What Is Feng Shui?

May 16, 2011 by Pat Doyle

Many cultures have their own form of Feng Shui. But the term “Feng Shui” comes from China and literally means “Wind and Water”. The ancient Chinese used Feng Shui as a way to determine where their loved ones’ graves should be located for maximum blessings. A lot of it had to do with the lay of the land and the energy of the different locations. So they called it “wind and water”, because these are two of the energies that affect a place.

It was not until later that they started using Feng Shui principles to arrange things inside their homes in the most auspicious way.

This traditional type of Feng Shui was later brought to the western world by various people who learned of it from China.

One influential person was His Holiness Grandmaster Professor Thomas Lin Yun. He studied Feng Shui for many years in China and Taiwan. Later he developed a form of Feng Shui that is easier for westerners to understand. This is called Black Hat or Black Sect Feng Shui, because Professor Lin Yun belonged to the Black Hat Sect of Buddhist monks.

Many western Feng Shui professionals were trained by Professor Lin Yun or one of his students. I was trained by Carole Hyder, a student of Professor Lin Yun. Sadly, His Holiness passed away last year after a long and fruitful life.

Feng Shui is all about energy. The energy of your environment affects you very much, especially the energy of places where you spend a lot of time, like your home or office. So you want the energy in those places to be good energy, and not energy that drags you down.

Also, if you want to make changes in your life, you can really enhance and support these changes by making the appropriate changes to your environment. This can be very powerful and seem like magic, but it is not really magic, it is just the unseen forces of energy that are all around you.

Feng Shui is the study of this energy and how to influence it to your benefit. It is a fascinating study for me. In addition to my classes with Carole Hyder, I have read every book I could get my hands on about Feng Shui, and have devoted a lot of time to experimenting with it in my own home, and consulting with clients.

In my work and study, I have developed my own form of Feng Shui that I think is especially suited to the modern world and the environment we live in. I call it Gaia Feng Shui. In future posts, I will elaborate on this.

Feng Shui, like any science or art, is always evolving as we learn more about it. And, as I stated earlier, other cultures have discovered some of these same principles, for example, Native American culture, Celtic culture, and others. I just use the term “Feng Shui” because it is the most well known.

I am excited to share with you my knowledge and discoveries about Feng Shui and other topics that relate to working with energy. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do!