TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2008

Feng Shui remedies for 2009 Year of Ox

This intends to be a straight forward “just do it” Feng Shui guide for 2009 with little or
no explanation.

The annual chart for 2009 is: (top is south, bottom is north)

846

792

351

SE with 8-star (auspicious location)

PUT: light or red items to energize this sector

AVOID: major electric appliance and movements
NOTE: The “annual sha” of San Sha (3-killings) is here (in Chen mountain) and the
vicious “5-tiger sha” is in Xun mountain.

EAST with 7-star (inauspicious location)

PUT: a bowl of stationary water or water-based plant
AVOID: major electric appliance or moving water
NOTE: The “disaster sha” of San Sha (3-killings) is here (in Mao mountain)
NE with 3-star (inauspicious location)
PUT: use red object to neutralize the 3-star
AVOID: metal objects or movements
NOTE: The “robber sha” of San Sha (3-killings) is here (in Yin mountain). Grand Duke is
here (in Chou mountain), no constructions here

SOUTH with 4-star (auspicious location)

PUT: water-based plant to enhance academic stuff or career
AVOID: major electric appliance

CENTER with 9-star

PUT: metal objects
AVOID: water-based plant

NORTH with 5-star (inauspicious location)

PUT: brass or copper object with wet earth, or coin/salt solution
AVOID: major electric appliance, moving water, fishtank

SW with 6-star (auspicious location)

PUT: earth, jade, crystal or award medals to enhance career star
AVOID: moving water, fishtank
NOTE: Year-breaker or Sui-Po is here (in Wei mountain)

WEST with 2-star (inauspicious location)

PUT: 8 copper coins or metal object
AVOID: moving water, fishtank, big plants

NW with 1-star (auspicious location)

PUT: clock or fan to enhance career star
AVOID: electric light, earth

You can check my Sept. blog post on “Advanced reminders for 2009 year of Ox” if you
want to find out the rationale behind these fixes.
http://kenlaifengshui.blogspot.com/
Merry X’mas!

Ken Lai

UNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2008

The Chinese characters of "Human" and "Fire"

Traditionally the Chinese character of

"Fire" (火, huo) is represented by the ideogram or picture of a flame (see diagram). A

visit to the Hong Kong History Museum has changed my mind about that.

There is an exhibit about prehistoric human activities in Hong Kong. It shows an early
man creating fire with two flintstones.

The Chinese character 火 (fire) consists of two parts: the human (人) and the two strokes

components, which can be the abstraction of two flintstones.

A man (人, ren or human) with two flintstones-- that is the image of the Chinese

character "fire"!
Ken Lai

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008

"Crystal Ox" Gazing

I am running around China and Hong Kong in the last few weeks. In Hong Kong, I see
over 20 "2009 Year of Ox" fortune-telling books. Most are simply based on the 12
Chinese zodiac animals to "predict" the 2009 luck of people, though some use Immortal
Wong Tai Sin, QMDJ and Plum-Flower.

Publishers of these 2009 fortune-telling books always try to be the first ones in the
market to grab the market share. Those who had published before the sub-prime
mortgage crisis are likely to predict "business as usual" like the global economy will be
great. The ones that are published after the financial crisis is exposed are likely to
predict the economy will not be "optimistic" or "challenging".

It is interesting to see most writers of these fortune-telling books will "review" and brag
about their 2008 predictions. They simply ignore what they had missed and just focused
on the "hits". Everyone makes tons of predictions and some will "hit" the target for sure.
Very often, predictions are phrased in vague terms like "not optimistic" or "challenging",
it can always be treated as a "hit" no matter what has happened.

Today is your lucky day, you can publish your own "2010 Fortune Book" with the
following tips about how the predictions are made:
1. based on stars of annual or Purple White chart
2. making interpretations based on the jia-zi (binomial) of the year. For example, 2009
is ji-chou or earth-ox year. One can tell a long story based on this jia-zi.
3. based on the animal nature of the year (e.g. 2008 is year of rat, some writers will
make a big fuss out of the rat's nature)
4. based on shen-sha like Grand Duke, San-sha (3-killings) and the like
5. based on the writer's own divination using Plum Flower, Yi-Jing and the like
6. based on astrological stars
7. based on QMDJ charts
8. simply based on the gut-feeling of the writer!

