Often times students of Feng Shui kept asking the same question over and over despite learning from few schools….Why is it so? Does it not gain Clarity after learning from several schools?
If you ask me, I will tell you its the opposite effect. Confusion is what you will get if and especially you have learned it from a good Feng Shui school with a correct Lineage.
Forms or Formula First? It’s like asking Did the Chicken or Egg came first…
What is Form Feng Shui?
Form basically means anything from real land features such as rivers, lakes to mountains and hills. Modern definition of form also includes building shapes, images of anything they can think off. Some examples are shapes of clouds, shapes of building, images of items hanging on the wall or images of a painting.
This then gave rise to Form feng shui. These are masters that do not use Luopan or a geomancy compass to audit your property. They will use the eyes (hence sometimes called Naked Eye Feng Shui) to determine the good and bad of a property Feng Shui.
Naturally if they felt that the Form is the root of the problem, they will use Form to solve it. This later gave rise to symbolic Feng Shui. Symbolic is popular in Hong Kong and thus why the way Feng Shui is practiced there and in Malaysia is quite different. A good example is the case I have written about HSBC Hong Kong and how a cannon was used as remedy against the onslaught of the “Blade Sha” from Bank of China.
Aa good example of what can be a modern Form Feng Shui is like having a toilet above your house Main Door which is deemed bad Feng Shui. A typical cure would either a flute or a pair of bright lighting shining upwards to the toilet above.
Another example is like a road have a Blade shape towards a building is deemed bad. These are very common type of Feng Shui and you can buy many books from the market to learn about this. To me this is a folk Feng Shui and I would rank it 9th grade. (九品芝麻官)
Once a Feng Shui master who practices this style of Feng Shui could not save own marriage or even children’s marriage by placing a pair of mandarin duck beside the bed. Of course this is only insider news. But this method is easier to learn and “cure” by placing items here and there to diffuse the Sha (negative energy) thus why it gained popularity quickly and settled within the folk believe.
If you lack human luck or nobleman they will remedy it by placing a photo of a mountain on the wall and you will have to sit in front of that photo or painting.
Another version of Form is like telling you, did you get marry 8 years ago? You will awe or wow…how did you know? This is another type which I call it the higher grade of Form Feng Shui. Some schools calls it Yi Jing Feng Shui 易经风水. It also uses imagery or forms of a different kind to do a prediction of the house events.
The 3rd type of Forms is watching mountains and waters but with addition of some formula within. These are the highest level in Forms but only 3rd most important in Real Feng Shui.
Forms are visible thus some people feel comfortable since they can see what’s in front of them. They get excited to know the tree in front of the house is causing the heart problems in their house or the T junction is forming a Arrow Sha towards their property. However, what we see, sometimes may not be the truth….Ask Sherlock Holmes.
Formula In Feng Shui
Let’s now talk about Formula in Feng Shui. Formula basically means the characters you see in a Chinese Geomancy Compass of Luopan. (you can read about Luopan in this blog too) There are well over a hundred of formulas but generically are the 8 Mansions, Flying Stars, 9 stars method, Xuan Kong Da Gua, Xuan Kong Liu Fa, San He, Qian Kun Guo Bao or the Dragon 8 gates and Black Hat Feng Shui. Then you have the more contemporary Feng Shui such as Zi Wei Feng Shui or the BaZi Feng Shui methods. Within each generic group there are many sects or variations.
Then now you have the Western schools and Eastern schools. Western schools of Feng Shui denounce the application of Yin or Burial Feng Shui while Eastern school kept that tradition. Now, it gets even more complicated.
Formula school of Feng Shui does not pay much attention to the forms, they are more focused on applying the formula to decide how the bed is placed or where to locate the kitchen, water fountain etc.
The formula practitioners also gets sophisticated nowadays by using several formulas in a single property. I have even read somewhere a practitioner once said he uses Flying Star to predict events but will set the property formation using San He, which in his opinion is the more superior formula. That’s what most contemporary practitioner practices. However, in the old days this thinking does not exist.
In the old days we follow one school and teacher and learn his essence but nowadays practitioner believes in learning more to cast a wider net. You may think that people in the past believes in depth while modern practitioners believes in breath. The pureness is not there anymore in most of today’s practitioners.
What Is The Truth?
The only reason why this question is still widely asked is because they see some truth in both but have not found the real answers since each and every individual observations are unique and limited in a life time. What more if they are not full timers?
I have a lineage and with my years of practice and doing cases, collecting the results naturally I see things in a different light from many others. I have re-done many cases from previous masters who practices multiple Feng Shui Formulas as well those who only practices Forms or only Formula. Thus my advice for the 3 different type of people is:
A: If you are a student, you will just have to find the right school to relearn and go all the way. Focus is the key! Choose Depth instead of Breath.
B: If you are looking for a practitioner to solve your problems or consultation, find out more which is their methodology. Understand their approach. Are they very commercial in their approach and marketing? I have some videos on real cases what happens in the in their house. You can search out the video from my channel.
C: If you are just a curious joe, remember curiosity kills the cat. The best way to solve your curiosity is get a Feng Shui audit done in your house or shop or office and see how things change. The best medicine to your curiosity is your own direct experience. You do not need to listen to this and that news like some people telling you how after Feng Shui can become like Li Ka Shing that rich and successful. Open your eyes, use a little logic and look at the facts from a few angles. You can reason some of the myths already by using plain logic and common sense.
After the Feng Shui audit, you will know if Feng Shui exists or Feng Shui is just some thing you need to believe to have it’s effects.
Everyone’s experience in Feng Shui is different but that is the best experience for yourself. Just like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, your experience is unique.
Feng Shui Consultant Malaysia 