I swear there is a new kind of Feng Shui that has been around for a few thousand years that pops up all the time. To try and keep it somewhat coherent, the three basic kinds of Feng Shui are described below.
The Need to Be Close to a Mountain, a River and Lots of Trees Kind
Form Feng Shui was, as far as we know, the very first version of Feng Shui. It was first used to identify the best burial grounds, and then the most auspicious places to build palaces. It uses the typography of land (mountains, hills, rivers, lakes, trees and such) to identify first the best place to put a home, and then second, the best way to orient the home on the selected land.
The Need to Use a Compass, Do Math and Have the Patience of Mother Teresa Kind
Compass Feng Shui came about once people started to realize that land was getting pretty scarce, and as such, they might have to practice Feng Shui in a way that didn’t require owning a part of a mountain range.
It is based 100% on compass directions, and presumably the ability to have directional skills. For this reason, I want zero, and I mean, zero, to do with it. Ideally, Compass Feng Shui is employed before a building is constructed which is another reason, in my mind, it is not so ideal. (But the compass part really makes it a no-go to me. PRO TIP: Do NOT get lost in the forest with me.)
To make sure, they made it super confusing, it also involves calculations and at times, your birth date. Which just makes my brain want to blow when you take into consideration most people in the home were probably not born on the exact same day. Once you get all of that sorted out, and God bless you if you do, then you can start to figure out what parts of your home correspond to which areas of your life and make changes from there.
I am exhausted just writing about it.
The Just Have to Know How to Find Your Front Door Kind
Black Sect Feng Shui (also called BTB Feng Shui or Black Sect Tantric Buddhist Feng Shui) was introduced in the 1980s by Professor Thomas Lin Yun who must have realized people were really not doing so hot with this whole compass business.
In order to do Black Sect Feng Shui, you just need to be able to find the Front Door of your home (the door the architect of the home would consider the Front Door) or, even easier, just find the door of a room you want to Feng Shui. From there, you lay down the Bagua Map to determine where different areas of your life (love, money, career, health and so on) are in your home or in the room and follow some easy Feng Shui tips to attract the energy you want to that area of your life. Voila!
