Category Archives: Feng Shui

Feng Shui

External Sha Qi or Killing Energy

In Feng Shui, the presence of Sha Qi or Killing Energy generating objects and structures in the exterior or interior of the house, if near enough, can depreciate the good quality of the house or sections of the house. This in turn can produce an inauspicious effect on the occupants of the house.

Sha Qi is created by natural or man-made structures found in the house surroundings and also within the house. When found externally they are known as exterior sha. A good example is the high tension pylon. When found within the house they are known as interior sha. These interior sha as caused by design and construction of the house. A good example is the overhead beam cutting across a bed below.

The effect on the house and its occupants depends on the intensity of the Sha Qi which in turn is determined by the shape, size and distance from the house. For example the Sha Qi generated by a multi-storey office complex would be far greater that that of a two storey house. Similarly the Sha Qi generated by a structure 10 meters away would be far stronger than by a similar structure 100 meters away.

Depending on the intensity, direction, form and type of the Sha Qi it can depreciate the quality of the whole house or just a section of the house. For example a busy road ‘attacking’ the facing of the house can depreciate the good quality of the house while a less busy road ‘attacking’ from the side of the house may affect only areas at the side of the house.

t-junction
t-junction-wall

The most effective way to deal with exterior sha is to avoid them completely. This is why during a house selection audit, practitioners always advice against buying a house affected by a nearby Sha.

They next most effective way to deal with Sha is to block the Sha Qi generated. Let me explain with an extreme example of a house that is ‘attacked’ from all four sides by busy T junction roads.

We can quite effectively ‘block’ the Sha Qi ‘attacking’ the sides and back of the house by building high walls. At the facing side, building a high wall is not practical. Therefore we need to look at others means such as re-positioning and/or reorienting the main door to avoid the busy road.

t-junction-narrow
t-junction-wide

In this and following articles, I will highlight the more common Shas, its effect and suggest ways to deal with them.

I shall start with Shas linked to road systems.

The intensity of the Sha Qi and the effects on the occupants depends on the size and traffic of the ‘attacking’ road. A narrower road with less busy traffic may only affect a room in the house, while a wider road with busy traffic can affect the whole house.

y-junction
back-lane-sha

The negative effects of road shas to the occupants are injuries, money loss or betrayal.

A variation of the T junction sha is the Y junction or Scissor Sha.

Yet another variation is facing an alley or back lane. The back lane or alley can cause wind to accelerate which in turn is a sha when it hit the house in the way.

The best ways to deal with these kind of sha is to try to block them using a wall of by planting trees. Another way is to use a water fountain. And when all else fail, you can revert to traditional cure of using a Ba Gua mirror!

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Feng Shui FAQ 6

Does every audit result in and require extensive renovation works for better Feng Shui? Not necessarily. Is there a way to have good Feng Shui with minimal renovations? There is. Find out how.

Another popular is questions is whether they need to change their Feng Shui every year? Plus a popular misconception about the auspicious move date and time.

The auspicious time that you gave me to move is between 9 am and 11 am is too short for me to move everything into the house.

clock

I get this question more often than expected. The home owner mistakes the time span as the time the period where he should move everything into the house.

This is not true. It is actually the time that you should first arrive at the house and move yourself and some existing items into the house. You can then move the rest of the items in the next hour, later in the afternoon, tomorrow, the day after, next week and do on.

It is a best practice to move existing items into the house on the auspicious date and time or after. You can however move new items for the house such as the stove, dining table etc before the auspicious date and time.

Do I need to change my Feng Shui every year?

Feng Shui recommendations such as the location and orientation of the main door, bed, stove etc that a practitioner provide can be for a lifetime, a period e.g. 20 years, for a few years until a desire outcome or just for the current year.

Recommendations that derived from a person’s BaZi are usually for a lifetime. Recommendations based on non-time based systems such as the Eight Mansions are also meant for a lifetime. However for time-based systems such as the Xuan Kong Flying Star, recommendations may be valid for a certain period only usually a span of 20 years or less.