You may use a combinations or all of the above to write your 2010 Fortune book. Send
me 10% royalty if you can! All proceed will go to charity.

Ken Lai

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008

When not to hire a Feng Shui Master

My previous message, "Grandma's Tou-Fu Dessert" is an example of personal luck
overtakes the importance of Feng Shui.

In other words, when your luck is high (above average), you do not need a Feng Shui
master to choose a site or house for you. You may throw a stone randomly and follow
the landing direction of the stone and locate a property.

How do you know your luck is high or low? It is much easier to tell that your luck is low--
shortage of money, running into obstacles all the time, relationship problems, sickness,
accidents or even death. If this were the case, you defintely need a Feng Shui master to
help you. But chances are, you may pick a lousy master that makes your Feng
Shui worse than before soliciting his/ her help. So you need to find someone who is
proven and not just "famous".

When everything goes your way, money is not a problem for you, good health and you
look forward to live your next day, you probably are in "above average" luck. You may
pretty much close your eyes and pick a property and still enjoy good Feng Shui.
When you feel life is boring (or have time to think that your life is boring), it means you
have a stable life and NOT in bad luck.

Very often people think their good luck will last forever. The lucky ones may have 10- 20
years of continuous good luck. Most will have short periods of 1 to 2 years good luck. It
is difficult to achieve anything significant with short luck duration (as in annual lucks).
You need at least one good 10-year luck to prosper. In Bazi or 4-Pillars, everyone shares
the same annual luck but not 10-year lucks. 10-year lucks are determined by one's birth
day and birth hour.

In Asia, it is common that a Feng Shui practitioner also knows Bazi reading. It is a
routine to read the Bazi of a potential client before taking up a Feng Shui job. A
practioner with integrity may turn down a FS assignment if he/she finds client's problem
is due to destiny and not FS.

Ken Lai

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2008

Grandma's Tou-fu Dessert

I am running around China and Hong Kong now. I stay with my brother while in Hong
Kong.

One day, my brother and I were strolling around town. He suddenly exclaimed with joy,
"'Grandma's Tou-Fu Dessert' has moved to here!".

"Grandma moves around a lot. She makes the best tou-fu dessert in town. There is
always a long line in front of her store. There is always another tou-fu dessert store
opens across her store, hoping to pick up those who can't wait." My brother said.

"You can see Grandma's price is HK$5 per bowl and the competition sells at $3. Yet
there is no line in the competition's store."

Of course, we rush to Grandma and get a bowl of the tou-fu dessert.

"Why does Grandma move all the time?" I asked.

"Landlord finds Grandma doing great business and thinks she may stay even if the rent
is raised. So Grandma moves and amazingly, her business is always great regardless
where she moves to." My brother replied.

"What contributes to Grandma's success?" I asked myself.

It could be:
1. Grandma is in good luck period
2. Grandma's secret skill of making tou-fu dessert
3. Good Feng Shui (but this seems not the case here, Grandma just moves around, most
of the time, move into the locations of failed business!)

Yesterday, I had a tou-fu dessert in another region of the city. The dessert tasted as
great as Grandma's. The store is at the exit of a subway station (very good "water" or
human traffic). But the store does not have a long line or doing as well as Grandma's.

So I conclude luck is more important than Feng Shui, just like the popular saying about
the main determinants of destiny-- "Fate first, Luck second and third Feng Shui"

Do you think Grandma should hire a Feng Shui Master to select a store location for her?

Ken Lai

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008

Advanced reminders for 2009 year of Ox

 I keep receiving emails for help with
remodeling precautions for this year and next year. Instead of answering individual
emails, I post the info here.

Ji-chou ox year is 4 months from now. But it will be helpful to know the "forbidden
locations" for construction ahead of time, so you can do it in 2008 instead of in 2009.
Besides, areas that are "forbidden" this year are likely be "open" for constructions next
year, so you can delay your remodeling project till next year.

Here are a recap of "forbidden zones" for 2008 Wu-zi year (ends at February 4, 2009):
===============================================
1. 5-yellow disaster star will be in the south. Sui-Po or "year breaker" will also be in the
south or wu-mountain.
--- avoid digging or construction; avoid movements

2. Grand Duke or Tai Sui, the "ruler" of the year will be in zi mountain or in the North.
--- avoid digging or construction; you can sit on GD location but not facing it.

