FENG SHUI: basic concepts

CHI: Chi is the energy that flows through and around everything, everywhere. Like air or water, Chi can move freely or be subject to blockages and barriers. Feng Shui is basically the art or science of arranging and positioning things in one's life and surroundings to increase the natural flow of Chi. There is good/positive Chi ("Sheng Chi") and bad/negative ("Sha Chi" or "Si Chi").

YIN/YANG: Yin and Yang are, respectively, the feminine and masculine energies that combine and oppose each other in varying degrees to make up all of nature. Every object, whether natural or man-made, has an aspect of either Yin or Yang. The balance between the two creates and impacts the flow of Chi energy.

DIRECTION: The compass plays an important role in Feng Shui. Each direction impacts and influences different areas of life, and corresponds to colors, shapes, items, light and elements.

ELEMENTS: Feng Shui takes five elements into account: Earth, Water, Fire, Metal, and Wood. Feng Shui practitioners believe that the elements relate to each other, and to other things, in Productive and Destructive Cycles. These cycles can be used to strengthen or weaken particular elements based on the needs of the space. A Productive Cycle would be: Water nurtures Wood; Wood nurtures Fire; Fire nurtures Earth; Earth nurtures Metal; Metal nurtures Water. Therefore, to increase the significance of Earth in a room, one could add Fire elements, to "nurture" the lacking element. The Destructive Cycle works in similar ways. An example of the Destructive Cycle is: Water weakens Fire; Fire weakens Metal; Metal weakens Wood; Wood weakens Earth; Earth weakens Water.

COLOR: Color plays an important role in Feng Shui. Directions, elements, shapes, emotions and energies all have color associations. The interplay of both color and light impact greatly on the Feng Shui of an item or space.

THE BAGUA: The Bagua is an 8-sided diagram used for diagnosing the Feng Shui energy of any home or space. Each of the eight sides represents several energy aspects: direction, part of Life, family member, and shows corresponding elements, colors, seasons as well as a Tri-gram from the I-ching. The center of the diagram contains a Yin/Yang symbol and symbolizes the overall energy health of the space being analyzed. Bagua diagrams are overlaid on a plan of the building or room to be analzyed and studied in detail to determine how to best balance the energes of the space.

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