Recommendations are also sometime given to invoke an outcome e.g. has a child or a girlfriend. These kind of recommendations should be used until the outcome is achieved. Otherwise in the example of finding a girlfriend, you may end up with too many!

Finally there is the annual energies that changes every year. These energies interact with the energies inherent in each sector of the house and give an auspicious, inauspicious or neutral outcome for the year.

Practitioners will usually provide recommendation that are valid for the year only to enhance or manage the resultant energy in that sector. Examples include not using a certain sector in that year, placement a item such as a plant or metal object to manage the energy or changing the seating direction e.g. so as not to confront Tai Sui.

The changes that you are require to do to optimize your Feng Shui for the year are usually minor as I have just stated above. You are not required to change the color of your bedroom every year!

During an audit, the practitioner will normally tell you which recommendations are for a lifetime, for a period or for just the year. If not, make sure you ask him.

Does a Feng Shui audit result in the need to carry out extensive renovation works?

Not necessarily! It depends on the approach that you want to take and also on the type of the property. For example, there is not a lot you can do with an apartment even if you want to.

In an internal audit, the practitioner tries to allocate the most auspicious sectors for the main door, stove and beds. He also try to ensure that the most parts of the house receive enough natural sunlight and is properly ventilated. Plus to make sure that the house adhere to Feng Shui best practices and not break any “rules”. In the process it may result in quite a bit of renovation works especially if the the main door, stove and beds are currently located in inauspicious sectors.

Of course, while this is good approach, it is not the only one. Take an apartment for example. There is not much that you can change. In this case we are limited to using whatever auspicious sectors that are available and using elemental items to modify the energy in the inauspicious or less auspicious sectors (based on the Five Elements) so that we can use them.

Here is a very interesting observation. If you are currently in a good luck cycle or about to move into one, the chance is very high that you will buy a house with good Feng Shui even if you do not resort to using the selection services of a profession consultant. And the converse it also true!

You should consider using the services of a practitioner to select your next house. Here is why. In the selection process, the practitioner will ensure that the facing direction of the house is compatible with your BaZi, that it is one of good quality and with the “correct” surrounding features and free from “sha” or structures that generate killing energy.

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An addition, he will also ensure that the layout of the house is optimal or close to it. A house that requires a lot of renovation to make right should be excluded from the selection list. This will result in one that requires none or very little renovations.

From my experience with my clients, the savings that you get from having to do little or no renovations, pays for the selection fees many many times over.

Feng Shui FAQ 4

A newly completed south facing house is good for wealth accumulation. While it may be auspicious for most family members it may not be so for some other. Find out why in this segment.

Also different systems of Feng Shui can result in different sets of recommendation for the same house occupied by the same occupants. How do you resolve these differences? Find out in this segment

Is a South facing house better than a North facing one?

House Facing Direction
House Facing Direction

Some ancient text did state that a south facing house is better than one that face north. I suspect the primary reason was because that undesirable cold winds blow from the north while the desirable heat (at least in the northern country) comes from the south.

Another belief is that a south facing house is good for wealth while a north facing one is north.

How true is this? I can only share with you my observations.

In a hot country like ours, getting heat is not a concern. In fact this is why most developer orientate their properties to face north or south to avoid the morning sun for east facing houses and the evening sun for west facing houses.

Over the years I have consulted on houses that face all the directions. From what I see, you can have good career growth and gain wealth if the house facing is suitable for you, the surrounding land forms are supportive and you are in a decent career and wealth luck cycle.

It may be interesting to note that from a Flying Star perspective, a south facing house in the current period of 8 is classified as “Prosper Water but not Prosper Descendants” meaning that it is good for career growth and wealth accumulation. A north facing house is classified as “Prosper Descendants and not Prosper Water” meaning that it is good for relationships and health.