3. San Sha or 3-killings will be in the South (si, wu, ding mountains)
--- definitely avoid movement or digging here, Sui-po year breaker and 5-yellow disaster
star are also in this sector!

4. "5-tiger sha" is in Wu, ding (South) and Wei(SW-S) mountains, the most
vicious sha that attributes to multiple deaths and serious injuries or sickness.
-- definitely no digging or even putting heavy object on this area. This is the major
reason that South side is the worst area to monkey around this year!. If you plan to do
remodeling here, FORGET IT! WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR! If you have already dug and
ran into problems, what can you do? There is not much you can do but praying for
forgiveness and do more charity work than usual.

5. The auspicious 8-star (wealth) will be in the east and 9-purple star in the SE. You may
want some movements here.

People with horse and mouse animal signs and were born in the first, fifth and eleventh
months of the lunar calendar should avoid attending funeral for the year.
============================END OF 2008

Ji-chou earth-ox year will begin at Feb. 5, 2009, the following are the precautions:

Ji-chou year is a strong yin-earth year as both Ji and Chou are yin earth. People whose
favorable element is earth will have great luck this year, especially if earth is your wealth
element. If you unfavorable element is earth, then you better lay low for the year.

Chou is one of the 3-penalties (3P) elements of wei-chou-xu, so if this annual luck
and/or your 10-year luck or your native chart bring together all the 3P elements-- you
better pray only positive fame and not injuries/surgery to come. OR take my upcoming
"Destiny Management" course on how to handle this situation.

The annual chart for 2009 is: (top is south, bottom is north)

846
792
351

A. 5-yellow star will be in the North. Sui-Po or year breaker will also be in the SW-S or
Wei-mountain.
--- avoid digging or construction; avoid movements

B. Grand Duke or Tai Sui, the "ruler" of the year will be in Chou mountain (NE-N).
--- GD and 5-yellow disaster star are very close to each other! It is possible to dig on
both unintentionally. Avoid digging or construction; you can sit on GD location but not
facing it.

C. San Sha or 3-killings will be in the whole East sector (Jia, Mao and Yi mountains)
--- definitely avoid movement or digging here

D. "5-tiger sha" is in Chen, Xun and Si mountains (SE region), the most vicious shathat
attributes to multiple deaths and serious injuries and sickness.
-- definitely no digging or even moving heavy object to this area. Chen mountain SE-E)
overlap with one of the San Sha, making it the most dangerous sector to dig for this ox
year.

E. The auspicious 8-star (wealth) will be in the SE, but part of the sector
is Chen mountain and Si mountains (part of 5-tiger sha)! So if may want to put your
enhancements ONLY in Xun mountain (SE)! If you are not sure, put NO movement
there. The little wealth generated does not worth the risk!

The relative "safe" and prosperous sector for this year is NW with 1-white career star.

People with ox and ram animal signs and were born in the third, sixth and 12th months
of the lunar calendar should avoid attending funeral for the ox year. Lunar month is
about one month slower than the western calendar.

What can you do if you must do constructions in the forbidden zones? Hire a good Feng
Shui master to do a auspicious date-selection and follow certain procedures. Event like
this needs some "bleeding" (of money) or exchange of energy with the universe, in order
to settle your karma debt.

Ken Lai

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2008

Digging in the south side of your house?

 I went to an eye exam today and saw the eye doctor
walk on "4" legs (crutches). Out of curiosity, I have asked him how he got hurt.

"A few weeks ago, I dug up a large tree trunk in my garden."

Before he continued, I had interrupted, "Is the garden in the south side of your house?"

"How do you know?" Asked the doctor.

"Chinese secret!" I answered.

"My kids want to keep the tree trunk, so I have stored it in the garage." He continued.

"A few days later, I walked through the passage of the garage which normally I could walk with my
eyes closed. I got trapped down by the tree trunk and broke my ankle!"

I told him it is not a good idea to dig in the South this year. The energy there is not too friendly.

A student's friend was building a front porch in the southern side of his property earlier this year.
Recently a cyst had grown on his neck and needs a minor surgery to remove it. A supposedly simple
procedure got complications with blood problem and infection.

