Does Feng Shui really work? The Long and Winding Road of Feng Shui : Feng Shui for Modern Living

One of the more peculiar questions I occasionally get asked from a prospective client is “Does Feng Shui really work?” Of course this could be on the mind of anyone who had not yet experienced a Feng Shui audit or the results which can be achieved by following the recommendations. But the bluntness of the question, put to me directly, always seems unintentionally abrasive.

What am I supposed to say in response? “Oh no, not at all, ma’am, I’m just selling snake oil here.” Instead of shocking the prospective client with such a sarcastic answer, instead I launch into a more diplomatic explanation about how feng shui is as real as gravity. I also briefly highlight the various influences we have in our lives, such as destiny and luck, just to put the influence of feng shui in perspective.

After nearly three decades in doing professional audits, I can say with integrity that Feng Shui does work, for most of the people, most of the time. When consulting or teaching, I often use anonymous but real examples to illustrate a concept or a solution.

My First Home – Divorce

The home I lived in when I first started studying feng shui was also the home I divorced in. My ex-husband also divorced his second wife while living in that house and things got rocky fairly quickly with his third marriage also. The flying stars in the bedroom were the 7-3 combination. Another couple we were friends with jokingly referred to us as “The Bickersons.” For those who have not committed the flying star combinations to memory, the 7-3 combination can cause arguments, bickering, theft or legal problems. Just before I started studying feng shui in earnest, that same house had two attempted break-ins and through the window of the very bedroom with the 7-3 stars.

Just before I learned about monthly stars, I also had a miscarriage when the monthly 2 star was in our bedroom. Could I have used feng shui remedies to save my marriage? Well, I used to joke about that in my classes, noting that some remedies which support relationships may not support financial luck. And I wanted my husband to be rich when I divorced him. Kidding! This was in Period 7 and we had a neighbor put in a Jacuzzi to the southwest of our house. Normally, a Jacuzzi is not a great water remedy because they are covered most of the time. But this neighbor of ours was in the hot tub nightly and she also left the cover off. It wasn’t more than thirty feet from our house and I noticed that my husband’s income went up when the neighbor’s Jacuzzi went in.

The Apartment with Great Feng Shui

After divorcing, I wanted to make sure I had good feng shui to support me. I found a Northeast-2 sitting Period 7 apartment, with my bedroom in the 8-6 west sector and my son’s bedroom in the 6-8 south sector.

I also used part of his bedroom as my office, justifying that since I only had him with me 50% of the time. I did really well in that apartment and launched my full-time feng shui business. This flying star chart also had the 1-4 stars in the center palace. Let’s just say I was dating up a storm when I lived there. I was also writing quite a bit, both articles and the manuscript for my first feng shui book.

I only lived in that apartment for 18 months and I was doing so well there that I almost hated to leave it, but I had my sights set on a larger living space, so I rented a condo which sat SW-2, Period 6. It was still Period 7 and the master bedroom was in the 1-7 stars. I continued to do well financially, sleeping in the wang water dragon. The 1 mountain star had not yet become sheng and I can see in retrospect how that manifested in some very bizarre romantic partners. The 1-7 stars have a number of interpretations and I have seen over and over how this combination can feed addictions and compulsions. What I found amusing about this condo was that guests came over with bottles of wine in tow. I was not much of a drinker, but it seemed as though the gods were encouraging me to drink! My drug of choice is chocolate and it was in that condo where I resumed eating chocolate after having abstained from it for nearly two decades.

The flying star chart had the 3-9 stars in the center which can attract legal or contractual issues, as well as gossip. During that time, I was mostly unaware of the fact that a lot of people were gossiping about me. I actually had people in my life who I thought of as friends since they were fellow feng shui practitioners and I would have parties and invite other consultants over to “talk shop.” I later found out that some of these folks had a hard time hiding their jealousy and said things about me that were neither true nor kind.

My son was sleeping in the SE bedroom with the 4-1 flying stars. Without any prompting from me, he expressed a desire to become an actor and he asked me to take him to some auditions for commercials. He was only 10 years old and we didn’t have any family members in the entertainment industry so I was really surprised and figured the 4 star was influencing my son in that way. Right after we moved from that condo, he lost interest in acting.

In that same condo I ended up in a custody issue dispute with my ex-husband. I was victorious in court, the judge was very sympathetic I and actually got more than what I expected. Since that time, I have had a healthy respect for the power of the 3 star! I ended up buying that condo, but turned around and sold it just a couple years later. I then bought a house that I lived in for 17 years.

The new Zhen House

This next house, sitting East-1, Period 5, had the same flying star chart as my childhood home. And this is a feng shui detail which other practitioners may have noticed as well, which is that we and our clients sometimes gravitate toward similar feng shui environments. It’s almost like the way we choose life partners who are similar to our own parents. Karma needs to work itself out.

As a Zhen person living in a Zhen house, this was actually the first time in all my years of practicing feng shui, that I found myself compatible with my own house, according the Ba Zhai School. I even thought it was possible I might live the rest of my life in that house, but alas, it was not meant to be.

That house had the 3-7 stars in the center palace and I learned for once and for all that you cannot adjust the center stars. They are not residing in any physical center of space. I moved in with a security system in place, but there were three attempted break-ins within the first five years I lived there.

Nothing was stolen in those attempts because the alarm scared the burglars off. But each time it happened, I beefed up the security a little more. With locked gates and security cameras, I had the place zipped up like Fort Knox. I even bought a second car, which I called my “Decoy” car, so that it looked like someone was always home since there was no garage and just an open carport. That home had a side door in the 4-8 stars and I really feel I benefitted from that entrance, financially and creatively.

I have many other stories to tell about how the flying stars have made their presence known in my own life and personal environments. I’ve also experienced both gradual and immediate changes when feng shui remedies were installed. Because of my own experiences, as well as feedback from thousands of clients, I find myself a perpetual student in awe of the flying stars. They are truly a road map to our destiny, our spiritual growth, our connection to this Earth and to each other.