So which is better? It depends on your needs. If you are in your golden years, have acquire financial security then a north facing house (especially one with a mountain behind) is better than a south facing one.

Conversely, if you are a young fellow with plenty of energy and out to conquer the world, then a south facing one may be better.

For me, I would still give more more priority to your BaZi. Figure out which are your favorable house facing directions based on your date and time of birth and then look for a matching house that means your wealth, health or descendant criteria.

I am from the West Group. Therefore I should occupy a “West” sectors (meaning NE, SW, W or NW) and face one of these directions. However my Feng Shui consultant advise differs. Why?

The East Life West Life method of Feng Shui separates a person into either one of these groups based the person Kua element which in turn is derived from the Chinese Solar year of birth. For example if your Gua or Kua number is 2, 6, 7 or 8, you belong to the West Life group.

Gua 2 and 8 are earth element while Gua 6 and 7 are metal element. In the theory of the Five Elements, metal produce earth and hence there exist a productive or harmonious relationship.

Based on the Lo Shu, each sector of a property has an element. For example NW and W are Metal while NE and SW are Earth.

In the East-West Life system of Feng Shui, it is auspicious to match the person (based on the element of his Gua) to the element of the sector of the house.

Elements that are similar or in a productive relationship are favorable. Therefore it is auspicious for both a Gua 6 and 7 person (Metal element) to reside in the NW and W sectors which are also Metal (based on the Lo Shu). And also in the NE and SW sectors (Earth element) as there is a productive relationship.

Similarly it is auspicious for a Gua 2 and Gua 8 person (Earth element) to reside in the NE or SW sector (due to same element) and also in the NW & W sectors (due to the productive relationship between metal and earth).

However this is only one approach. The Flying Star system, on the other hand, maps the energy influence on different sectors of the house caused by the movement of the planets. At any time, some sectors of the house are auspicious and some are not. And this quality changes over time.

Therefore a consultant using the East West Life method and another using the Flying Star method will come out with different recommendations. Both are correct. Just the approach is different. It is like you have shingles (or snake). The cure offered by a traditional Chinese sinseh is different from that offered by a doctor trained in Western medicine. However both method will result in a cure!

From the approaches you can see that the East West Life method is suitable if you intend to stay in the house for a very long period. The upside to this method is there is no need to make changes but the downside is that it takes longer for the effect to be felt.

For the Flying Star method, the quality of the energy changes over time and her the house needs to be “adjusted” every 20 years to stay effective. The upside is the effect is felt faster (since you are using current energies) but the downside is that it needs to be renewed every 20 years it will lose its effect and sometimes every turn negative!

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Think of it like going from point A to point B, a distance of say 2000 miles. You can drive or fly. Either way you get to your destination but the journey is different!

In the next segment, I will answer questions related to Chinese Astrology in particular BaZi and the Chinese Zodiac.

Feng Shui FAQ 3

Structures that generate “Sha” or “Killing Energy” such as a high tension pylon can depreciate the good quality of a house or certain sectors of the house if they are near enough. The popular question is how near is too near? This is a difficult question to answer as it depends on the type and size of the structures.

Take a look as the FAQ below. It may give you an answer.

Plus I have a bonus question and answer on the dragon and tiger. I am referring to the side of the house rather than the animal zodiac!

Is it bad Feng Shui if there is a Tenaga substation next to my house?

I would assume that you are referring to the single storey room-like structure that is commonly found in housing estates. These sub-stations house step-down transformers that convert high tension (or high voltage) into low voltage for distribution to the nearby homes.

From a Feng Shui the qi emitted by these transformers are relative low. Furthermore these qi (both electric and magnetic) are enclosed and shunted by brick walls. It is safe to live next door to one.