For the Rat year (2008), the south has the following negative energies:
: 5 –yellow Disaster Star
: San Sha (Three Killings)
--- Bing/S1 – Pinch Sha
--- Wu/S2 – Disaster Sha
---Ding/S3 – Pinch Sha
: Wu Dao Ti Sha – Wu/S2*
: Jia Dao Ti Sha – Ding/S3*
: Sui Po (Wu/S2) (year breaker, opposite side of Grand Duke)

With unusually high concentration of negative energies in one direction, you should avoid renovations
or earth-digging in the south this year. If you have no choice, you need to do a good date-selection to
mitigate the effects.

One may ask, I know people who had dug in the south and still have no problem. Yes, no
problemYET. There are cases where the effect of violation is delayed even to a few years later. Some
teachers describe these energies are like "fair weather friends"-- they ignore or even enhance your
luck IF your current luck is good. BUT they will step on you all over if your current luck is on the low
side. OR sometimes they "ambush" you when your good luck is gone!

Ken Lai

MONDAY, JULY 14, 2008

In search of a better (Feng Shui) mouse-trap

A student asks me if he should take someone's

"Hi-Hi-Hi Feng Shui" and "La-La-La Feng Shui" courses (course titles withheld to preserve the
integrity of the original methods).

"Take the courses if your father owns a non-U.S. bank". I told the student.

"Besides, you have taken quite a few Feng Shui courses! You may already have the best Feng Shui
mouse-traps without knowing."

To my dismay, this student's father really owns a non-U.S. bank! So I need to explain further.

"Hi-Hi-Hi" method was originally designed for fast-changing battlefield environment and "La-La-La"
method was designed for divination of daily events. Either method can easily take someone a life-time
to master.

To apply a method in a new field that is not originally designed for may need more cautions and time
to be proven. Also the credibility of the source of such new methods needs to be considered too.

My personal bias is: I tend to be on the conservative side. "Discoveries" in Chinese metaphysics can
easily take 50+ to hundred years to be "proven" and/ or widely accepted.
While these methods may somehow be directly or indirectly related to Feng Shui, it may not be the
most efficient way (cost or time-wise) to tackle Feng Shui problems.

"Hi-Hi-Hi" and "La-La-La" methods are not easy to learn even assuming cost is not a consideration. If
these methods were easy and powerful, it should be "Hi-Hi-Hi" and "La-La-La" and not Flying
Star Feng Shui, dominate the current Feng Shui field.

To learn or use Feng Shui, you may want to go straight to traditional Feng Shui courses like San
Yuan, San He or the like directly.

The same logic can also be applied to Bazi (4P) and ZWDS. Both are also somehow related to Feng
Shui. One may apply these methods to Feng Shui if by chance one had taken these classes already.

But to take a class on 4P or ZWDS or "Hi-Hi-Hi" or "La-La-La" because you want to do Feng Shui, is
like taking a guitar class because you want to learn typing.

There may be new or attractive claims on "Hi-Hi-Hi" or "La-La-La" Feng Shui that may be too much to
resist. I cannot help or advise you on those claims. But again, all I can say is:

"Take the courses if your father owns a non-U.S. bank".

For those who have a poor dad, you may want to do some "mining" with your old Feng Shui course
manuals instead. Very often, people take a course, get excited and then shelve the course materials
without testing or trying it.

I had the same "better mouse-trap syndrome" when I was young. Instead of examining and studying
of what I already have, I tried to look for a "better mouse-trap" to "spare" me of the hard work required
to learn. The result was wasting tons of money and time chasing and buying repackaged or recycled
"mouse-traps".

SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2008

Feng Shui Anything

A few years ago, many of us laughed our heads off when we saw the "Feng Shui haircut" in Penn &
Teller's TV series "Bullshit".

Well, you have not seen the real head-turner yet.

Ms. Yang-lan, a TV personality in China, has teamed up with a clothing manufacturer and developed
an underwear line using "Feng Shui" as the brand name. The picture here is the cover of a magazine
pushing the FS undies.

Here is the headline:

"Yang-lan highly recommends Feng Shui Underwear.
Wearing Feng Shui Underwear wil turn you into a rich woman"

It does not specify if a man wears the FS undies will turn him into a rich woman or free sex-change
operation is included.

