-versa. We'll come back to this in a moment, let me digress for just a little
bit....
How does this apply to life? Go outside on a bright sunny day (Yang) is there just light? No, of
course not, there is darkness in the shadows (Yin), is there not? But which is the greatest
proportion, the Sun or Shade? Well that all depends upon the weather, the local areas landscape,
etc.... doesn't it? And guess what, it's constantly changing isn't it?
So what is Yin and Yang used for, and how, you ask? Well, Yin and Yang is merely a comparison
of two things. Sort of like the ratio symbol in math, physics and chemistry. It is always used to
an example. Compare water to fire, water is Yin, and fire is Yang. Now lets look at a mountain
with a waterfall, the water is Yang, and the mountain is Yin. So in the first comparison, water was
Yin, but in the second comparison water was Yang. So no one thing can ever be absolutely Yin or
Yang. Think about it laterally and you'll find millions of examples throughout your daily life.
In Feng Shui we use Yin and Yang to help balance the energies of a place, here is a short list of
Yin and Yang qualities to use, add your own qualities on to this as you progress.
YANG YIN
Fire water
Water mountain
Hard soft
Loud quiet
Active still
Open closed
Light dark
Where would we want Yang energies? In a fast food restaurant or cafe, but definitely not in a high
class intimate restaurant. In a living space, but not in a bedroom. In an office, but not in a funeral
OK, so how can you use this knowledge? Have a look at the rooms in your home, start with the
entry-way, is it over-crowded with coats, bags, hats, rubbish, all sorts of stuff from the car, or
over-shadowed by large trees so that it appears gloomy? This would be excessively Yin, and
hopefully none of you out there have this situation. Tch, tch, tch if you do! The entry to your
home, referred to as the Ming Tang or Bright Hall, should ideally be a Yang area. Take a look at
your lounge or living space, is it too Yin, with thick heavy drapes, soft lounge covers, piles of
cushions, thick soft carpet, etc.... Take a look at the size of this room, is there too much furniture
Do you find that you come home collapse into the lounge and just veg. out? Chances are the
room is excessively Yin. Add more hard surfaces, or expose them for those of you with mountains
of clutter, tch, tch, tch...... Of course if you work in a job where you are talking and on the go all
day long you will be wanting a more relaxing space, so look at your job and whether it is Yin or
We can look at people in the same way, the Yin natured person is the timid one who apologises
for everything, the Yang natured person is the gregarious loud-mouth who can never admit they
Look at your bedroom, what don't we want an excess of here? I've got an elephant stamp for you
if you answered Yang! What happens if there is an excess of Yang surfaces in your bedroom?
Difficulty sleeping right through the night, constant headaches, waking up tired instead of
refreshed are just a few of the ailments that may be suffered from by living in an excessively
Yang bedroom. What can you do about an excessively Yang bedroom? Soften it. Cover all those
hard surfaces, use nice thick material runners on top of your side tables and dresser, hang a
tapestry on a wall, use thick luxurious curtains instead of cold, hard blinds on the windows. Place
soft, warm rugs on the floor, covering over those hard tiles and wooden floorboards. I can't think
of anything worse than having cold tootsies first thing in the morning! Look at the Yin clues given
above; soft, quiet, still, dark.... think laterally about how you can achieve this. If using green for
example don't use fluorescent green, go for a nice refreshing pale green colour on your walls, if
using yellow we would avoid canary yellow and go for a more muted yellow nearing the ochre
tones.
Get the idea? Good, now spend the next week looking at Yin and Yang in your place, achieving
the right balance for you. Don't go painting just yet though..... we've got a ways to go before we're
Lesson 2
So just what is Qi? Well it's a tough concept for us Westerners to grasp, but try to imagine an
invisible spider web that keeps the Universe in order. OK, you've got that? Now think of the
concept of Karma, where every thing that we do has a reaction with the Universe, where every
thing is interconnected, and at the same time individual. I said it was a difficult concept for us
Westerners to grasp!
Confused yet? OK, basically Qi is energy, and initially comes in two forms. Sheng Qi which is
positive natured, and Sha Qi which is negative natured. These two forms can then be broken
down into a further five types, known as the Five Transformations, which are all too often
transformation is in a constant state of transition. These five Transformations are named Water,
Let's see what J. Needham wrote about these Transformations in his book
"Science and Civilisation in China" Cambridge University Press, 1956, Vol. II, p. 243.
"The conception of the elements was not so much one of a series of five sorts of
Which leads me to the WuXing or "Five Transformations." Think of them as small children. Let's
see how they relate to each other, how they interact, how they behave if you like.
There are four energetic interactions that you need to be aware of, and the Chinese were the
ones who worked out the patterns here that form the underlying relationship between everything
in the Universe. If you can learn these off by heart, you will breeze through the rest of this series.
At the very least print up or write out your own cycles, so that you can refer to them as is needed
Water enhances Tree enhances Fire enhances Soil enhances Metal enhances
Water weakens Metal weakens Soil weakens Fire weakens Tree weakens
Notice a pattern here? These two energetic cycles are merely the opposite flow
to each other!
Another Angel stamp for those who said "Fire." Well done!
Think of a fireplace, with the Tree becoming Fire and then Soil. Seeing the picture?
Water controls Fire controls Metal controls Tree controls Soil controls Water....
and so on.
Water insults Soil insults Tree insults Metal insults Fire insults Water.... and so
on.
Again, notice a pattern here? Yup, the above two cycles are the reverse of each
other.