However I will still not recommend you buy such a house. Why? Let me explain. Home buyers as a rule are very sensitive about such things. Many worry about high tensions pylons located even as far as 2 km away which from a Feng Shui perspective is harmless or insignificant. Many see having an electrical substation next to the house as dangerous or bad Feng Shui and are likely to refrain from buying the house. This will negatively affect the resale value.

I live on the 34th floor of my apartment. However at ground level, my apartment block faces a T-Junction. Should I worry?

It is not auspicious if you live in a house that is located at the T of a T-junction and directly facing the incoming room. Worse if the junction is a busy one. However the negative effect is usually limited to the ground, and first floor. Perhaps higher if the junction is a busy one.

If you are located on the 34 floor, you are quite safe. Another example is an apartment unit facing a high tension pylon. These pylon are usually at a certain level for example between the 7th to 9th floor. Again if you are located on the 34 floor, the negative effective is minimal due to the distance and the fact that your downstairs neighbors would have absorbed most of the energy.

In practice, if you must, it is better to buy a unit that is on the opposite side of the pylon. Let you neighbors take the heat!

This brings us to how near is near enough. It depends on the type of sha. This is a very tough question to answer. Feng Shui is an observational meta science. Most of recommendations are based on years of observation. Ideally the further away is better and the safest. But you may wish to take note of a comment by an ancient Master. He says that “sha”, structure and land forms must be relatively near to positively or negatively affect your home. This brings me to a yardstick that I use for deciding whether a “sha” is too near, “When in doubt, stay further away!”.

Is it true that my main door must be on the left or Dragon side of my house (inside looking out)?

The left side of the house (when looking out of the facing) is known as the Dragon side and it is associated with the man of the house. The right side is know as the Tiger side and is associated with the women of the house.

Some schools of thought believe that if the door is on the Dragon side, it will benefit the man of the house. Similarly if the Dragon side of the house is higher.

It is thought that it would be disastrous if the door is on the Tiger side or the Tiger side is higher. Then the woman takes charge and the man is reduced to nothing!

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This is of course not necessarily true and most systems of Feng Shui allow doors on the left and right side depending on which is more auspicious.

In any case, it is quite acceptable for the woman in the house to be ‘successful’. It helps with the household expenses. And the man gets to play more golf!

In the next segment, I will answer questions related to the the house facing and Feng Shui systems.

Feng Shui: Frequently Asked Questions 2

In my line of work, in addition to Feng Shui, I do get asked a lot of questions of Chinese astrology. Most are related to the Chinese 12 Animal Zodiac and Ba Zi or the Eight Characters. On the 12 Animal Zodiac side many especially those born in January and February are often confused over their animal sign.

On the Ba Zi side, the most common confusion is over their element. The birth time can also be a real cracker especially if the birth time is very close to on direction on the boundary between two birth hours. Which birth hour should you use to plot your birth chart? Find out how practitioners tackle this problem.

Am I a Cat or a Rat?

The 12 Animal Zodiac
The 12 Animal Zodiac

The Cat is not a member of the Chinese 12 Animal Zodiac. The closest resemblance to the Cat is the Tiger. However the Tiger is a couple of years apart from the Rat and it is unlikely you will mix them up. Confusion can arises between animals of the consecutive Zodiac e.g. between the Rat and the Ox or between the Rooster and the Dog, if you are born in January or February.

Let me explain. The Chinese Lunar New Year does not begin on the 1st Jan. Instead it begins sometime between late January and late February. For example, the Chinese Lunar year began on the 31st Jan in 2014. In the previous year, 2013, it began on the 10 February.

This year 2014 is the year of the Horse. However you are a Horse only if you are born on the 31st January or later. If you are born earlier say on the 28th January 2014, your Chinese Zodiac sign is Snake, the previous animal in the Chinese Zodiac.

To find out your real animal sign, you need to find out the day the Chinese Lunar year began on your year of birth. You can do this by using a 10000 year calendar or one of the tools on the Internet.