Feng Shui undies may be an extreme case of marginalizing Feng Shui. But the damages to legitimate
Feng Shui has been done by these "Feng Shui Anything" marketeers. They promise anything you
want-- health, wealth, relationship, academic, career.... ., but deliver little.

You can see the "damages" by simply going to bookstores like "Borders" or "Barnes and Noble". A
few years ago, there were 2+ more shelves devoted to Feng Shui books. Now it is less than half of a
shelf.

Well, do you want to buy a Feng Shui Magic Wand? Simply make a wish, raise the wand and viola,
get whatever you want without leaving your bed to attend any Feng Shui seminars.

Ken Lai

FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2008

"It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's ........"

Some people think Feng Shui master is a superman. They expect him/her to solve most if not all their
problems.

Sometimes people think that a Feng Shui master is God or at least has a direct phone line to God.
They ask him/ her to enhance their wealth through Feng Shui remedies, solve their relationship
problems, children's academic problems, job-seeking, health problems or even weight-loss.

If you have an Asia-based email address, you probably have received tons of "Feng Shui for Anything
Seminar" email ads. It brags about a fast-talking Feng Shui master can teach you to do anything with
Feng Shui-- for power, wealth, relationship......

Well, have you ever wondered why the world's richest person is not a Feng Shui master?

While everything may somehow related to Feng Shui, but using Feng Shui to fix or enhance every
thing may not be the most cost-effective way.

You can walk to Rome or fly to Rome. Feng Shui is good for problems that are directly related to your
residence or properties. Indirect problems should be handled by professionals in the special areas
concerned.

If you have money problem, go find a job or a financial planner or a loan officer. Money won't fall from
sky into your hands if you sit on your ass and do nothing. I know a guy who has 2 water dragons and
three 5-ghost-carry-money setups and still having money problem-- because he just sits and waits.

If you have relationship problem, go see a family counselor or Dr. Phil.

If you were chronically sick and the problem is not Feng Shui related, go see a health professional.

Feng Shui practitioners should not masquerade as financial planners, Abbey, motivational talkers,
medical doctors or the like. Elevating Feng Shui as a magic bullet or answer to every problem in life
will hurt the discipline in the long run. It heightens people's expectation on Feng Shui which is more
than likely, resulting in frustration.

Feng Shui is not the master-key or solution to all the worldly problems or it would have been the
compulsory requirement for graduation for all the universities.

The basic premise of Feng Shui is to live in harmony with nature. It is not a church or temple for you
to plea for wealth, power, relationship .......

Ken Lai

TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2008

Enhancing your wealth luck with the right pet

My kid's classmate has adopted a cat from the local Animal Humane Society a few days ago. She
found that some of her family members are allergic to cat. So the poor cat ends up at our doorstep.

I take in this cat because cat is my wealth element.

In 4-Pillars of Destiny, the 5-elements (metal, water, wood, fire and earth) are represented by 12
animals. What you control is your wealth (or wife for male). My day-master is metal, so wood is my
wealth. Cat belongs to the wood element category, so cat represents my wealth.

By taking care of a cat, hopefully, also take care of the well-being of my wealth.

To find out which animal is good for you in terms of wealth, you need to find out your day-
masterelement first. Simply go to:

http://www.kenlaifengshui.com

Click on the 4P Calculator link and punch in your birth day and click on the "COMPUTE" button. You
will see a table with 4 columns: year, month, day and hour.

Check the upper row of the day column, you will see one of the 5 elements (wood, water and etc.).
That element is your day-master element.

Here are the corresponding pets that you may have to enhance your wealth luck:

For metal day-masters: (wood element is wealth)

Pets: Tiger, cougar, bear, cat and rabbit

For water day-masters: (fire element is wealth)

Pets: Snakes, reptiles, turtles and horses

For wood day-masters: (earth element is wealth)

Pets: goat, dog, dragon (you can use a deer or giraffe) and cow

For fire day-masters: (metal element is wealth)

Pets: chicken, birds, and monkey

For earth day-masters: (water element is wealth)

Pets: mouse (ferrets, guinea pig, rodent type) and pig

HOWEVER, if you really want to find out the exact pet, you need to figure out if your day-master
isstrong or weak. You may want to take my "4-Pillars Boot-camp" video correspondence course to
figure it out (sorry for the plug, I need money to pay for vet and cat food!).
Ken Lai

TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2008

"Oh NO! I've killed Grand Duke!"