Don't get too caught up on trying to picture this last cycle, it only happens on occasions when an
element is really weak and vulnerable. Picture what would happen if you threw a bucket of water
on a house fire, in all likelihood you'd get scalded. Or picture a flash flood wiping away the
coastline. Try to cut down a Gum tree with a razor blade, what happens?
OK, by now you're asking yourself "what in the heck has this to do with Feng Shui?" Well through
the observation of these cycles over millennia the Chinese were able to actually nut out a couple
of Feng Shui methods for predicting what would happen to whom and when, just from knowing
the direction your home is facing, and when it was built. These methods of Feng Shui are known
as "The 8 Houses" and "The Flying Stars." They also did similar things for our physical bodies
Lesson 3
The Transformations!
When do we use the interactions of the Transformations and how, I hear you asking.
Well, say we have an excess of a particular type of negative energy, how do we reduce it? Hang
a mirror or crystal and hope for the best? Not on your nelly! We need to identify exactly what we
have an excess of, or what is creating the problem, and then use the appropriate Transformation
Take a house positioned at the end of a dead-end street, or directly opposite a T-junction.
We have a potential Tree Sha being omitted towards the house. How do I know it's a Tree Sha?
Through the shape of the Sha. (The shapes of the Transformations are covered a little lower, as
well as colours and some other attributes.) How do we weaken a Tree Sha? Think back to the
Transformation Cycles.... what weakens Tree? A white chocolate Tim-Tam is yours if you said
How do we know what particular energy we want to enhance or suppress? Through the use of
the Flying Stars form of Feng Shui, and that is what this entire series is about. Teaching you how
to draw up your charts and interpret them correctly, but before we get to that you need to
understand these basics first. If this series were a baby, we'd still be lying on our backs at the
present moment gazing around the room at the shapes and movement! We haven't even got on
Let's have a look at the following attributes of the Five Transformations, colour, form and objects.
Water
· Aquariums, fish tanks, fish ponds, fountains, drinking water-wells, large open spaces
Tree
· Green
· Plants, flowers, trees, bamboo wind-chimes (note that wooden furniture is dead and
Fire
· Real Fire objects, candles, oil burners, open fireplaces, bon-fire, the Sun
Soil
· River pebbles, ceramic products, earthen-wares, tiles, pots, sand, bricks, agate stones
Metal
· Metal wind-chimes, gold, silver, bronze, copper, steel, aluminium, quartz crystals
A special note about not confusing Tree and Soil shaped buildings:
A Tree shaped building is tall, lay it on its side and it is looked at as Soil.
When looking at colours, the Fire tones are the only ones that can easily set off problems.
Say that we have a house with a red painted front door opposite an extremely busy T-junction
and we require Metal Qi at the front for wealth, as ascertained through the use of the advanced
Flying Stars Feng Shui method. Just to throw a spanner in the works, the owner refuses point
blank to change the colour of the front door because they read that it was good luck in a Feng
1 - Soil weakens the Fire of the front doors red colour, which is actually fairly
strong Fire because of the Tree Sha from the road hitting it (Tree enhancing
3 - Tree controls Soil, give the source of Sha Qi (Tree in this case) a little
something to control and it is going to take its mind off of creating mischief with
the front of the house. It's sort of like giving a boisterous child something
engrossing to do.
Don't worry if this seems too complicated at the moment, there will be lots of examples along the
Over the next weeks, start looking at the things in your home, suburb and city, such as buildings,
cars, houses, people, and learn the shapes and colours of the Five Transformations.
Also start looking at what you would use if you had to balance out the following situations:
6. A Mosque with a dome shaped roof directly across from where we want Tree
Lesson 4:
following situations:
· For this situation all we need is to use Water as a bridge between Metal and Tree
· The Water weakens the Metal and at the same time supports Tree
and gives the Tree something to grow its roots in, doesn't it?
· The use of Metal here will be the correct bridge between Soil and Water
· Here we should use Tree as a bridge between the Water and Fire
5. A house opposite a T-junction, where we actually want to have Water Qi according to the
Flying Stars
· This is the only time that we should actually use the Controlling Cycle;
· Metal controls the Tree Sha of the T-junction, and supports Water
Why have we not used Fire here? you ask. Well have a look at the Controlloing Cycle again on
the previous page, how do Water and Fire get along? There is always the chance that you may
place too much Fire there, and Insult the Water also!
6. A Mosque with a dome shaped roof directly across from where we want Tree energy at the
front door
· Here we have Metal against Tree, simply insert Water as the bridge
· Water weakens the Metallic effect of the Mosques roof shape, and supports Tree
Starting to get the idea of how to use the Transformations?
Good, let's move on to some more qualities of the Transformations through the use of the BaGua.
The BaGua is really a reference tool, that enables us to see qualities of compass directions and
areas, people, family members, body parts, and even offers cryptic clues for more advanced
interpretations of Flying Star Feng Shui. All this, through the use of 8 simple symbols, and a good
memory of course.
· Ba = Eight
· Gua = Trigrams
These Yao can be either broken and Yin (Female), or solid and Yang (Male).
Through the arrangement of these lines and dashes, we can tell which family member any trigram
To work out whether we are looking at a Male or Female trigram, and which family member it
represents, all we need do is look at the odd line in the trigram, and its location.
In the following trigram example the odd line is the middle one and it is Yang (Male), so we have
The Mother and Father trigrams will have three lines all the same.
and also has a Transformation quality associated with it. For example; the trigram of Xun is in the
Southeast between 112.5 and 157.5 degrees. Xun is the oldest/first born daughter, and has a
transformation quality of Yin Tree (the seedling or small bush). One of Xuns' cryptic clues taken
from the I-Ching is "triple the profits". This trigram is also associated with learning and romance.