My mother tells me that I am Metal element person but now you tell me that I am Wood element. Which one of you is right?

We both are! There is an element associated with your year of birth. For example 2014 is known as the year of the Wood Horse. Your mother is most likely referring to this element (of the year).

Likewise there is an element associated with your day of birth and it is commonly known as the Day Master. The element may or may not be the same as the element of the year.

In the Chinese Astrology system Ba Zi, much of the analysis is done centered around the element of the Day Master. So if you speak to a Chinese astrologer he is most likely refer to this element (of the day).

And that is why you get two different answers.

Is the exact time of birth important in Chinese Astrology?

Most systems of Chinese Astrology such as Ba Zi or Zi Wei Dou Shu, uses your birth hour or “Shi Shen” to draw your birth chart. For example the hours between 11 AM and 1 PM is known as “Zi” hour, the hours between 1 PM and 3 PM as “Chou” hour and so on.

Therefore your birth chart and the subsequent reading is the same whether you are born at 11:28 PM or 12:46 AM. Both the times are within the same birth hour or “Shi Shen”.

The problem comes when you are born at the interval or very close to the interval between two birth hours. For example at 12.58 PM or 1:02 PM. Which do you use? How certain are you that the doctor who delivered you, wrote your birth time correctly. Maybe his watch was fast and you were actually born at 12:58 PM!

The solution is quite simple actually. Print both the charts and figure out which by asking questions and mapping real events to the chart.

When exactly does the Chinese New Year begins?

There are two Chinese Calendars.

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The more popular one is the Chinese Lunar Calendar that marks the start of the Chinese New Year. This calendar is based on the moon’s movement and the start date every year varies between late January and late February.

The other Chinese calendar is the Chinese Solar Calendar which is based on the sun’s movement. It is also known as the Farmers Calendar as it was first used to regulate farming activities. Like the Western calendar is has 365 days more or less in a year but unlike the Western calendar it starts on or around the 4th Feb every year. The start of the Chinese Solar year is also known as “Li Cun” of Start of Spring.

Chinese Astrology systems such as the 12 Animal Zodiac and Zi Wei Dou Shu employs the Chinese Lunar Calendar while Ba Zi and Feng Shui systems tend to use the Chinese Solar Calendar.

The Lunar Calendar is also known as the Yin Calendar while the Solar Calendar is also known as the Yang Calendar. Together they are often referred to as the Yin Yang or Luni-solar Calendar.

In the next segment, I will touch on questions related to “Sha” or “killing energy”.

Feng Shui: Frequently Asked Questions 1

In my line of work, I get asked a lot of questions. Many of them are the same questions but in different guises. It is likely too that you had wanted to ask these questions as some point in time. I have compiled a list of such frequently asked questions, with answers, that I hope will be useful to you.

In this segment, I will start by answer questions relating to the ownership of the house, the impact of the surroundings and who gets yop priority during an audit.

I live in a rented house. Does the Feng Shui of the rented house affect me or my landlord?

House Facing Direction
House Facing Direction

Feng Shui is a study of the effect of a property, its facing direction, internal layout and the surroundings on their occupants. So it is you who is affected and not your landlord. The same applies to house ownership. If you and your sister jointly purchase as house but she resides there, it affects her even though your name is on the S & P.

Which is more important? Inside or outside Feng Shui?

In practice the Feng Shui of the inside and outside should be considered together. For example, let’s say that you have identify a room with a good current auspicious star as the master bedroom. The land form on the outside of this room should ideally be a “mountain” – meaning have real mountains or higher land in the vicinity. This way the auspicious energy within is enhanced by the appropriate form on the outside.

However for the sake of answering this question, let’s divide Feng Shui into the inside and outside. I will take a house facing direction, surrounding natural land forms and man-made structures as outside Feng Shui and the utilization of the spaces within, orientation of objects in the house such as the main door, beds & stove, placement of elemental items and color as inside Feng Shui.