I was in Mexico City teaching "Daoist Talismans for Feng Shui and Blessing". A student
told me that he had accidentally killed a Chihuahua rat in his backyard in last February.
That rat had lived there for over two years.

After the "accident", his family business slows down, has problems getting paid by
clients, many electronic items gone bad suddenly, even water-supply shut down, has
more arguments with spouse and seems to hit the wall everywhere.

This students thinks he had killed "Grand Duke" because the current animal sign of the
year is "rat". He had made offerings to the soul of the dead Chihuahua rat and did
house-cleansing. He has also purchased a pet mouse and hugs it everyday.

However, things still have not improved much.

So during the talisman class, I have added a special "Divine Grand Duke Talisman" for
this class. It can appease Grand Dukeafter you have violated him.

In addition, I have given him the name of Grand Duke's mother, Dou Lu. So that he can
also appeal to Grand Duke's mother by writing a talisman to her. According
to Daoist mythology, 60 Grand Dukes are considered as the stars in heaven. Dou Luis
the mother of all the constellations (stars). She has four heads and 8 arms.

A student had joked that next time when she writes a talisman to "Grand Duke", she will
put c.c. to his (GD) mother!

Ken Lai

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2008

XKDG Date-Selection in an hour.. or how much you can charge

Assuming you have some Feng Shui background, you can learn XKDG (Xuan-Kong-Da-
Gua) date-selection in an hour when you study my "Practical Date-Selection Methods"
video correspondence course. XKDG is only one of the numerous methods presented in
the course. You can check the following link for course descriptions:
http://www.kenlaifengshui.com

If you order by June 15, 2008, all the course fee will be donated to China
earthquake victims via Red Cross in your honor. You will get an acknowledgment
card from Red Cross.

How much you can charge for XKDG date-selection? Here is the price-list of the Hong
Kong Feng Shui master that I wrote in last post:

DATE-SELECTION SERVICE ............................................CHARGE

=======================================================
Grand-opening..............................................................HK$1800 (US$230)
Moving.......................................................................HK$1800 (US$230)
Inviting Earth-God.............................................................HK$3800 (US$460)
Moving ashes to Columbarim......................................from HK$1800 (US$230)
Marriage license registration...........................................HK$1800 (US$230)
Marriage date-selection package
(including registration, setting bed,worshiping ancestors)
-- couple only..............................................................HK$3800 (US$460)
add HK$1500 (US$175) per additional person

For example,
couple + groom's parents........................ HK$3800 + 30000 (US$870)
couple + groom's & bride's parents......... HK$3800 + 30000 + 3000 (US$1250)

=======================================================
As more people are added into an XKDG date-selection, the less good dates will be
available due to added parameters or restrictions.

My "Practical Date-Selection Methods" course only costs US$599. You may get your
money back with a few date-selections or marry one or more times (just kidding!).

Ken Lai
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2008

Does Feng Shui Shrimp need water? A case in XKDG date-

selection.
I ran into an interesting Xuan-Kong-Da-Gua (XKDG) date-selection case in Hong Kong in
last April.

A local master was solicited to do a date-selection for the renovation of an ancient tomb.
The tomb houses the founding ancestral couple of a local clan.

The formation of this tomb is called "Literacy Shrimp Frolicking with Water" (文蝦戲水).

This is a typical San He (3-harmony) job which likes to "naming imagery based on
forms" (呼形喝象). The original master thought the form around the tomb looks like a

shrimp playing with water. Water is also associated with intelligence and hence literacy.
So this "shrimp" is a smart shrimp. By naming it "literacy shrimp", hopefully, the
descendants will be learned scholars.

The local master wrote, "This is a shrimp form, if the selected day has no water (rain),
the shrimp will die! If it rains, we can't initiate construction. This is really a tough job."