· It is an extremely common mistake, made by those who have not actually learned the
advanced Flying Stars method from a Master of Feng Shui to refer to the Southeast
(Xun) as the "Prosperity Point". How this mistake was made is plainly evident through the
I-Chings' cryptic clue of "triple the profit". These mistaken individuals would have you
enhance this area with Water or Tree always. But, rest assured that it is not always the
case that we want to do this, you have the odds of 9:1 that you are going to get it right,
· In the advanced Flying Star Feng Shui method we read a chart so that we can see how
we are being affected in regard of two major aspects of life - Health and Wealth.
· There is always the chance that you may actually have the other Tree star present in the
Southeast at your place, and if this is the case, you definitely do NOT want to enhance it.
Some of the qualities of the other Tree star are: legal problems, contractual problems,
bankruptcy, anger, disputes, gossip, short temperedness, asthma, leg problems, and the
So, from the above we can see that Feng Shui is not as simple as putting a plant or fish-pond in
the Southeast for wealth, or Fire in the South for fame, etc.... It is not until you can draw up and
interpret your 8 Houses or Flying Star chart that you should even contemplate what to place
Following is a list of the trigrams, with their most basic Feng Shui attributes present.
Print these out and keep them handy for when we cover the Stars themselves later on.
You will be able to see who is being affected through this template when it comes to your place in
Compass
Name Trigram Family Member Person Transformation
Degrees
Youngest
Dui Young Lady West 247.5 - 292.5 Metal (Yin)
Daughter
Kan Middle Son Middle Aged Man North 337.5 - 22.5 Water (Yang)
Lesson 5
"Lucky Directions."
The information is the same for both ladies and gents of the same Gua, except in the case of a
5 Gua person.
For a lady who is a 5 Gua, we will look to the 8 Gua for her information.
For a gentleman who has a 5 Gua, we are going to look to the 2 Gua for his information.
Step One :
The Chinese Solar Calendar is used for this method of Feng Shui, and has its beginning almost
always on February 4 or 5, but very rarely on February 6 too. The Chinese Solar Calendar is
based upon the time of year when (in simple Western terms) the Sun in the house of Aquarius
reaches it's Mid-heaven point of 15 degrees, and is NOT based upon seasonal influences at all.
Gua 1 1914 - 1923 - 1932 - 1941 - 1950 - 1959 - 1968 - 1977 - 1986 - 1995 - 2004
Gua 2 1915 - 1924 - 1933 - 1942 - 1951 - 1960 - 1969 - 1978 - 1987 - 1996 - 2005
Gua 3 1916 - 1925 - 1934 - 1943 - 1952 - 1961 - 1970 - 1979 - 1988 - 1997 - 2006
Gua 4 1917 - 1926 - 1935 - 1944 - 1953 - 1962 - 1971 - 1980 - 1989 - 1998 - 2007
Gua 5 1918 - 1927 - 1936 - 1945 - 1954 - 1963 - 1972 - 1981 - 1990 - 1999 - 2008
Gua 6 1919 - 1928 - 1937 - 1946 - 1955 - 1964 - 1973 - 1982 - 1991 - 2000 - 2009
Gua 7 1920 - 1929 - 1938 - 1947 - 1956 - 1965 - 1974 - 1983 - 1992 - 2001 - 2010
Gua 8 1921 - 1930 - 1939 - 1948 - 1957 - 1966 - 1975 - 1984 - 1993 - 2002 - 2011
Gua 9 1922 - 1931 - 1940 - 1949 - 1958 - 1967 - 1976 - 1985 - 1994 - 2003 - 2012
Gua 1 1918 - 1927 - 1936 - 1945 - 1954 - 1963 - 1972 - 1981 - 1990 - 1999 - 2008
Gua 2 1917 - 1926 - 1935 - 1944 - 1953 - 1962 - 1971 - 1980 - 1989 - 1998 - 2007
Gua 3 1916 - 1925 - 1934 - 1943 - 1952 - 1961 - 1970 - 1979 - 1988 - 1997 - 2006
Gua 4 1915 - 1924 - 1933 - 1942 - 1951 - 1960 - 1969 - 1978 - 1987 - 1996 - 2005
Gua 5 1914 - 1923 - 1932 - 1941 - 1950 - 1959 - 1968 - 1977 - 1986 - 1995 - 2004
Gua 6 1913 - 1922 - 1931 - 1940 - 1949 - 1958 - 1967 - 1976 - 1985 - 1994 - 2003
Gua 7 1912 - 1921 - 1930 - 1939 - 1948 - 1957 - 1966 - 1975 - 1984 - 1993 - 2002
Gua 8 1911 - 1920 - 1929 - 1938 - 1947 - 1956 - 1965 - 1974 - 1983 - 1992 - 2001
Gua 9 1910 - 1919 - 1928 - 1937 - 1946 - 1955 - 1964 - 1973 - 1982 - 1991 - 2000
Step Two :
Find your Gua in the following table, and make note of which directions the different qualities
For simplicity I have given these qualities the alphabet titles of "A" through to "H". With "A" being
your most positive direction to face, and "H" being your worst direction to face. I have colour
coded this also, so that your positive directions are appearing in Green, and your adverse
Have a good look at the following table, there are quite a few hidden patterns that can be seen
here.
Did you observe that Gua's 1, 3, 4 and 9 all share positive directions to the North, East, SE &
South; and that their negative directions come from the NE, SW, West & NW?
