What Is Feng Shui?

What is Feng shui? For many people this word is a complete mystery. They may have heard it in passing conversation or mentioned on some sort of home improvement network while flipping through the channels on their television. But they didn’t catch any details. Then again, perhaps, during a visit to a bookstore one could have happened upon a book on the subject. Needless to say, it is more than a funny sounding work.

Feng shui (pronounced “fung-schway”), meaning “wind and water” is an ancient Chinese art as well as a philosophy that concerns the placement of objects as a means to bring balance and harmony to a physical space. Figuratively speaking, feng represents the winds which bear chi throughout a space. Shui, then, is the water that courses beneath the earth moving the chi with it.

Yet, now we’ve encountered another unusual work: Chi. But, what is it? Chi is a word that describes the invisible, spiritual energies which surrounds us and flows through us. Though this energy cannot be felt, seen, or heard, it does influence and affect the physical world including living things. When chi is not allowed to flow smoothly in and around physical places, it create disharmony and shakes everything around it out of balance. Feng Shui was created as a means to heal these imbalances by being mindful of how the design and placement of objects in the physical realm affect the spiritual realm.

Though the practice of Feng Shui has existed for thousands of years, it has only been in the last twenty-five years that it has a real resurgence in both popularity and usage, particularly in North America where interests in eastern mysticism and New Age philosophies are being propagated widely. In its modern incarnation, Feng Shui has one primary objective: it is to bring into balance or align one’s physical space (be it home, office, or business) with personal goals or health. Once the physical space is altered it is said that you will notice results that have a far broader influence on your life as whole than could have been realized.

It is said that homes or those places that we spend so much of our waking hours tend to reflect the state of our very lives. Hence, if your house is in constant disarray, cluttered, and you have difficulty simply entering the front door, then this, in turn, represents the way our lives outside the home are going. Whatever trials or struggles we have with our home lives, at work or in the professional world, will show themselves in the way our homes look.

Those who have actually heard of Feng Shui often get the false impression that it is only an Oriental decorating style currently in vogue. Contrary to this misconception, it is more of a metaphysical concept blended with some scientific principles discipline that mixes elements of geographical, religious, philosophical, mathematical, aesthetic, and astrological concepts while also allowing for the use of numerous decorating styles.

Characterized as pseudo-science, superstition, or just plain “mumbo-jumbo” by many critics, while lauded with praise for its beneficial qualities by proponents, Feng Shui is always up for interpretation. Advocates view it as a harmonious synthesis of the art and science of understanding the forces of nature so that one may design houses and workspaces that are in harmony with the environment. When the principles of Feng Shui are combined with personal awareness of actions, people are better able to control their lives and achieve their goals.

Feng Shui, as a discipline, parallels traditional Chinese medicine, in that it is a long tradition, steeped in subtle methods and standardized body of knowledge that can take a lifetime to master. Due to its recent reemergence in Western culture, training programs and professional standards are becoming more established and will continue to grow and evolve.

When it comes down to basics, Feng Shui offers a very sensible notion for those who are interested in its applications. If we live with rather than against nature, the benefits to both humans and the environment will be enormous. Equally as important is really coming to understand how deeply we, as human beings, are affected and influenced by our physical and emotional circumstances.

 To put it another way, if people surround themselves with symbols of death, contempt and indifference toward life and nature, with noise and various forms of ugliness, they will be adversely affected. Yet, if people gather about themselves images and symbols of beauty, gentleness, kindness, sympathy, music and various expressions of the goodness of life, the consequences will be far superior and beneficial for man and nature.