This is the date selected, June 12, 2007, Wu hour:

Year: Ding Hai; 8 zhen/ kun 8

Month: Bing Wu; 4 dui/ xun 3
Day: Ding Chou; 4 dui/ zhen 7
Hour: Bing Wu; 4 dui/ xun 3

"The observatory had issued a thunderstorm warning in early morning of the selected
day." The local master said. "It had rained heavily in Si hour (9:01- 11am). Sunshine
came out during Wu hour (11:01- 13:00). We did the renovation during Wu hour and
finished within 2 hours. The sky then turned cloudy during first half of Wei hour (13:01-
14:00). By that time the cement had dried. It had rained again during the second half
of Wei hour. We are fortunate to get help from heaven!"

Well, it seems even Feng Shui shrimp based on imagery needs 5-elements support. In
my next post, I will tell you how to learn XKDG date-selection in an hour and how much
this Hong Kong master charges for XKDG date-selection.
Ken Lai

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008

Shen's Skyscraper Feng Shui

"Shen's Xuan Kong Studies" (沈氐玄空學) was written by Shen Shao Xun(1849-1906,沈紹
勛) and published by his son Shen Zu Mian (1878-1969,沈祖綿). This book was the first

one to expose many "secrets" of Xuan Kong Feng Shui and is the cornerstone of
modern Flying Star Feng Shui.

Shen's grandson, Shen Yan Fa (1915-2001, 沈延發, see picture here), a civil engineer,
had written "Shen's Xuan Kong Kan Yu Studies" (沈氐玄空堪輿學). This book focuses on

ancient architectural designs though it can also be applied to city planning and small
scale district designs. I have not seen this book yet, so I cannot make any comment.

Shen Yan Fa had also written "Shen's Skyscraper Feng Shui"(沈氐高層建築堪輿學). He said

it is based on the 10 years Yi-Jing research of his father. His father had encouraged him
to share this "skyscraper Xuan Kong code" with the Feng Shui community.
This book focuses on how to apply Yi-jing principle into skyscraper Feng Shui. The
method is quite simple: using the storey number and the facing of the apartment door,
translating it into one of the 64 hexagrams, then do TWO yao-changings and make some
brief comments about the apartment. This method is not unique as there are similar
methods in skyscraper Feng Shui. For example, "He-Tu-5-mice luck cycles" method
assigns a He-Tu number to each storey and individual apartment and calculate
auspiciousness based on nurturing-controlling relationship with the current He-Tu luck
period. Another similar method ("Bamboo Node") is used in applying Bazhai (8-
mansions) in multi-storey buildings.

Shen Yan Fa has shown quite a few examples of how to apply this method. The sample
audits shows heavy dose of personal judgment on the quality of environment and then
mix with the interpretations of hexagrams. Other examples were based on the
advertising brochures of buildings under construction. Shen did not show any concrete
results showing his predictions worked. So at the time the book was written (around
1993), it seemed that this theory was just a conceptual model and not really tested.

How to determine the sitting and facing of an apartment in a highrise is one of the
hottest arguments in contemporary Feng Shui. Shen is not clear on how he made the
distinction though we can see he places heavy weight on the main door of the
apartment. But he also seemed to talk about the sitting/facing of a building complex
based on the main entrance of the building.

For the trivia bluffs-- Shen Shao Xun was once the adopted son of a western mercenary.
His son, Shen Zu Mian, was a revolutionary who had tried to over-turned the Imperial
Qing Dynasty and had fled to Japan nine times.

"Shen's Xuan Kong Studies" remains the classic in contemporary Feng Shui though there
are arguments on some of the theories and contents. Hats off to the Shenfamily for their
sharing of major Feng Shui knowledge!

Ken Lai

MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008

Feng Shui Battle of the Century

I have just returned from China after leading a tour and staying there for almost 2
months. This "Feng Shui Battle" looks like a Japanese monster movie set. To see the
pictures of this "Battle", please click the following link:

http://www.kenlaifengshui.com

This "Feng Shui battle" had occurred in China in the 80's. It began when someone had
fixed a "heart-piercing sha" (a lamp-post in front of main door) by building a giant
"beetle" on his roof. His neighbor had counteracted the beetle with a giant "phoenix"
(but the bird looks like a monster bird!).

Another neighbor had used a giant crown, elephants, eagles, dragons and other strange
creatures to fight the beetle. The results are not pretty-- all three buildings become
vacant! In the "Advanced Form Feng Shui" course, Ken Lai will show you how to look at
houses like these WITHOUT using luopan by just looking at the surrounding forms.