Did you observe that Gua's 2, 6, 7 and 8 all share positive directions to the NE, SW, West & NW;
and that their negative directions come from the North, East, SE & South.
From these above observations we can ascertain that we are going to be either of the following
group types:
· Many confused Practitioners will do a life reading for a person based upon this
technique, saying such rubbish as "You are a 1 Gua, and therefore you are a Water
person. You should only wear Blue clothes, never Green or Yellow, and your ideal career
is in Aquaculture or Viticulture". This is akin to saying "I am a Libran!" How on earth can
the billions of us on this planet simply be slotted into 8 different types!? I sure as heck
can't buy this sort of shallow nonsense and rubbish pedalled by wanna-be Feng Phooey
Practitioners. If you are honestly interested in your Chinese Astrology, buy "the Complete
Idiots Guide to Feng Shui - Second Edition" and learn to interpret your Four Pillars
Chinese Astrology. In the Four Pillars form of Chinese Astrology, you can have over 40
Million different potentials, which I find much more accurate! This technique of working
out your lucky directions, was only designed for you to face a certain direction whilst
· It is believed throughout many (superstitious) parts of Asia that a West group person
should not live in a relationship with an East group person. Personally however, I am one
of these types of people that finds themselves in a relationship with someone of the
opposite group, and I can honestly say that I have never been in a more nurturing, and
loving relationship, going on eight years now! My conclusion is that this method was
never designed to analyse relationships. All the Masters I have asked about this,
concurred with me that the reason for this mistake is because this type of couple can't
both have the tops of their heads pointing towards their "Lucky Directions" when
sleeping, and that many Feng Shui Consultants do not know how to overcome this
situation. Compromise is the key to the solution here. The person who is the most
adversely affected, either physiologically or by the Flying Star Chart of the home, should
· This method has been used as a form of compatibility test, between couples in quite a
few, actually, nearly all of the "New Age type Feng Shui" books that I have seen in
bookshops. This is a mistake. Just as it is a mistake to say that a Libran and a Leo
shouldn't be partners. This type of so called Astrology is just too superficial. I sure as
heck don't agree that we can all be categorised as just eight different types of people. If
you look at the Chinese Four Pillars Astrology, you can have over Forty Million different
· This method has also been mistakenly misused, so as to say that your front door should
face your "Wealth Direction" for money, or your "Harmony Direction" for good family and
friends to surround you. This is not true. If your front door is located where there is
potential for legal problems to manifest, turning your door (at a heck of an expense!) to
some obscure and dicky-looking angle is not going to solve things. The doorway and all
of its movement is still within a lousy area. You honestly are better off using a different
doorway or entrance, where the Flying Star Chart indicates some good wealth potential
for you to bring inside. The advanced Flying Star method is able to pin point problems of
· Choosing which rooms you use in your home is another common mistake that was
bastardised from this method. If you are say a 1 Gua type person, that does not
necessarily mean that you should have an office in the Southeast of your home for
financial success. If you happen to have Liu Sha from the 8 Houses, or, if you have the 5
water star here on your Flying Star Chart, ain't nothin' gonna help ya' make a success of
it, unless you're dealing with negative finances for a living, like the Auditor-General, a
Lesson 6
(A to H) are coming from which directions for you. So how do you use this? It's so easy that it is
scary!
It is just a matter of facing the appropriate direction so as to tap into your ideal Qi source for what
B - Tian Yi / Health
· Healthy.
· Calming discord.
· Finding a partner.
· Spiritual growth.
· Re-centring of the self, when one feels they have left the path, or just had too much.
· Minor accidents like stubbed toes, paper cuts, dropping things, reversing a car into
things.
· Stubbornness.
· Argumentativeness.
· Hot headed.
· Failed relationships
· Sexual addictions
· Sleeping with ones head pointing towards this direction will eventually wear down the
· Facing this direction for long periods will bring up your health weaknesses.
e.g. For someone who has problems working in an air-conditioned environment, working
and facing this direction all day long will exacerbate this situation, bringing about ear,
nose and throat problems for that individual. For someone who is hypersensitive to
scents and smells, facing this direction whilst having the co-worker from hell who is
bathed in pungent perfumes being around you will definitely bring tears to the eyes of the
poor sufferer. If you're a fitness freak and go to the gym regularly, I have seen incidents
where folks have actually caused strains and breaks by pushing themselves too hard
whilst facing this direction, so make note of your directions before entering the gym, and
choose the better facing direction if it is possible; if not, just don't force things whilst
· Spend lots of time facing this way and nothing goes your way.
· Pitching an idea whilst facing this direction will almost guarantee failure of the project.
· Sleeping with your head pointing to this direction will bring about self sabotage at a sub-
conscious level.
· Serious illness
· Remember that in regard of sleeping, it is the direction that the top of your head points
toward that we are concerned with, as the Qi is entering the body through the crown of
· If one found themselves outside digging in the garden, and running out of puff fast, you
would work facing your B direction for that lift and sustained energy needed for such
work.
· If you were meditating which direction would you face? Well, it all depends upon the sort
of meditation you are doing. If it is Spiritual or Religious in nature, then face your D
direction. If you are going off flying with Eagle or exploring Crystal Caves, then face your
C direction, this way your are at peace on all levels. If you are focusing upon your health,
from a simple Chakra balance meditation through to re-constructing your DNA, you
should face your B direction. If you need insight into a financial or business type matter
· Looking for a new partner? Try facing your C direction when meeting or speaking to
these folks for the first time. Spend some time finding the ideal restaurant or cafe for you
to meet your new prospective's, so that you can be sitting facing your C direction, and at
the same time be in a commanding position within the premises, giving you a substantial
solid wall behind you and a clear view of all the comings and goings.
