In Chinese philosophy, everyone has a guiding energy related to the directions of North, North East, North West, South, South East, South West, East, West, the Eight Mansions, determined by when you were born. Your most favorable is your Life Gua or Guiding Star. (Also called Ming Gua) Your house also has a Life Gua, determined by how it sits in the environment. This chart will determine the most favorable and unfavorable areas (also referred to as “Mansions, Palaces, or Mountains”) of the house.

These “Mansions” are reflected in the sectors of the Ba Gua (an ancient Chinese diagram/map of the 8 directions and the energy they each carry, as pictured below).  Your energy and the energy of your house is compatible with some directions and not compatible with others. It is to your advantage to learn what these directions are so you can maximize the energies of the directions whenever possible. Because the earth has a magnetic field, each direction brings a different kind of energy. Also, at any point on the earth, you are in a relationship to the stars and planets, Sun and Moon. It is believed that these heavenly bodies have subtle energetic influences.

If you wish, during a Feng Shui consultation, we will determine your Ming Gua and therefore your personal best and worst directions. We will work to use these directions to maximize the harmony in your home with your inherent energetic make-up. Each sign is in either the East group or the West group. After determining the house Gua and your Gua, you then utilize favorable spaces in your home to take advantage of these directions as best you can. No situation is ever perfect.

Based on the form of the Bagua, the beneficial Trigrams for the two groups are:

The East Group includes residents or properties associated with the following Trigrams:

• Li Trigram, in the south
• Xun Trigram, in the southeast
• Zhen Trigram, in the east
• Kan Trigram, in the north

The West Group includes residents or properties associated with the following Trigrams:

• Kun Trigram, in the southwest
• Dui Trigram, in the west
• Qian Trigram, in the northwest
• Gen Trigram, in the northeast

In the Eight Mansions and Flying Stars systems of Feng Shui, the term “Star” is used to represent a body of Qi. These Stars are frequently assigned a number and/or color to help us understand the types of Qi they represent and the ways that they can affect us. The Wandering “Stars” of the Eight Mansions are:

• Most Fortunate: Sheng Qi―“life generating”—It governs success, authority, nobility, status and wealth aspects in our lives. Sheng Qi is thus a good Star to tap into for career or wealth-related pursuits, but is not conducive for rest or sleep-related activities.
• 2^nd Most Fortunate: Tian Yi, the “Heavenly Doctor”—It relates to the presence of noble people, status and health prospects. Tian Yi is a good Star to use for rest and recuperation, or when one needs help from mentors in one’s career.
• 3^rd Most Fortunate: Yan Nian, which represents longevity—It governs good relationships with other people. It also governs communication and networking aspects, as well as family harmony and domestic bliss.
• 4^th Most Fortunate: Fu Wei, which brings stability— It brings calmness and tranquility. Fu Wei is a good star to tap into for meditation, concentration or study.

• Least Harmful: Huo Hai, which brings mishaps— It  is associated with mishaps, loss of wealth, sudden unfortunate changes or hassles and obstacles in one’s work life. Generally, these setbacks are more of a nuisance than a major threat, and we can overcome the effects of this Star through the choices we make.
• 2^nd Least Harmful: Wu Gui, the “Five Ghosts”—It brings betrayal, gossip, rumors, backstabbing, the presence of petty people, and even subterfuge or sabotage. Wu Gui can also cause disloyalty and discord among family members. Negative external forms like pylons or jagged rooftops pointing towards the sector where Wu Gui resides can further exacerbate the effects.
• 3^rd Least Harmful: Liu Sha, the “Six Killings”— It is associated with afflictions like lawsuits, bodily injury, robbery, scandal, adultery and the need for surgery.
• MOST Harmful: Jue Ming, which represents the “severed fate” —Jue Ming relates to accidents and illnesses. In severe cases, when aggravated by negative external forms, these accidents or illnesses can be fatal!

Sometimes, people will naturally gravitate to their favorable directions. A friend of mine is a musician. He hired me to apply Feng Shui principles to his house. As part of the consultation, we determined his favorable directions and then attempted to see that his bed, his desk, and his music chair were oriented correctly and that he was using the best sectors of his home for his activities. His music chair was in a room facing a window. It would seem a natural position would be to face the window. However, he told me that for “some reason” he liked to face to the right of this window. Checking the compass, we found he had turned from an unfavorable direction (West in this case) to a very favorable direction (South). What made him do this? No one can say for sure, but he was certainly responding positively to some force or energy in his environment.