So which is more important of have a more significant effect on the overall Feng Shui?

It is the outside Feng Shui. From my observation, the outside factors have a more significant effect. If the house facing direction is auspicious for the head of the household, the mountains and water are correctly placed with no “sha” nearby, the occupants will benefit even if the internal Feng Shui is not fully optimized.

The converse is however not true. If the outside is not correct, the head of the household may not benefit much even if the internal Feng Shui is perfect.

I want the house to be fully optimized for me, my wife and three sons. Can ah?

There is a Chinese saying, “Three persons living in the same house, walk a different path”. Another way of putting it is the same house will affect the occupant’s luck in a different way.

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Therefore in practice we optimize for the head of the household. Then we do our best for the rest of the occupants. The ration is that if the head of the household does well, the other family members will benefit too.

In the next segment, I will answer frequently asked questions related zodiac signs and the calendar system.

Should You Fear the Annual Shens

I have met a lot of people who are very fearful of the annual shens. Some of them tell me that they do not open the window at all that year just in case the annual star 5 (also known as the 5 Yellow) gets into the room and send their luck flying into pieces.

You must remember that the annual energy, even if negative, are influenced by the inherent energy of the room (mountain and water star). If these inherent energy are positive, they will moderate the negative annual star and making them less malevolent.

This is one of the reason why a practitioner put in so much effort to get you to sleep in the right room or have the main door in the right place.

Even if you just look at the anuual star, they are in my opinion and based on my observation, not overly fearsome. If you stick to the rules governing renovations and usage, you should be fine.

To recap, you should not renovate if your animal sign clash with Tai Sui. For example, Rats should not renovate this year (of the horse). For a currently tenanted house, you should also not renovate if your house faces S2. Also avoid renovating the N2 (Sui Poh of Year Breaker) sector, the North sector (Three Killings) and the NW sector (Star 5 or 5 Yellow).

Which brings us to the next question. How much of renovation is considered major or enough to activate the negative shen? That is a difficult question to answer but any works that involve ground breaking (digging or changing floor tiles) and serious knocking (such as tearing down walls or roof) qualifies. You should most definitely avoid such works in the affected sector.

By what about drilling a hole to hang a picture? Or installing prefabricated kitchen cabinets? or opening the window into the affect area! Based on my observation, these are usually okay to do. Seriously, drilling a hole to hang a picture is minor and most likely not enough to trigger any of the “shens”.

Much also depend on your condition that year. For example if you wealth luck is very bad that year, then it wise not to carry out any renovation works that borders between minor and major. Again if you are of weak health, just recovering from an illness or pregnant and your room falls in a sector afflicted by the star 2 (illness) and star 5 (most negative), then you should exercise more care.

Another popular question relates to water feature. For example, is it okay to have my water feature e.g. fountain or aquarium in the sector affected by 5 Yellow. In my opinion and again based on personal observation, small water feature such as an indoor fountain or aquarium would have little or no significant effect.

Biggers ones such as an outdoor fish pond or a swimming pool can be a problem. But most of the time, these are fixed installations and they are not a lot that you can do about them.

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For me, I would spend more effort locating myself in the auspicious sectors (which are north, south and south west in 2014). Absorb the positive energy. After all Feng Shui is often called a techniques to “Enhance the auspicious and avoid the inauspicious”.

Do the right think and have a good year, every year!

The Nine Stars – Part 2

Now that you have mapped the “shens” (denoted by numbers from 1 to 9) on the house plan, let understand how we can apply them.

The Nine Stars
The Nine Stars

I start by locating two of the more inauspicious “shens” namely star 2 and 5. Star 2 is associated with illness, miscarriage and the womb.

If star 2 falls in a space that is frequently use, for example, a bedroom, study, living etc, I would discourage any family member with weak health, recovering from an illness or is pregnant from occupying that room or spend a lot of time in that area. They should move to another room at least for that year.