· Do you work in a job where analytical thought is required all day long? Face your D
· Presenting a financial pitch at work? Buying a new car? Taking out finance? Face your A
· If at work you are positioned at a table or desk which doesn't face your good directions,
pivot yourself by 45 degrees whilst leaving the table square to the walls (or however it is
positioned) so that YOU are facing a good direction, or if this is unattainable, at least get
yourself so that you are facing your least detrimental directions of E or F. Just keep in
mind that you are facing an adverse direction and that you may be a little cantankerous
or disagreeable.
e.g. A West group person working at a desk facing East, can simply turn themselves 45
degrees so that they are facing the Northeast (one of their good directions).
· Position the family at the dining table so that the person who needs the most health
assistance is definitely facing their B direction whilst eating, for the rest of the family,
compromise.
· Do you have a hyper-active friend or sibling? See if they are sleeping, or facing towards
their A direction a lot, this will increase their energy to the point of others cringing at the
· The opposite is also true of the above paragraph, for people that are too quiet.
· Young boys with the so called ADD or ADHD affliction should sleep with the top of their
heads pointing towards their C directions, as well as facing this direction as much as
possible, for its peaceful, calming affect; and some much needed respite for the family
too!
o Young boys with the ADD or ADHD affliction are usually always sleeping on the
2 Mountain Star from the advanced Flying Stars method, this is inharmonious
because there is not a good balance of Yin in comparison to Yang. The 2 star
called Kun is Yin in nature, the star of the Matriarch / Mother / Wife, and her ideal
mate is Qian which is her Yang counterpart, the 6 star of the Patriarch / Father /
Yang in nature, and an older lady represented by the 2 star or Kun, is not an
appropriate balance of Yin & Yang, when looking at the Flying Stars.
Lesson 7
Using a compass for Feng Shui
OK, there's heaps of different types of compass' available, so what type should you actually use
It is not necessary for you to use a LuoPan (the Chinese Feng Shui Compass) in Feng Shui for
self help, so don't let anyone talk you into wasting hundreds of dollars on something you don't
actually need. In all honesty, I never take a compass reading from a LuoPan in suburbia, it is too
the (compass) needle movement of the LuoPan as I go through premises. Certain movements of
the needle indicate a whole manner of things which are not visible to the untrained eye; such as
Available here in Australia for around about $27 ($AU) from Australian Geographic. This type of
compass has an oil filled reservoir containing the compass plate, the oil actually assists the
compass remain magnetically true even when under the influence of mild EMF's (Electro-
Magnetic-Fields). These compass' also have cross hairs for aligning one's self with outer walls of
buildings, and have two degree increments which are easy to read through use of the magnifying
have five degree increments, and are too easily influenced by jewellery, electrical
and metallic objects. Costing up to $250 ($AU), don't waste your money!
appropriate for Feng Shui usage for the self same reasons as mentioned above,
not to mention the fact that it can cost over $500 ($AU) for a moderately sized
boating compass.
1. Take off all metal jewellery that is on your hands, wrists, chest/neck area and around the
2. Do not take a compass reading with a mobile phone/palm pilot/etc... on your person.
3. Do not stand over or under the electrical powerlines coming into the premises you are
looking at.
4. Do not take a reading from within (at least) 7.5 metres of an electrical transformer on a
power pole.
5. Do not take a reading whilst standing next/near to the electrical meter box/board.
6. Do not take a reading from the street near any powerlines, especially if there is high
humidity, or it has just rained and you can hear that "buzzing" sound. This buzzing is
actually the EMF around the powerlines, and if you go there after dark with a fluoro tube
you will actually see it light up, without being plugged in. That's how strong these
7. Do not take a reading from anywhere inside of the premises you are looking at.
8. Go and spend about 20 minutes with your feet buried (above the ankles) in Mother Earth
whilst facing your "D" direction before using your compass. This helps regulate your
9. Make sure that the central plate of your compass is perfectly free to spin on the horizontal
axis (round and round), and is not wedged or stuck. This can be achieved easily by just
tilting the compass a little and seeing that the plate has free movement to spin
many readings as you can, looking in all possible directions. By doing this, you are able
to see the magnetic difference/variance around your place, and work out your correct
3. Face toward the building and not away from it, this way you actually have something,
such as the exterior walls to align yourself with, rather than guessing whether you are
4. The exact same rules apply for home units also, as per the graphic to the right.
Lesson 8
Am I facing my sitting????
In order for you to use your Ming Gua (Lucky Directions) and Ba Zhai (8 Houses), we need to
know the "Facing" and "Sitting" directions of your place. These are always 180 degrees from one
another, and can fall on any of the 8 Palaces (North/Kan, South/Li, etc...), or may fall on any of
the 24 mountains that we look at in the advanced Flying Star Feng Shui method.
For the purpose of the 8 houses method we need to know which of the 8
Palaces it falls within, refer to the the following diagram to work this out...
Open the full size version of the following graphic by clicking on it.
Once you have it open, right click on it, selecting "Save Picture As".
transparency, which you will need to apply over your floor plans in the upcoming
sections.
Think of the "Facing" as the front / facade of your home, and the "Sitting" as the back or rear of
your premises.
The facing of your place is derived by means irrelevant of the direction or location
of your front door. The Facing direction is simply 180 degrees (opposite to) the
Sitting direction. Some homes sit across their property, most homes sit to the
e.g. a home sitting to 84 degrees (Mao) and facing 264 degrees (You).
