Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese architectural and decorating method/philosophy which works to maximize good Chi or energy in one's environment. It incorporates many philosophies and methodologies. Some aspects use the Chinese zodiac, others a system of numerology, and it incorporates a world-view in which there are 5 main elements which compose the world around us, fire, water, stone, wood, and metal. It aims for balance and symmetry. It divides the world into
yin and yang attributes, yin representing calm, peaceful, restful, and quiet, while yang represents warmth, activity, excitement, and stimulation. Then there is a whole system of views on what makes good chi and bad chi, how to promote, encourage and direct chi. I don't pretend to offer a comprehensive description of feng shui, but just a brief description which I hope will whet your appetite. There are of course, numerous books written about various aspects of feng shui. Here's another blog which you might enjoy:
http://openspacesfengshui.com/
While I can't say that I subscribe to all the complicated algorithms employed by feng shui practitioners, I can say that on the whole, the end result is quite pleasing. Most of us have had the experience of going into a room and feeling immediately comfortable and at ease. On the converse, you may have entered a room where you immediately had a feeling of unease or discomfort which you couldn't really put into words, or understand why you felt that way. A room with good feng shui will most often feel inviting even if you can't articulate exactly why that is. Some feng shui "precepts" almost seem like common sense, for example, balancing the use of the 5 elements. Using sensible proportions of wood, stone, and metal elements can create a harmonious blend that is naturally appealing. The use of water features is very feng shui, but entirely universal in appeal. Other aspects, such as positioning elements predominately in one zone of a room depending on the orientation of the room by the compass, are more difficult to appreciate. Nevertheless, the overall effect of good feng shui is pleasing to the eye and the senses, and, who knows, perhaps does increase one's positive energy.
In planning the layout of our cabin, I took into account some feng shui principles. I oriented the cabin with the mountain at the back of the cabin, symbolizing the Black Turtle. This places the front door facing East. To the East is a stream, and Luna Lake. When I superimposed the pa kua ( the eight Trigrams) over the house plan, with the North triagram oriented toward the front door, it was most interesting! I saw that the Water direction on the pa kua was toward Luna Lake. The Fire direction, toward the back of the cabin, was where the massive forest fire came over the mountain last summer and burned right up to our property line. The Lesser Metal direction, to the left of the front door, faces a carport last year that I built out of metal shipping containers. The Big Wood direction, to the right of the front door, is where a balcony constructed of wood protrudes from the side of the building. Pretty freaky, wouldn't you say?
We took particular care with the kitchen. The kitchen is dominated by fire energy due to the cooking stove. We avoided placing the sink too close or opposite to the stove due to the natural clash of these two elements (water extinguishes fire). We kept an open configuration to allow free circulation of chi. We will use slate tiles (earth energy) for the floor to help balance the fire energy, and to balance the yin and yang.
It is very important to have a water feature, as water brings very good chi. Our water feature is going to be a spa on the deck outside the kitchen door, with a little waterfall, if everything goes well.
The one area of concern is the bedroom. One rule is not to sleep under a beam (or ceiling fan) as this creates bad descending chi. We have lots of beams. With all the rules regarding bedrooms, such as "make sure you can see the door from your bed", don't position the bed so your feet are pointing out the door", "avoid putting the headboard under a window", there is really no good place to put the bed! Oh, well. I guess you can't have everything.
