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These days everyone has heard of Feng Shui. But what exactly is it? Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese belief that involves the study of both the natural and the created environments. To achieve a balance between the 2 affects the yin and the yang, as well as the energy of a room.
7 Schools Of Feng Shui
There are many different versions of Feng Shui that are based on culture, geography, religion and symbolism. However, all Feng Shui practitioners believe in energy. There are 7 predominant forms of Feng Shui:
1. The first school, Compass School, uses 8 trigrams of the I-Ching. They are known collectively as Pa Kua, which is based on the eight main directions of a compass. Each of these directions is associated with a specific chi. For example, a southern direction is vibrant energy and is associated with the middle of the summer.
2. Eight Mansion School is another form of Feng Shui. This school of thought, also known as the Eight House Feng Shui, is based on the individual number of a person. The number of the person living in the home is used to bring harmony and balance to the home. People that use this system have both lucky and unlucky numbers, with the west numbers being 2, 6, 7, and 8 and the east numbers being 1, 3, 4, and 9.
3. The Form School of thought, based on the landscape's shape, uses 4 symbolic animals to identify the landscape. Easy to use, the Form School (along with the Compass School) increases chi both in and out of the home.
4. Another school of thought is the Black Hat Sect that uses a fixed entry point for determination of the life area. Although similar to the Compass School philosophy, it has different areas. The Black Hat Sect also consists of psychology, Buddhism and basic design principles.
5. The Nine Star Key School uses stars to help identify lucky and unlucky days. This school of thought uses complicated math formulas and can pinpoint when a person will get married and the astrological sign of the future marriage partners. Based purely on science, Nine Star Key School of thought is very inflexible. It will also tell the practitioner what house he lives in and makes suggestions on how to live based on the house.
6. The most common form of Feng Shui, based on astrology and numerology, is the Flying Star Philosophy. Difficult to understand and learn, it is also based on mathematical principals and is used to determine a person's fate.
7. Four Pillars, the final school of thought, is not very common. Based on astrology according to the person's date of birth (right down to the minutes), this form of Feng Shui is also used to determine a person's fate.
Five Elements Of Feng Shui
It is important, after determining which school of thought is best for an individual, to also understand the 5 elements of Feng Shui. They are: Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. These 5 elements are capable of destroying each other's energies and forming a continual cycle. Balance and harmony can be created in a home through the use of these elements. If, however, these elements are used incorrectly, the energy can be destroyed or lessened.
Each of the 5 elements is also associated with a color, direction, and number.
Earth (Brown/Beige) -- 2,5,8 -- Southwest
Fire (Red/Purple) -- 9 -- South
Water (Blue/Black) -- 1 -- North
Metal (Grey/Reflective) -- 6,7 -- West
Wood (Green) -- 3,4 -- East
Destructive And Productive Cycles
Each of these elements has both a destructive and a productive cycle and must be used carefully.
1. The productive cycle uses the following pattern:
Water -- Wood -- Fire -- Earth -- Metal
Water feeds Wood for it to grow. Wood then feeds Fire and produces Earth. Earth, in turn created Metal. Metal holds water and, thus, continues the cycle. To keep this cycle flowing, bring into the room the elements before and after the main element
2. The destructive cycle reduces energy and can be used in a room where one element needs to be lessened. It follows this pattern:
Water -- Fire -- Metal -- Wood -- Earth
Water puts out Fire and Fire melts Metal. Metal cuts Wood down and Wood clogs Earth, while Earth muddies Water.
Beauty And Balance
In a Feng Shui home, all rooms should achieve a balance with these 5 elements, although different items may weigh heavier than others. A throw pillow, for example, might score only one count of an element while a chair might score 3 counts because of its size difference.
Feng Shui brings both beauty and balance to the home or office. | 