But what if they cannot move? The traditional “cure” is to place a metal item in that room. The favored item is a metal Wu Luo (gourd) as the shape signifies “cure”. If the Wu Luo is not available, other metal item will do to.

It is perfectly okay if star 2 falls in a space that is not frequently used e.g. store or toilet.

Star 5 is the most negative of the 9 stars and if it falls into a frequently used spaced such as a bedroom, kitchen or study, you should consider moving out or spending less time there. If moving out of the room is not an option, then treat the area with a sizable metal items such as a big wind chime. The ration of using metal is due to the 5 Elements. Both star 2 and star 5 are earth based “shens”. In the 5 Elements, earth produces metal. In the process of producing metal, the inauspicious earth is weakened!

The auspicious stars are 8, 9 and 1. You should spend more time in the spaces influenced by these stars as you will benefit from them. It is great if they fall in the bedrooms or main door of the house. If it falls in an empty bedroom, you should consider moving in at least for the duration of the year. Star 8 is associated with wealth (and career) luck, happiness and pregnancy. Star 9 with achievement, growth and success while star 1 with fame and fortune. There is usually no need to enhance the area. Just spending time there is what you need to do.

If you must, activities in the area affected by the auspicious stars will enhance the energy within. You may wish to do a thorough spring cleaning in that area! Remember to start on an auspicious day.

Star 7 is associated with robbery, disputes, fire, injury and losses. Star 7 is metal energy and the cure is to place still water (no pump or fishes) in that area. Again this is from the 5 Elements. The 7 metal star produces water and in the process is weakened.

Star 6 is not auspicious but it is not too bad either. It is associated with loneliness and isolation. Maybe your spouse may appear to be a bit distant this year! The danger is if the mountain or water star in that sector is either star 6 or star 7. Such a combination can result in injuries or losses. Again the cure is still water.

What about star 3 and 4? Both are inauspicious but there effect is not as serious. Star 3 is associated with arguments, slander, gossip and lawsuits while star 4 with extramarital affairs, divorce and a lack of direction.

nine-stars-3d

It is usually not necessary to treat these spaces even if it falls into your bedroom. However if are already having constant arguments with your spouse or colleagues, then you may want to place an item of the fire element in your room if star 3 falls there. Star 3 is wood and is weakened when it burns to produce fire. Any item such as a red carpet, red curtain or red poster is considered a fire element. This is counter intuitive to the Western thought that fire represent anger. This is the 5 Elements at work. in any case, red to the Chinese has a different meaning. It means prosperity!

The same goes with star 4. Like star 3 it is also of the wood element. So if you are married and feel that you are getting excessive and unsolicited attention from the opposite sex or feel that you are drifting along without any sense of direction, you may also wish to place some red items in the affected area.

That is the annual Nine Stars for you.

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The Nine Stars – Part 1

The annual Nine Stars is a set another set of “shen” or energy – both auspicious and inauspicious – that affects the various sectors of a property every year.

nine-stars-2014

Each of the nine “shen” is represented by a number from 1 to 9. The chart below shows the distribution of the nine star in 2014.

The nine stars or “shen” flies around in the nine squares (also known as the Nine Palaces) in a pre-defined pattern and repeats itself every nine years. For this reason, the Nine Stars are often called the Flying Stars!

The quality of the star does not remain the same. They change their quality every period. For example during the Period of 7 from 1984 to 2004, star 7 is highly auspicious. It is associated with wealth (and career), fertility and pregnancy. However in the current period of 8 from 2004 to 2024, star 7 is deem to have lost its positive energy and is associated with robbery, disputes, fire, injury and losses.

The next 20 years from 2024 to 2044 is known as the Period of 9.

During the current period of 8, stars 8, 9 and 1 are auspicious. Stars 2, 5 and 7 are not auspicious. Star 2 is associated with illness especially related to the stomach and womb. Star 5 is the most negative and is associated with serious illness, disaster, lawsuit and even death! And Star 7 with losses, injury, robbery or loneliness.

