Black Turtle Feng Shui

Monthly Stars

Several clients have asked that I post updates on monthly stars. They are not as big an influence as the other stars in a chart. They can be triggers, however, that may have positive or negative bearings on a chart. 

Right now, in February 2010, the monthly 5 is in the northeast. This star has the ability to be disturbing. In many charts, it will not be activated, but if you spend a lot of time in the northeast part of your home and you experience difficulties in February, try adding a little of the colors yellow or gold, playing music in that area, particularly piano music, or adding a bowl of still water.

The monthly 8, the ruling star, is in the southwest. This is where the annual 5 is during 2010. The 8 may be responsible for mellowing the more negative aspects of the 5 during this month. When the 8 moves to the east in March, the same remedies as noted above for the monthly 5 might be appropriate in the southwest if one notices negative experiences. 

These are the locations of the monthly stars in February. 9 (Fire)- east; 8 (Earth)- southwest; 7 (Metal)- north; 6 (Metal)- south; 5 (Earth)- northeast; 4 (Wood)- west; 3 (Wood)- northwest; 2 (Earth)- center; and 1 (Water)- southeast.

In March, just subtract 1 from each number to find the star that will take its place. For instance, the 8 will replace the 9 in the east. The monthly 5 in the northeast will become a 4. The 1 will become a 9, simply starting the nine-number sequence again.

While the 8 and the 5 are always worth watching, if you have been told about either potentially auspicious or inauspicious areas of your space, monthly stars can make differences in these areas. They can add to and enhance a productive cycle, or control an auspicious star, partially neutralizing its effect.

As an example, a client needs to do some home repairs in an area with the stars 5, 2, and 9 in the chart. This is a particularly unlucky and disastrous combination. This area is also where things seem to go wrong with the house. The porch roof leaks and has been occupied by bats in the past, a water line broke there, and there was a nasty hornet infestation in the wall last summer. To make matters worse, in 2009, the annual star in this area was a 5. The annual star 4 in 2010 may be somewhat better than the annual star in 2009, but probably won't have much effect. My suggestion is that they hold off on doing major porch repairs until the monthly star is metal, the remedy for this combination. In this case, I will also give them a list of daily stars, hoping they will make repairs on metal days, in a month with a metal star present. Otherwise, disturbing this combination with demo and construction activities may bring unfortunate results, including potential accidents to those working there.   

   

Black Hat Sect Feng Shui

Cate Bramble, a classically trained feng shui practitioner, author, and scientist, has a great website called "The Ultimate Feng Shui Resource: Feng shui facts without the New Age Psychobabble since 1995" (http://qi-whiz.com/content/about-fsur ). She is not faint of opinion. Her words and website are straightforward. As a scientist, she abhors what she has termed "Mcfengshui", the shortcut versions that leave the practices of classical feng shui in the dust for easy profit.

In an earlier post, I said where you live, the luck you were born with, and what you DO about it will determine your life path. Cate says it better.  

"Feng Shui is not an excuse to lay on the couch and expect that a mirror or wind chime can fix everything in your life. In Chinese tradition, Feng Shui is third on the list after what you were born with and what you do with your gifts — that means your life is still your responsibility."

I go to her website for reinforcement when I am dismayed about the uphill battle classical feng shui faces after it was commercialized and distorted in the west. Most people think feng shui is about mirrors and bamboo flutes, or interior decorating, or charlatanism. No wonder. That is how it has been sold. I cringe to see a certain California practitioner's name mentioned on her site. I once paid this guy $300 for a consultation early in my explorations with the subject. He showed up with a crystal, did a "cleansing ceremony" in a room that had "bad energy", and ran through some form school observations that I knew about by then, although I was not yet a classical feng shui student. After he left, a friend said, "He didn't tell you anything new." Last year, as an experiment, I bought a new book he co-authored. It was tripe, like the consultation.

To see the worst possible manifestations of Mcfengshui, one only needs to go to LivePerson.com and search feng shui. The practitioners who come up have handles like "Angel Messenger", or call themselves feng shui psychics. Even in this crowd, though, there appears one classically trained practitioner named Monica Hess. Because the patrons of this site seem to lean towards the psychic version of feng shui, or any topic, Monica is probably not getting the business she deserves, and scads of folks leave the site after their "feng shui" consultation with newly twisted views of what it really is, or should be.

