The Basics

Ask which school of feng shui they practise, how they intend to assess the specific building, what a session or report actually includes, what it costs and covers, and whether any recommendation depends on buying something. A consultant who cannot answer these plainly is worth reconsidering. Feng shui consultancy is unregulated in most countries. There … Read more

Paying a feng shui consultant is worth it if the reader wants a trained reading of a specific building, using a named method, applied to their own furniture and doors — not a generic checklist. It is not worth it as a substitute for a surveyor, an architect, or a lawyer, and no consultant can … Read more

Feng shui traditions generally hold that a house left empty for a long stretch develops “stagnant chi” — the idea that without people moving through it, opening doors and windows, and using its rooms, the flow the tradition associates with a lived-in home slows or stalls. Most schools recommend a period of active use — … Read more

Classical feng shui — Form School and Compass School alike — has very little to say about the numeral on a house. What it studies is the shape of the land, the direction the door faces, and the flow of chi through the entrance. The idea that “4 is unlucky” and “8 is lucky” comes … Read more

Feng shui consultants disagree because they are not all practising the same discipline. Form School, Compass School, and the Western Black Sect (BTB) adaptation ask different questions, use different tools, and sometimes reach opposite conclusions about the same room. The disagreement is structural, not a sign that someone is wrong. Is feng shui really one … Read more

Clutter is treated as the first problem because every major branch of feng shui — Form School, Compass School and the modern Western Black Sect (BTB) adaptation — agrees that a home cannot be assessed, corrected or read until the physical space is clear enough to see and move through. Whatever else the schools disagree … Read more

Feng shui treats noise as a form of disruptive chi — energy that is agitated rather than settled. Persistent or sharp sound is generally read as something to buffer or soften, not a target for a specific cure. The reasoning given is mostly about calm and rest, and it overlaps with ordinary acoustic sense more … Read more

Feng shui rules contradict each other because “feng shui” is not a single rulebook. It is several distinct traditions — Form School, Compass School, and the modern Western Black Sect (BTB) adaptation — that use different methods, ask different questions, and were never reconciled with each other. Most contradictions disappear once you know which school … Read more

A feng shui compass — properly a luopan — is a specialised instrument used in Compass School (Liqi) feng shui to take a precise directional reading of a building, then cross-reference that direction against rings of traditional data. Whether a reader needs one depends entirely on which school of feng shui is being followed, and … Read more

No peer-reviewed evidence supports feng shui’s core metaphysical claims — that chi (qi) flows through a room in ways a compass reading can measure, or that a home’s orientation affects a resident’s luck or wealth. Separately, there is real evidence, from architecture and environmental psychology, that some of feng shui’s practical advice — daylight, clear … Read more