Monday, October 24, 2011

Turtles, Dragons, Tigers and Ravens


Feng Shui is so confusing! I read one book and then the next book I read contradicts the first! This was a common lament in my workshops. The reason that Feng Shui seems contradictory is that until recently, almost all of the information about Feng Shui was handed down orally directly from teacher to student. If we think about the opportunity for variation it is amazing that the information that we have today is so coherent. A good way to look at these different schools of thought is that they are the same story told in a different way or maybe with a different emphasis.

There are three generally recognized schools of thought about Feng Shui. They are the Form School, the Flying Star School and the Black Hat School. The Form School seems to be the oldest and originated in the mountainous regions of China during the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Remember, when I mentioned that in ancient times people noticed that some people prospered while other equally hard working people did not? Visionary thinkers took a look at the formations of the landscapes surrounding the prosperous groups and the surroundings of the desperate groups. They realized that a mountain at their backs protected them from surprise attacks, that if the front of the property was clear, they could see enemies approaching well in advance of the attack, water in the front of the home was more manageable that water at the back that might overflow its banks without being noticed. They were also aware that low ground often led to ill health as did ground that was too high and promoted exposure to strong winds. They found that healthy vegetation and abundant animal life pointed to a better environment for human settlement that arid land. This was a very sensible and reasoned analysis. Master Yang Yun Sang refined these observations using the metaphors of dragons, turtles, tigers and ravens. Today followers of the Form School will speak of keeping a turtle at your back, a raven at your front, and a dragon on your left and a tiger on your right.

More to come on the protective animals.

Thanks for stopping by.

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