Today, I read a never-before-seen (at least by me) link on Cate Bramble's site. As much as I visit, I have yet to read everything on it. Although it is a linked article from 1998, it is the best I've read about how Lin Yu, creator of the Black Hat Sect, hijacked classical feng shui in America. Read it here- http://www.sfweekly.com/1998-08-26/news/in-the-money-corner/full .

Stay tuned for my promised, and as yet undelivered, post about monthly stars.

  

 

Feng Shui for the People

During medieval times in China, feng shui was reserved for the elite. Feng shui masters might pay with death for helping common men. One admired exception was a master named Yang Yunsong, nicknamed "Save the Poor", who managed to use feng shui from the mountains of Northwest China to aid everyday people. He also shared some of its traditional secrets, making it more accessible for all.

This should be the ideal. Feng shui and Chinese metaphysics are about all mankind living in harmony with nature, not just a handful of the privileged. 

Lisa Rohleder, author of The Remedy:Integrating Acupuncture into American Health Care(available online at http://www.lulu.com/content/466287/ ), has made an excellent case for making acupuncture widely available by rethinking how it is offered to the public. After reading this gem of a book, worth the cost of admission if only for its brief, clear explanation of Tao, I began to wonder if a similar effort could be put into place for feng shui.

At first glance, this doesn't seem doable. No two audits are the same. Each one, if done well, takes much individual time and at least two site visits. There are typically factors that affect an audit that are puzzling, requiring investigation.

Still, it is striking that those who might most benefit by an audit are less likely to be able to pay the full cost for one. If a home or business is locked for prosperity, the people living or working there are also less likely to spend limited resources on feng shui. Similarly, if someone is ill, the last place one might consider for investing limited time or money resources may seem to be feng shui, especially if one has had too much exposure to schools or practitioners that make it seem only glorified home decorating.

I have realized, though, that the most severe problems encountered simply by living where you ive are usually readily identifiable on a building's energy chart. Preparing this chart takes only an accurate compass reading and a floor plan. A practitioner can zero in on areas most needing attention simply by seeing the chart, then asking questions relating to those areas only, without needing to complete a full audit.

With this in mind, I am trying out a new kind of audit; the problem-solving audit. If there is no money coming in, if household members are having a rash of accidents, if someone is sick, or if relationships are suffering, there may be something you can do about it with a five element cure. Sometimes the only remedy is to move, but these cases are unusual. More typically, some relief can be had by using a different door to come in the house, by using some rooms less, or by installing a powerful remedy, as examples.

This sort of audit-one looking at simply the most powerful qi at work-can be accomplished remotely. With the chart and an idea of the problems being encountered, relief may be possible. Keep in mind that feng shui is about a third of the major influences one encounters (the other two are an individual's life path as described by Four Pillars Astrology, and one's own choices and priorities in life).

It is my goal to make feng shui accessible to the people who need it most, at a far more affordable price-to help solve some of life's gnarliest problems-using this abbreviated audit method. Interested?  See my website (www.blackturtlefengshui.com) for details. The best part is that I don't have to personally visit your home or business, so where I live relative to where you live does not matter. If you have access to the internet, I can make classical feng shui accessible for you. 

  

   

2010, Year of The Tiger

Welcome to the Year of The Tiger. 

February 6th was the start of a new year, so all those annual stars discussed in the previous post have moved their influences once more. In 2010, the Emperor 5 star will be in the southwest. The 5 brings trouble and calamity, but as an authoritarian sort of energy, is also calmed by order. Try not to disturb the surroundings in the southwest in 2010. It is not a good year to remodel in that area, or to install a swimming pool or make other landscaping changes in that sector, or to create noise and disturbance there. Soft gold colors work to calm the Emperor. If you have a well-used space in the southwest, incorporate butter yellow or gold colors in it. Still water, as previously mentioned, may also be useful, but be aware if experimenting with that remedy. Depending on the other stars present, it may not work, but may simply bring more trouble.

The annual 8 is in the center this year. If it has a positive impact on the stars at the center of your home or business, you can expect the year to be smoother in general. The downside? The center is more difficult to infuence with remedies, so this year, it cannot be enhanced or tapped at a particular location.

Look forward to monthly posts about the locations of the monthy stars, coming soon, by request.