"Sitting" of the home (usually the garage / laundry / bathroom / etc....) with the living areas and
Do not get confused that just because the Yang spaces are at the rear or side of a house, that a
place is going to be facing away from the street! If the front of the premises is dressed with a
finish of some sort (render, quoins, stone-work, etc... just like a lady wearing make-up), or simply
faces on to the street, this is the facing side of the home, regardless of the living spaces or Yang
In the example above sitting 84 degrees / facing 264 degrees, a West Group person would like to
face towards the front of the home when seated inside, and also to sleep with the top of their
centre of your home is, so that we can apply the template over your floor plans. This then allows
you to see exactly which rooms fall into what areas, and therefore, the quality of the rooms.
In square and rectangular homes this is easy, simply draw lines from the opposite corners
In homes that are unusually shaped, like looking at stairs side on, or with dog legs all over the
place, etc... I suggest you make a cut out of your homes floorplan (to scale / with correct
proportions) on paper, take this to your local copy centre, and get it laminated, then cut it out
exactly to the outer walls and balance this on a pin. When you find the balance point, you need to
stick the pin through, indicating the gravitational centre of your home.
pencil lines.
below.
Step 3: Where the two biro lines cross is your centre point.
home, extended straight out from the centre point, and the sitting
If you don't have access to floor plans, simply draw up your own floor plans making sure that they
are to scale. 1cm = 1m. Measure the outside dimensions of your home, indicating every window
and door way in their correct positions, then draw up the inside floor plan, you do not need to
draw every little piece of furniture, just the walls, doorways and windows.
Lesson-10
what the intrinsic energies are within it, simply by referring to the following chart which is based
The Sitting directions are given on the left hand side column, and the 8 locations
Did you notice that the letter "D" always appears in its own home base?
e.g. A home sitting to Kan, "D" appears in the North in the top row above.
Have a look at the template in the centre part and you'll see that Kan is North!
Now comes the tricky part! Put your thinking cap on!
The qualities of A through H also have Transformational qualities associated with them, as
follows.
A - Tree
B - Soil
C - Metal
D - Tree
E - Soil
F - Water
G - Fire
H - Metal
So we would like to enhance the positive qualities of A to D. Easy enough if you refer to your
There is a secret for activating A, and it is to merely find where it is located for
your HOME, and then in that room place the appropriate enhancer in YOUR A
direction.
To do this, merely stand in the centre of that room with your template still facing
and sitting to the correct directions for the home (North is still pointing towards
North), and find where your A direction is, then place the enhancer there!
e.g. A home sitting SE / Xun will have A in the room to the North, add in a Gua
2 individual, and their Wealth activator should be placed to the NE direction in the
Northern room / s.
Simple really!
In regard of the sections of E to H for the HOME we have a similar sort of method for weakening
these afflictions.
This method of special control is taken from the "8 House Bright Mirror" & "Guidelines to the 8
This is especially necessary if you have a serious affliction appearing in your Entry or at any
Bedroom spaces.
The first column gives the location of the afflicted qualities, this is derived from
The third column gives the direction within the afflicted room-space to place the
cure.
e.g. To treat the "E" room/s of a HOME sitting SE / Xun, the cure goes in the
NW room (E for the home as indicated in the above table), and is placed to the
direction indicated in the table below of "D" (SE / Xun from the above table for a
So this cure for the "E" area of a home sitting to SE / Xun is in the NW room to
Just place the template in the centre of the afflicted room, and align it so it retains
the same sitting / facing directions as the home (North is still to the North). Then
you will clearly see the 8 Trigram areas for placement of your cure within the
Placed to this
Rooms Location
Cure Direction within the
within your home
room
E Water D
F Soil C
G Water A
H Fire B
So what are the types of cures to use? Their WuXing / Transformation qualities are listed above
in the centre column. Refer to the earlier sections where detailed descriptions were given for the
Transformations, and use your creativity. Hey, it's your space...... not mine! Do what's right for
How about the enhancers? Same answer folks! Refer back to parts 2 and 3!
Remember to have fun with this process, and be individual in your choice or creation of cures and
Lesson 11
First things first, please download the following free LuoPan graphic, save it to
disc, and get it printed off as a laser print for best definition and in full colour at
your local print centre, then get it laminated so as to protect it from things like
baby drool and dogs chewing on it! Well worth the couple of buck$ investment!
on a floorplan!
·
drawn with the Trigrams designed to be viewed the other way around! i.e.
upside down! But, for simplicities sake, I have designed my LuoPan
template to be read all from the one direction!
24 Mountains Ring.
·
In this lesson I will show you how to use the Ming Gua & BaZhai Ring.
In the next lesson, we start drawing up your Flying Star Charts.
Simply look at the Centre Pool, and find the drawing there with the one
dot, got it? These are just a code of sorts for times of old, when as much
·
information was kept secret as possible. If a client dared ask what the
drawings were, they would be informed that they were "Constellations"
adding to the mystery and secrecy! But, in reality, they are simply
representations of numbers.
Big hint... If your eyesight is not too good, the odd numbers are indicated
in Red, and even numbers in Black.
o South - 9
o Southwest - 2
o West - 7
o Northwest - 6
o North - 1
o Northeast - 8
o East - 3
The number 1 for our example aligns with the Blue writing of Kan, and
spreads from 337.5 to 22.5 degrees of the North.
·
you write the abbreviated compass directions around the outside also.
Note that I have indicated this in the Traditional manner below, with South
at the top!
