House exposure in feng shui

In ancient China the standard way to situate a house was to expose it to the south. While this did not always agree with the principles of feng shui, southern exposure was favored, especially in northen China, because of the warmth it gave the house in the winter months, and, with proper overhangs, cooling shade in the summer. Southern exposures also brought in the most light through the year. In the north, the ancient houses also had fewer windows on the north, east, and west walls to shut out the wind. In the south the ancient houses, especially those near the sea, had maximum openings in the east, southeast and south to bring in breezes during the long warm season.

Feng shui rules for house siting are a lot more complicated than the above. There are several compass methods that are used in house siting. The idea that the land should rise behind the house and fall away, or stay level, in front, and that, facing out the front door, the land should rise to the left hand side, and sink to the right is not always correct. According to what degree of the compass you face when looking out the front door the situation can be quite different. Sometimes, according to the compass, it is better to have the land rise in front.

There is also a compass method of siting called the Ba Chai, or Eight House method in which the geomancer considers the rise and fall of the land around the house in relation to the door placement. There are essentially forty-eight combinations, some good and some bad. Bad combinations always have cures.

In addition to these, there are all kinds of considerations having to do with the energy underground, and with notable features in the landscape or neighborhood around the house. A great deal of attention is given to underground water courses and energetic currents. If a house is situated in a certain place, in a certain position the elementals of the land come into agreement with it, and the residents of the house are blessed with good health and good fortune. The opposite can also happen. Homes built in the wrong location can bring a great deal of harm and cause the people living in it to become sick and unfortunate.

When looking for a house it is always a good idea to pay attention to your instinctual responses. In addition it is always a good idea to pay attention to the weather on the day you visit the house, as the weather always points to the balance and condition of the elements that bring you there. For example, rain corresponds to Wood, heat to Fire, humidity to Earth, bright, dry weather to Metal, and cold to Water. When compared to the balance of elements in your Chinese astrological chart, these weather conditions take on special meanings, some which work well for you and others which don't.

Another way the gomancer can divine the hidden energetic condition of a house is to use the King Wen I Ching method that combines Chinese astrology with the I Ching; it translates all of the lines of the hexagrams in the I Ching to astrological elements which thus bring different directions of the compass to the geomancer's attention, the elements corresponding to directions of space.

The siting and orientation of a house when looked at through the rich lens of feng shui reveals many things. From this the entire internal situation of a house can be worked out to the best effect. When building a house it is always good to use the astrological compass methods of feng shui; the house will then hold the most vibrant energy.

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Raphael is available for readings and consulations in Chinese astrology and feng shui. To find out more visit www.trs-fengshui.com

Raphael's book Feng Shui Step by Step is reprinted and available at Amazon.com and at www.createspace.com/3472024.