Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of rearranging your furniture, which became unaccountably popular in the United States during the 1990's. I can't argue with the basic precepts of feng shui, the existence of qi energy that flows through your home. That belongs in the same category of religious beliefs, and I've seen some pretty amazing stuff in my life, myself.
However, I have a lot of qualms about the idea that you can affect the flow of this life force by putting three coins over here, or changing the color of your area rugs.
I do think there are a lot of good psychological observations lying within feng shui. For example, you are always urged to move your desk so that you don't sit with your back to the door. You shouldn't have your couch against a window. It's important for rooms to feel bright and well-lit, not dark and dank. These rules seem obvious, but it often takes an outside observer to look around our homes and point out the obvious.
Part of the problem with feng shui is that it is so contradictory. I have at my elbow a little book on feng shui that I picked up on a whim off the bargain table last week. It features no fewer than three systems for mapping your home, with little advice on which mapping system to use.
It also offers a bewildering array of advice. Too much for any one person to digest, much less follow. As an example, to improve your Wealth corner (whichever corner you decide that it is), it recommends: a bowl with goldfish, three coins wrapped in red tissue paper, plants, wood, the color light green, the color tan, the color gold, oranges, pineapples, and not using metal.
Naturally if you consult any other source, you will find advice which is just as confusing as well as contradictory. I skimmed a page online which recommends the color purple, and a collection of gold coins (despite the other book's strict dictate against metal).
Feng shui is, in my experience, the thing people turn to when they know there's something wrong with their life, but they can't quite bring themselves to face it. Instead of grappling with the real issue, they turn to a religion which promises that your life will change for the better if you just sprinkle some trinkets around your home.
Conspicuously missing from any feng shui resource are stories of feng shui successes. Wouldn't you expect at least a few testimonials? I haven't heard a single one.
However, I have a lot of qualms about the idea that you can affect the flow of this life force by putting three coins over here, or changing the color of your area rugs.
I do think there are a lot of good psychological observations lying within feng shui. For example, you are always urged to move your desk so that you don't sit with your back to the door. You shouldn't have your couch against a window. It's important for rooms to feel bright and well-lit, not dark and dank. These rules seem obvious, but it often takes an outside observer to look around our homes and point out the obvious.
Part of the problem with feng shui is that it is so contradictory. I have at my elbow a little book on feng shui that I picked up on a whim off the bargain table last week. It features no fewer than three systems for mapping your home, with little advice on which mapping system to use.
It also offers a bewildering array of advice. Too much for any one person to digest, much less follow. As an example, to improve your Wealth corner (whichever corner you decide that it is), it recommends: a bowl with goldfish, three coins wrapped in red tissue paper, plants, wood, the color light green, the color tan, the color gold, oranges, pineapples, and not using metal.
Naturally if you consult any other source, you will find advice which is just as confusing as well as contradictory. I skimmed a page online which recommends the color purple, and a collection of gold coins (despite the other book's strict dictate against metal).
Feng shui is, in my experience, the thing people turn to when they know there's something wrong with their life, but they can't quite bring themselves to face it. Instead of grappling with the real issue, they turn to a religion which promises that your life will change for the better if you just sprinkle some trinkets around your home.
Conspicuously missing from any feng shui resource are stories of feng shui successes. Wouldn't you expect at least a few testimonials? I haven't heard a single one.