SE S SW
E 1 W
D
NE N NW
Now look at the LuoPan template, and focus on the Ming Gua/BaZhai
Ring to the North. Notice how the letter "D" appears to its furthest right
·
Now going in a Clockwise direction from the letter D at the North of your
3X3 square, enter the letters that appear in the Northern section of the
·
Ming Gua Ring going from Right to Left, so that the letter "G" will appear
in the NE square, and the letter "B' in the East, etc...
SE S SW
E 1 W
D
NE N NW
Add...
SE S SW
E 1 W
G D
NE N NW
Then...
SE S SW
E B 1 W
G D
NE N NW
SE S SW
A C H
E B 1 E W
G D F
NE N NW
Ascertain the Gua number for the person & place in the centre
o using the Ming Gua birth tables
·
SE S SW
C A E
E D 3 H W
F B G
NE N NW
We simply look at the direction the building sits to, and enter a "D" there.
SE S SW
F G B
E H 7 D W
C E A
NE N NW
This is a lot simpler method of having quick access to this information, rather
than writing it out in a longhand list form for each individual in the home or
workplace, and takes up a lot less room too!
I fit this information for up to say 10 individuals in a space just 2 inches high at
the bottom of an A4 piece of paper.
Lesson 12
Welcome to the first instalment of what shall gradually prove to be quite a few
lessons on this until now, considered "Advanced" or "Secret" or "Complicated"
topic of Feng Shui.
First thing you need to know is, within which of the 24 Mountains does your
place sit to? How to ascertain the Sitting Direction of your premises and correct
Compass usage was already covered a few lessons ago.
In the BaZhai method, we only needed to know which of the 8 Portions (45
degrees wide) it sat towards, but for this method, much more accuracy is needed
with your compass directions, as we are dealing with 15 degree positioning here.
It is no longer good enough just to say "the North or Kan". If you look at the
Northern section of the 24 Mountain Ring, you will see that it is now divided up
into three Mountains, Ren, Zi & Gui.
In other words, the Mountains are always counted in a Clockwise direction within
a 45 degree Portion.
We need to know which Mountain your place sits toward, so
the Stars fly in their correct patterns, either backwards, or
·
There are some straight out "no-no" places to be avoided, they are:
Where your sitting reading falls on the line between one of the 8 portions,
such as to 337.5 degrees (between Qian & Kan).
·
Living in such a home will bring about great uncertainty within those living
there, they exhibit no drive or focus in their lives, and can not get things
moving at all. Most times, they are unaware of what they are doing, going
from job to job, and if there appears certain combinations of Stars in their
chart, and that area of the building is excessively Yin, the possibility of
Ghosts is real. Businesses located with such a reading never get ahead,
and are the sort of strip shops where you see a constant turnover of
tenants, with business after business going down the gurgler! They usually
become what I refer to as "Slum Shops"! being offered for ridiculously
cheap rental prices, regardless of what suburb they are in! Charitable
organisations pounce on such premises, and usually end up as thrift
shops, with the land-lords even going to the extreme of donating said
premises rental to the charity, and claiming that back on tax, so as to get
an occupancy!
In both of the above examples, the building itself is confused, not knowing which
chart it is under the influence of, and then rubbing off on the occupants.
have seen with this problem, and that is through the use of the
Replacement Stars Ring. I will not be covering that technique here on my
web site.
We also need to know when your place was built, this is usually on the deeds
that come with purchase of a place, or your local Council, or here in Adelaide,
South Australia, our Department of Lands Titles has this information for a small
fee. Sometimes in older buildings, going to the local libraries history section can
bring you this detail in books and records kept there, other times, simply asking a
neighbour can reveal it. Be resourceful if none of these prove to be fruitful, have
a look at concrete paths around the home, and be thankful for the graffitist who
left a date in permanence there!
The dates of construction will fall into one of the following "Periods" of 20 years.
For homes built at the end of a period, and moved into the next, draw up
the chart using the next periods numerals. e.g. built right now, May 2003,
·
moved into say April 2004, use Period 8 as the base for drawing up the
Flying Star Chart.
Period Years
9 1844 - 1863
1 1864 - 1883
2 1884 - 1903
3 1904 - 1923
4 1924 - 1943
5 1944 - 1963
6 1964 - 1983
7 1984 - 2003
8 2004 - 2023
9 2024 - 2044
We need to know:
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Step by step instructions start in the next lesson.
Print off the above and following tables, as you will need easy reference to them
whenever you go to draw up a new chart.
The number in Red at the centre is what should appear in the centre square of
the chart you are drawing up. In the Time/Construction, Mountain/Sitting or
Water/Facing Star positions.
Appearing in Traditional format with South at the top, North at the bottom, East
on the left, and West on the right.
9 5 7 1 6 8 2 7 9
8 1 3 9 2 4 1 3 5
4 6 2 5 7 3 6 8 4
3 8 1 4 9 2 5 1 3
2 4 6 3 5 7 4 6 8
7 9 5 8 1 6 9 2 7
6 2 4 7 3 5 8 4 6
5 7 9 6 8 1 7 9 2
1 3 8 2 4 9 3 5 1
Appearing in Traditional format with South at the top, North at the bottom, East
on the left, and West on the right.
2 6 4 3 7 5 4 8 6
3 1 8 4 2 9 5 3 1
7 5 9 8 6 1 9 7 2
5 9 7 6 1 8 7 2 9
6 4 2 7 5 3 8 6 4
1 8 3 2 9 4 3 1 5
8 3 1 9 4 2 1 5 3
9 7 5 1 8 6 2 9 7
4 2 6 5 3 7 6 4 8
Lesson-13
Now, I need you to draw up a bigger version of the Ming Gua chart,
a 3X3 square, again with the compass directions around the outside
until you know them off by heart, and South at the top, in traditional format.
