Feng Shui Balance in All

Feng Shui

Balance in All Things: Chinese Astrology and Feng Shui

Feng shui is an ancient Chinese art of arranging space meant to increase the flow of positive energy, or chi, and decrease negative chi. Other important concepts in feng shui involve harmony and balance, which the ying and yang symbolize. By having everything in harmony and balance, the Chinese traditionally believed that one's life would also be in harmony and balance. Feng shui's ancient history has important implications for how the mythical tradition is practiced today ("Feng Shui," 2009).

Meaning "wind" and "water" respectively, the words feng and shui were associated with luck and the natural elements in ancient Chinese times ("Fend Shui," 2009). This held strongly with the rest of Chinese Astrology, which was highly centered on the natural elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. According to ancient Chinese myth, these four elements produce one another in a cycle with wood producing fire, fire producing earth, etc. When the elements are in harmony, it is said that an astrologer can tell a great deal about a person and his or her life ("Discover," 2007). The most important component of feng shui -- balance -- is also an important component in Chinese astrology. Chinese astrologers believe that certain signs are compatible and incompatible with each other, that certain signs help balance others ("Discover," 2007. These beliefs, whether they be reproduced in feng shui or astrology, have their roots in the Chinese ancient test, the I-Ching (2009).

Traditionally, feng shui was used with a spiritual bent; the ancient Chinese wanted to discover where the best place for placing gravesites was. Because the Chinese thought the way that the ancestors' gravesites were arranged would influence the luck of those living. Thus, the first ancient school of feng shui viewed the landscape and its geographical spaces as reflective of heaven. It was imperative that all forces be in balance -- the bad with the good. Whenever a person planted a garden or changed a landscape in any way, it was important to be sure that this balance was taken into consideration. A second school of feng shui was developed in order to show the best places for objects. This school used a grid, compass, and square to determine where objects are in harmony with one another ("Feng Shui," 2009).