As a classically trained feng shui consultant I am sometimes amused, more times annoyed and even occasionally angered by some of the advice so called "professionals" give to the public about interior design. These schooled stylists do one of two things. Either they diagnose a problem and prescribe a standard treatment, much like a surgeon who can't wait to make that first cut. Or, they come in a with a "vision" that they want to see brought to life, regardless of budget or the client's personal taste or preferences. They've been to the fancy school. They have the training, the glowing testimonials, the celebrity client rosters, the full page spreads in popular magazines. They are the professional. They know what they are doing.
Or do they?
And most feng shui consultants with books and blogs are no better. These supposed "experts" give random suggestions and general advice willy-nilly. It's some combination of confusing and contradictory, incomplete and incomprehensible. It's presented without guidelines or warnings or cautionary tales. Without the whys and whens, the wherefores or the for whoms. No. Just blanket statements, generic recommendations and one-size-fits-all advice.
Black Hat Sect practitioners spread myths, play up the superstitions and promote the Chinese culture and religion. They turn every space into a China shop by trying to sell you their "cures". You know the bamboo flute, the bagua mirror or some animal figurine carved out of jade.
Then, there are the feng shui masters who maintain the mysteriousness of their magical art, keep the secrets of their mystical craft and are as vague as possible about the science behind their sacred and ancient traditions. You know the ones who talk way above your head, use big words or even Chinese words and make you feel like you'll never be able to know enough to understand it. Just do what they say. They're the master.
Or are they?
And then you have the public. The people who dabble in feng shui, the weekend warriors who do-it-themselves. The people who take feng shui seriously, hire a professional and follow the recommendations to the letter. And the masses who live their entire lives without knowing what feng shui even is.
The dabblers are on a budget, are self-taught or like to take on projects. They read a few books, subscribe to a few blogs and share a few articles about DIY feng shui with their friends on social media. They move their furniture around...a lot. They paint an accent wall the trendy bright color featured in the picture in the magazine. They probably have at least one of the feng shui "cures" displayed awkwardly and obviously out of place, somewhere in their house. They might even hire a professional but may not actually follow through on the gig list of feng shui remedies and enhancements.
The serious feng shui enthusiasts don't make a move without their feng shui master. They get all of their potential real estate acquisitions audited before making an offer and signing a contract. They include feng shui consultation fees and allowances for remedies and enhancements in their annual financial plans. They make all the revisions and additions and have the space cleared and blessed before moving in. They keep their feng shui master on call the way they would a family doctor or a lawyer on retainer for questions and advice as they make changes to their life and family, business and staff. They update their feng shui annually and even monthly.
The masses who have never heard of feng shui and cannot even pronounce it, are affected by the energy in their natural, living and working environments. They just never realize why or how. They suffer great losses, chronic illness and serious injury, life-altering accidents and even death without ever knowing that the activated or not remedied unseen energy was impacting their lives in a negative way. They enjoy great accomplishments, scholastic achievements, promotions and raises, unexpected windfalls and blessings without ever having the knowledge required to enhance those potential good fortunes even more. They can't figure out why their life is so good or why it suddenly takes a turn for the worse.
Or can they?
What compass school feng shui consultants know is that the numbers don't lie. There is unseen energy in every manmade environment. Permanent energy that is captured inside all buildings when the roof is installed. Annual energy that can activate dormant negative energy, intensify neutral energy and enhance or diminish positive energy. Combinations of energy that have the potential to end marriages or even lives. Combinations of energy that can bring the possibility for new love, helpful people, wonderful opportunities, better health and big money!
The numbers tell a story to the person who can properly determine, decipher and interpret them. They can explain the past, describe the present and predict the future. They can reveal the potentials, the possibilities and the probabilities. They can recommend remedies and enhancements that balance the energy. They can reduce the effects of negative energy and enhance the effects of positive energy. They can bring awareness to the occupants about why they chose their living or working environment. They can provide some quality information about the personal energy of a home or building, its strengths and weaknesses, problem areas and auspicious areas and what they might expect their life to be like there.
The interior designer tackles a room and with a flourish and finishing touch proclaims the room finally, "Done!" But the annual numbers play musical chairs and take up a new position every year. No space is ever done because energy is not static. It has to be able to change and move and flow as the energy does.
The feng shui guru mentions that a color change on an accent wall, in a certain direction, during a certain year brought one of their clients increased prosperity. But the permanent numbers don't change. What works for one person, in one space, on one wall, one year does not necessarily work for someone or everyone else.
A couple moves into a new home and wonders why they feel differently about each other. A family moves a child to a different bedroom and wonders why he or she is always sick. A man moves his desk and sits facing a different direction and wonders why business is down. A woman moves her bed to another wall and wonders why she keeps getting migraines or suffers from insomnia.
People make changes to their environment. They move their furniture and add a few pieces of art to the walls. They plug in their fountain and plant a few flowers in the front yard. They clean out their garage and add a few accent pillows to a couch. They water their houseplants or let them die. They make seasonal changes or never move a single item except to dust and vacuum. They let the clutter build up or they clear off every counter, table and desktop each night before bed. They keep everything in good working order or they never fix the leaky faucet or broken window. They mow the lawn every other weekend or the mailman has a hard time getting through the overgrowth to the front door.
Whatever they do or don't do, whatever they decorate or "cure", without an energy blueprint of the unseen energy, it's all just guess work, a stab in the dark, flying blind. They can follow their intuition and get it all right. Or, they can have all the right things in all the wrong places. Whatever they know or don't know about the unseen energy in their space, the numbers don't lie.
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