Within each square there must be enough room to place 3 characters,
laid out exactly as indicated below.
There are just 3 simple steps to drawing up your Flying Star Chart!
First. The letter "Z" below, represents the Period of Construction for the
premises showing the Universes influence at that point in time and is just
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copied from the previous page. From this first piece of information, we can
start to draw up your Flying Star Chart.
Second. The letter "X" below, represents the Sitting or Mountain Stars,
giving us important information about health and relationship issues.
·
Third. The letter "Y" below, represents the Facing or Water Stars, giving
us important information about our wealth and careers.
·
SE S SW
XY XY XY
Z Z Z
XY XY XY
E W
Z Z Z
XY XY XY
Z Z Z
NE N NW
I can see lots of you actually making the following mistake, being literal
folks that you are when learning anything new!
·
SE S SW
XY XY XY
6 2 4
XY XY XY
E W
5 7 9
XY XY XY
1 3 8
NE N NW
I have indicated this with the external compass direction being replaced by the
word "sitting" written in Yellow.
All we need do, is to place the number from the Construction chart appearing in
the Sitting direction (SE in this case, as 135 degrees, Xun, is Mountain 2 of the
SE) to the Sitting Stars central "X" position in the centre square!
sitting S SW
XY XY XY
6 2 4
XY XY XY
E W
5 7 9
XY XY XY
1 3 8
NE N NW
You will also notice that the 6 appearing in the SE (the sitting of the example) is
already highlighted above, as is the letter X, signifying where it needs to be
placed in the centre square!
sitting S SW
XY XY XY
6 2 4
XY 6Y XY
E W
5 7 9
XY XY XY
1 3 8
NE N NW
The next stage of this step is to work out whether it should fly forwards, as the
numbers appear in the Period / Yang Charts, or backwards, as they appear at
the bottom of the last page in the Yin Charts.
All we do, is look at the number itself in the Central Pool of the LuoPan, and
check whether it's equivalent Mountain is Red (flies forward, and hence just copy
the Period / Yang Chart for that number) or is Black (and therefore flies
backwards, as presented at the bottom of the last page in the Yin flying pattern
Charts).
Central Pool of the LuoPan. This (45 degree) area is called Qian.
The 2nd Mountain of Qian (6), is also called Qian and is Red, so this
number flies forward in a Yang pattern.
·
We can simply cut and paste the numbers as they appear in the Period /
Yang Charts on the previous lesson, placing them where the letter "X"
appears in every square above, giving us...
sitting S SW
5Y 1Y 3Y
6 2 4
4Y 6Y 8Y
E W
5 7 9
9Y 2Y 7Y
1 3 8
NE N NW
Following the exact same procedure as for the Sitting Stars, but this time it's
number is based upon the Period Number positioned on the directly opposite
side of the chart (180 degrees across from), as indicated below by the Blue word
of "facing" and highlighted Construction Number, as well as it's location to be
placed within the central square.
sitting S SW
5Y 1Y 3Y
6 2 4
4Y 6Y 8Y
E W
5 7 9
9Y 2Y 7Y
1 3 8
NE N Facing
Giving us the number 8 in the central square where the letter "Y" appears, and is
highlighted above and below.
sitting S SW
5Y 1Y 3Y
6 2 4
4Y 68 8Y
E W
5 7 9
9Y 2Y 7Y
1 3 8
NE N Facing
Then simply look it up in the Central Pool of the LuoPan by finding its number
symbol there, and see if it flies forward or backward according to the Sitting
Mountain of the premises (2nd Mountain in this example).
So we find 8 to the Northeast (22.5 - 67.5 degrees / Gen) in the Central Pool of
the LuoPan, and check the 2nd Mountain there (also called Gen) to see that it is
Red, so we fly our numbers forward or in a Yang pattern again by copying them
from the Period /Yang Chart on the previous page with the 8 in the centre.
sitting S SW
57 13 35
6 2 4
46 68 81
E W
5 7 9
92 24 79
1 3 8
NE N facing
Notice that the Water Star in the centre is the 8? When does period 8 start?
That's right February of 2004! This is not a good situation, and warns us that
during the upcoming 20 year period, this home will be extremely hard to make a
living from. The Water star for that period is imprisoned in the centre!
Don't fuss too much if you have the 9 or 7 Water Star imprisoned, it's either 20
years off, or just easing up now!
Just look to the Time Period that the premises were constructed in for it's
1st, 2nd or 3rd Mountain clue as to whether it flies forwards or backwards.
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e.g. For a premises built in say 1970 (Period 6) and sitting this time to Chen / 120
degrees / 1st Mountain of the Southeast 45 degree portion, we would end up with
the 5 star in the centre square in the Mountain Star position (top left hand side of
that square or the "X" position as per the above worked example).
Look to the Central Pool of the LuoPan for the number 5, there is not one
present! What to do then?
Look to the 6, and check the appropriate Mountain as per the building
Sitting Mountain.
·
As this example place was constructed in period 6 this time we look to the 1st
Mountain of 6 (as the premises sit to the 1st Mountain of Southeast) for it's
quality of how the 5 Mountain would fly, and it flies in a reverse (or Yin) pattern
this time. The 5 still remains where it is in the central chart, do not mistakenly put
the 6 there in its place! just copy the numbers as they appear in the Yin Flying
Chart with the 5 in the centre.
In the next lesson, we will start interpreting the basics of interpreting a Flying
Star Chart!