This article is meant especially for those practitioners who think that Feng Shui begins and ends with providing the client with a “good flying star chart”, and are under the mistaken notion that “the advanced level” of Feng Shui knowledge is knowing all about flying stars. This could not be further from the truth. Activating the facing star # 8 with water, one believes, should put your client on his way to his next million. Right?
Wrong.
How much one can really change with Feng Shui?
This is a highly debatable topic and I am not about to get into that here. My aim is to outline the various ways one can analyze or diagnose the story of a client’s life. I believe that without a proper diagnosis, one cannot give a proper solution.
No diagnosis, no cure.
There are many ways one can tell what is wrong and what can or cannot be corrected. I am enumerating the various methods one can use. For my analysis I use all, as I believe that the various methods do not contradict each other, rather, each method provides a layer of meaning and understanding.
However, for the solution, I use only one method, chosen judiciously. While no method is completely compatible with all the others, each method finds its own way to cover up its own defects or shortcomings.
The 8 Mansions method of classifying a house based on the House Gua should be your first step. (Emphasis being on the word MANSIONS)
No matter how “good” the door is (even if it is a Sheng Qi door for the individual), the house has to match the occupants. So if you have a West group client using an East group house, you are already at a disadvantage here. Usage of the directions will be limited to the few specific prescribed ones, which can be used to overcome the negativity of the sectors of the mismatched house.
(This information may be confusing for those who have not completely understood 8 Mansions and it is explained clearly in my new online course: Essential Understanding Series - Eight Mansions)
I will give you a hint, a person of Gua 3 (East group) will enjoy the benefits of the North sector location and direction in a house facing North, sitting on South far better than the North in an East facing house. Why? Because an East-facing house SITS WEST, hence is a West group house.
Are the forms correct? Do they follow the principles of San He? Do they conform to the Xuan Kong principles of Sheng and Wang? Are the mountains and water the kind that supports the activity of the property?
- Look at the structure of the Flying star chart
For the flying star aficionados: Does the structure of the Flying star chart match the landforms?
Two houses facing the identical directions will have different Feng Shui depending upon the landforms outside. If the house has a chart that is “up the mountain down the river” but the landforms are higher at the back and lower in the front, you are in trouble as it is imperative that the landforms match the structure of the chart. No matter how good the flying star chart looks on paper, the landforms have to be supportive to the chart.
- Are the prominent stars correctly supported?
You can use any period chart without worrying about making the chart “current” provided you can support the 8’s correctly (as we are now in period 8), meaning that the facing 8 should be supported with lower ground and or water (Don’t ignore Tsing san - Ling San rules) and the mountain star 8 is kept quiet, has higher ground outside and undisturbed by the presence of movement or water. If the prominent star is trapped in the center, see if you can release it and make it usable. The same applies to the 9, Sheng Qi in period 8.
- Have you complied with the tenets of Direct & Indirect Spirit?
Despite what ever else you do, you must not ignore this rule, water has to be placed in conformity.
- Is your entrance from an appropriate sector?
Never mind the stars - are you entering from a YANG sector, one that can take water/activity? If not, minus some points here. Entering from a Yin sector raises difficulty and obstacles and makes it just that much tougher for the occupants.
- Which sectors are missing or extended?
One can tell a lot from this, as this can easily identify the occupant who is specifically affected. Missing Kun means the mother is affected and so on…You need to know the characteristics and qualities of each trigram for this.
The numbers in the occupant’s life palace individually will tell you the quality of his or her life. (Joey Yap covers this very interesting topic in his course Xuan Kong 2). If this is good, everything in the person’s life is that much better. One can tell plenty, the relationship of the individual with anyone else, the money situation, health etc. in a particular house. When house hunting with a client, I often base my advise on the Life Palace of the occupant in the proposed house.
- Ba Zhai or the 8 Mansions arrangement
I have become pretty good at evaluating the condition of a person’s state of mind and quality of life simply by looking at what Ba Zhai i the person is invoking in the house. Look at the door, stoves and bedrooms with the bed positioning in mind. Look at where the kitchens and toilets are… a lot can be said from this.
- Green Dragon – White tiger
Is it present, absent,extended, WHAT? Note the repercussions of each of the above factors.
- Condition of the Ming Tan
The bright hall must be open and clear of any encumbrances and obstructions. Then only can the Qi be received correctly and can the Qi enter. I am sure each professional has his own methods. My methods change and evolve constantly based on the last Master Academy course I have attended or based on recent experiences from my practice. Each course gives me a new method, each client is a learning experience. Share your experiences on info@sherrymerchant.com;I would love to hear your views, as I feel we all can learn from one another and in my humble opinion, one lifetime is not enough!
- Have you given a thought to the impact of the Annual Stars on the property & the people?
Each year we have a whole new set of issues that are brought on when the effects of the stars change in February, at Chinese new Year and they have an impact on the quality of a person's life.
- Have you looked at their BaZi carts and seen if any issue emanates from that?
Once all of the above is sorted out, you will have a fairly decent shot at knowing what is wrong, what needs correction and what you can do. Now you are at liberty to give your suggestions based on whatever methods you know.
You can now apply your favourite methods to solve the issues, like Xuan Kong Da Gua, 8 Mansions etc.