Stars 3, 4 and 6 are rated not so bad. Star 6 is inherently an auspicious star and every during a period when it becomes inauspicious, it is only associated with loneliness and isolation. Star 3 is associated with arguments, slander, gossip and lawsuits while star 4 with extramarital affairs and divorce. It is also associated with romance and therefore if you are single, it is a good thing!

Example House Divided 8 Pies

Things are however not as straightforward as it seem. In additon to the annual stars above which influence different sectors of a property, each of these sectors have an energies that was imbued into it during the construction phase and also depended on the facing direction of the house. In Xuan Kong Feng Shui we call them the Mountain and Water stars.

The mountain or water star combines with the annual stars to influence an outcome. For example, if your bedroom has the Mountain Star 8 and in that particular year the annual star 8 flies into the bedroom, then you can expect happy events such as a marriage or childbirth or recognition or fame.

Similarly, if the main door of your house has a negative water star 7 and during that year, the annual star 6 or 7 falls into that sector, then the inauspicious combination may result in some members of the household suffering from losses, injury, robbery or loneliness.

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Now that we know which annual star affects which sector, what can we do avoid the inauspicious ones and capitalize on the auspicious energies?

I will tell you what to do in the next article but in the meantime, I would like you to do this. Take our or draw a floor plan for your house. Locate the center or middle of the house. Then using a compass, located the demarcate the 8 sectors as shown in the diagram below.

The San Sha or Three Killings

Here is another article that I write for the Sun Daily.

Three Killings
Three Killings

The San Sha or Three Killings is another inauspicious shen that you should take note of. As the name suggest this is a combo of three inauspicious sha namely Robbery, Disaster and Year Sha.

They afflict different sectors of the house and depends on the animal sign of the year. For example during the years of the Tiger, Horse or Dog, the affected sectors (also known as mountains in Feng Shui terminology) are NW3, N2 and NE1.

Please refer to the table below to location of each of the three sha in any year.

ZodiacRobbery ShaDisaster ShaYear Sha
Tiger, Horse, DogNW3N2NE1
Snake, Rooster, OxNE1E2SE3
Monkey, Rat, DragonSE3S2SW1
Pig, Rabbit, GoatSW3W2NW1

If you refer to the 24 mountains chart, you will see that the three afflicted mountains in each year, sandwich two other mountains. For example in the year of the Tiger, Horse or Dog, the afflicted mountains NW3, N2 and NE1 sandwich N1 and N3. These two mountains are called “Squeezed Mountains” and are afflicted to some extend.

Therefore, in practice, during the year of the Tiger, Horse or Dog, Three Killings afflicted the entire north sector from NW3 to NE1, a span of 75 degrees. And in the year of the Monkey, Rat and Dragon, Three Killings include the entire south sectors of S1, S2 and S3 plus the neighboring SE3 and SW1.

The best way to avoid activating the negative effect of the Three Killings is to restrict construction works such as digging and demolition in the afflicted area during that year.

Therefore you should not renovate the entire north sector plus the little bit on the left and right of it during 2014.

The penalties for violating Three Killings are as the name imply are robbery and injuries arising from it, natural disasters, accidents, illness, obstacles etc.

Some masters suggest putting live plants in the area affected by Three Killings to diminish its negative effect. For me, no major renovation in the affected area is sufficient!

If you must renovate, your should select an auspicious date during the months when San Sha is at its weakest.

Another important thing to avoid is carrying out major renovation in the house, if it sits on Three Killings. For example if you house sits on NW3, N1, N2, N3 or NE1, you should avoid renovating completely, during the year of the Tiger, Horse or Dog.

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This apply to major renovation works in houses that are currently tenanted. It does not apply to renovating new or vacant houses.

In the next article, I will discuss the Nine Stars.