Do You Believe in Feng Shui? Is it Art or Science?

Our beach house with the Japanese bridge as the focal point in the landscaping design of the property. The bridge was my own design.

One week ago, I was viewing pictures in Facebook from a relative friend showing pictures of a hotel lobby and the living room of a house being redecorated by his well-known interior decorator spouse. I commented and asked him, if his wife incorporates the principles of feng shui in the rearrangement of furniture as well as coordination of colors scheme in her design and renovation projects. I have not received an answer, but those pictures in FB reminded me of my previous posting in my blogs. I titled it "Is Feng Shui a Science or Art". It was posted on the last week of December, 2012.

Please note that I am not a famous interior decorator or a landscape architect, but I have been practicing feng shui principles in my adult life in the decoration of our homes, beach house and gardens both here in US and in the Philippines.

In my younger days, I used to be an enthusiast of the practice of Feng shui. I have read several books on the subject. The practice is very interesting and to me it is all common sense. So what is Feng Shui?

Feng shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

Feng means wind and shui means water. In Chinese culture wind and water are associated with good health, thus good feng shui came to mean good fortune, while bad feng shui means bad luck, or misfortune.

Historically, feng shui was widely used to orient buildings—often spiritually significant structures such as tombs, but also dwellings and other structures—in an auspicious manner. Depending on the particular style of feng shui being used, an auspicious site could be determined by reference to local features such as bodies of water, stars, or a compass. Feng shui was suppressed in China during the cultural revolution in the 1960s, but since then has increased in popularity.

Modern reactions to feng shui are mixed. The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience states that some principles of feng shui are "quite rational", while noting that "folk remedies and superstitions, that have been incorporated into feng shui's eclectic mix" borders to a pseudo science.

I have applied the principle of Feng shui in the arrangement of furniture in our house, color scheme in the room decor of our retirement home, the location of the front door of buildings in the Philippines and also the landscaping and orientation of trees and plants in my garden. I have not become a very rich person due to my practice of feng shui, but I do enjoy practicing the art of feng shui in all facets of my life.

Try Feng shui and you will feel better, happy and who knows you might win in the lottery and become very rich in the near future. As New Year approaches, this is a good time to start new and fresh and have fun in your Feng shui practices.

Here's a short video on the rearranging furniture with the basics of Feng shui!