“Put a little Feng Shui and Geomancy into your life, not your life into Feng Shui and Geomancy”
George Birdsall
Geomancy - the art of placing or arranging buildings or other sites auspiciously
Auspicious - conducive to success; favorable
Definitions are from Oxford languages
One of my favorite books on the subject is The Feng Shui Companion by George Birdsall, an Engineer and Architect.
He wrote this user friendly guide to the Ancient Art of Placement as a way to explain the key concepts to almost anyone. In the book he describes his experience with Feng Shui as a commercial building designer and Feng Shui Practitioner, which are eye-opening and inspiring. He also reminds us to listen to our intuition and have fun while applying Feng Shui.
I agree with his concept that the people who are most likely to benefit from the applications of Feng Shui are those already open to nurturing the physical, mental and spiritual areas of their lives. Greater benefits tend to flow for those that are open minded, not too stringent with the applications and willing to listen to their intuition.
It helps to give something new a try even if it is uncomfortable at first. Because, let’s face it, doing what you have always done is what brought you HERE. You may feel stuck, lacking motivation and creativity, looking for a partner, facing health issues, or just ready for something new to shake things up. Something brought you HERE. So, clearly it is time for some Feng Shui !
Our modern lifestyles, especially in the Western Hemisphere, have made it so we are no longer clued in to the intuition and primal instinct that our ancestors relied on to survive. Because of this, we get caught in a cycle of work, chores and things we “should” or “have” to do, without paying any attention to the desires and capabilities of our true and higher selves.
If something feels “off” to us today we tend to ignore it, dismiss it and move on because we can not see or recognize what is giving us that feeling. But, identifying and interpreting these causes is possible using the ancient principles of Feng Shui. Knowledge and use of these principles can help us to better understand the world around us and our relationship to it. As well as, show us how to enhance our home and business environments in a way that creates health, harmony and prosperity.
My clients, friends and family often come to me having particular issues related to an area of their life, but are not sure why. Sometimes they have identified one room that is not comfortable or used often within their home or office, and they want to use Feng Shui to help them find out why. Another common theme is a desire to enhance or “activate” a particular place, such as the wealth or career gua to support a life goal.
As a Feng Shui practitioner I can assess what is happening starting with the external environment (surrounding the location) and getting granular within the home, office or a single room to provide some insight on the present flow of the space , how to improve it and why.
Using geomancy (also referred to as siting) I can also help to determine the best home location to buy, plot of land and position to build on or location for your business.
During my consultations (non siting) I try to follow this rule; remove, rearrange and add.
Remove means decluttering, and while not a tenant of traditional Feng Shui, it is conducive to the practice of Western, or BTB Feng Shui. Our Western lifestyle dictates this. We have so, much, STUFF. And often we just can’t let things go. A decluttering consult can be very liberating as it clears the way for energy that is fresh, positive and working for you. It also gives you a roadmap for getting organized.
Some of the tools we use at Divine Ch’i are the Bagua map and the Nine basic cures.
Those cures or remedies may include in some form or another; affirmations, prayers and blessings, light, water, mirrors, crystals, sounds, plants, moving objects, fountains, heavy objects, symbolic objects and colors. (I know! I listed more than nine things)
My personal take on the nine basic cures is to work with each client in a way that respects and honors their own religious/spiritual beliefs. If the true cure is off putting, then we work together to find something that is equally effective to achieving the desired outcome. (For example, not everyone in the West feels the dragon is a positive symbol, while in the East they don't see it this way). Some people may find my solution of honoring belief systems to be controversial as it strays from the original tradition. But, I find that by doing so, and staying in line with the principles of Feng Shui, it brings about the desired results more often than not.
Once we have de-cluttered and cleared the way for some fresh air, we can rearrange what is in the space and even re-use some long forgotten decor or furnishings. At this point we know what we are keeping and what we are removing, now we can better identify what we need to bring in or add.
I must say, I have had numerous consults where the client did not need to make any purchases to “bring in” items because we repurposed what they already had to satisfy our Feng Shui outcome. However, many people do want to refresh their decor or colors and often the Feng Shui consultation goes hand in hand with a remodel, new move in or major decor change. Just know that applying Feng Shui remedies, even for the first time, should never absolutely require you to buy things.
At Divine Ch’i we work to meet the needs of the client while honoring the spirit of Feng Shui and beliefs of the person inhabiting the space. Springtime and the momentum of Spring cleaning (stirring up the energy in the space) is a great time to do a Feng Shui Consultation.
For this reason we have decided to offer lower Spring pricing to motivate you. Because, when you change the flow of energy in your space, you immerse yourself in possibilities!