It was an overkill to fix a "heart-piercing sha" with a giant beetle. It can be fixed with
something simple and inexpensive.
Ken Lai

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008

Feng Shui War (or who own Feng Shui?)

There is a Feng Shui war going on between the "netizens" of China and South Korea on
the worldwide web.

Here is the Chinese link with English text (page-down to see the English)
http://www.fengshui-chinese.com/discuz/viewthread.php?tid=65736

The message accuses South Korea trying to hijack "Feng Shui" as its own "Intangible
Cultural Heritage" (ICH, of UNESCO). At the beginning of the message, the writer claims
that South Korea had already "stolen" China's "Dragon Boat Festival" as its own ICH
from UNESCO.

However, when I search UNESCO website, I could not find proof of the "Dragon Boat"
claim.
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?cp=KR&topic=mp

Anyway, regardless of the authenticity of the message, it provokes the indignation of

other netizens. They run a "poll" to ask members to "vote" for the country which they
think "Feng Shui" should belong to. Then they will send the result to UNESCO to
"counter" South Korea's claim.

The irony is that the Chinese government (PRC) considers Feng Shui superstitution and
does not really care. Chinese Feng Shui enthusiasts are very unhappy about the "news".

The original message may even be a hoax too.

Incidentally, the 8-mansion Feng Shui system (Bazhai) was originally written for the
Koreans! The legend was: During the Tang Dynasty (618- 906 AD), a Korean King,
seeing the prosperous Tang empire, had requested China to teach his scholars Feng
Shui. Tang emperor did not want his neighbor become powerful using Feng Shui. He had
summoned Monk Yi-xing (一行僧)to write up a Feng Shui system that works sometimes

but not all the time-- hence the birth of 8-Mansion system. Problem was, the system is
so good and appealing, it was re-exported back to China!

In practical uses, 8-Mansion system has its strength and weakness. It also takes longer
to have effect than Flying Star system.

Ken Lai

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2008

Bird Feng Shui

"Ken, your Swallow Lovers story is touching, but does it have anything to do with
Chinese metaphysics? "

Yes, there are something related to swallow and Feng Shui. I save it for this message, so
it won't spoil the love story.

Traditionally speaking, when birds and insects build their nests under the roof of your
house is considered auspicious. It signifies the energy at that location is
good. However, the nests must be OUTSIDE your house, including outside your
courtyard.

Swallows and small birds that are small and cute, are considered "yin". "Yin" stands for
women, ghosts and sickness. So if swallows build a nest INSIDE your property, it has the
following implications:

1. the man of the house has a mistress outside this house

2. someone is chronically sick

Another folk belief about swallow is the association of "separation" with swallow. There is
a traditional Cantonese song with the title "Separation Swallow". It talks about physical
separation of two lovers. Physical separation is not as fearful as separation by death. So
the Chinese does not really welcome the appearance of swallow around their properties.

On the other hand, Chinese considers swallow nest as very nutritious to the body. The
nest is made with the saliva of the swallows. Swallow nest is a big business in certain
regions of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Ken Lai

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008

Super Tuesday Tornadoes, San Sha, Sui Po and 5-yellow

The year of Rat starts on February 4 and "The Super Tueday Tornadoes" hit the America
South on the next day. It killed over 55 people and millions dollars worth of property
damages.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/atornado;_ylt=AiZCYrWrfsLWUIhKgnO8YARH2ocA

Here is the Feng Shui way of explaining it:

For 2008 Wu-zi year (earth-rat),

* Grand Duke (Tai Sui) is in the North (zi mountain)

* Year Breaker (Sui-po) is in the South (wu mountain)
* 3-Killings (San Sha) is in the South (si, wu and wei mountains)
* 5-yellow disaster star is in the South

You can see that three vicious energies overlap in the South. So they can create havoc
when violated. One should avoid constructions, earth-digging and movements in the
South and North (Grand Duke).

If your house faces South (wu mountain or 172.5- 187.5 degrees), it will be auspicious
for you for the year.

If your house facing North (zi mountain or 352.5- 7.5 degrees), your house "violates"
Grand Duke and needs appropriate measures and remedies (Check my "Sha Avoidance
Feng Shui" Course)

Ken Lai