On Feng Shui | The Interior

Feng shui has evolved into two central schools of thought, the Compass School and the Form School. Each is a facet of feng shui and the practice of one school is generally applied with regard for the other.

The discipline more closely resembling traditional feng shui and recently popularized in the west, the Form School studies the arrangement, or form, of environmental attributes. Yin and yang energies are then balanced to energize healthy chi flow.

A more technical practice, the Compass School utilizes time and direction to align human and environmental chi. This is calculated using a Chinese compass called the Luo Pan and formulations both ancient and adapted.

For the purposes of restoring energetic balance and positive chi flow, Bagua map application is a fundamental first step from which feng shui analysis and trigram therapy is performed.

To reveal and demarcate the trigrams within a house or building, the Bagua map is placed over the floorplan, ensuring that south is oriented at the top, the map edges are aligned to cover all corners of the floorplan (multiple maps may be employed for irregularly shaped structures with significant extensions, such as that of a covered garage), and all trigrams are of equal length and width.

The Bagua map is placed over the floorplan in Figure F. and the house is sectioned off by the grid, providing a clear demarcation of its trigrams and a basis upon which to perform feng shui analysis.

Feng shui analysis is the comparison of the Bagua map against feng shui principles to identify energy imbalances and opportunities to energize positive chi flow.

A study of the elements at play is one consideration of feng shui analysis. (Other considerations include other associated symbols, both present and absent and the interaction thereof, as well as missing corners and poison arrows, to name a few.) 

For example, see the Li trigram (Figure G., outlined in red). The Bagua map reveals this trigram to include the bathroom, as well as parts of the kitchen, utility room, and closets.

The Li trigram is symbolized by the fire element but this part of the house is host to a preponderance of water (a bathtub, toilet, water heater tank, dishwasher, and two sinks) which, according to the element cycles, extinguishes fire.

The constructive, reductive, and controlling cycles (Figures H., I., and J., respectively) use one element to minimize or emphasize the presence of another. This is done by introducing one element to energize or depress another.

The constructive cycle is used to energize one element by supplementing it with another. The reductive cycle is used to diminish one element by weakening it with another, and the controlling cycle is used to eliminate one element by combating it with another. 

In the case of the Li trigram in Figure G., the controlling cycle can be used to eliminate the water element, as earth eliminates water by damming it. And the constructive cycle can be used to energize the fire element, as wood energizes fire by bolstering it.

This as well as other findings of a feng shui analysis can be remedied as needed with the use of trigram therapy.

Trigram therapy is undertaken at the conclusion of a feng shui analysis that has uncovered an energy imbalance or stagnant chi. It involves physical adjustment to a space to alter its energy flow. This is achieved with the use of cures and energizers.

A cure is an antidote to an energy imbalance and is used to restore harmony. An energizer is an enhancement to energize positive chi flow. Both are rendered by editing a space with the addition, omission, rearrangement, or alteration of items.

Figure K. details but a few of the numerous properties associated with each of the five elements. These associations are represented symbolically in the space to minimize or emphasize the presence of an element as needed. 

To restore balance and harmony to the Li trigram in Figure G., a cure is needed to minimize the water element and an energizer is needed to emphasize the fire element.

The earth element can be used to dam the water element (Figure J.) imposed by the water fixtures in the space (Figure G.). This may be done by introducing something suggestive of the earth element such as a clay soap dish, more effective still if it is an earth tone or square in shape.

The wood element can be used to fuel the fire element (Figure H.) associated with the Li trigram. This may be done by introducing something suggestive of the wood element such as art depicting nature, more effective still if it is landscape in orientation or rectangle in shape.