Newspapers recently reported the visit of feng shui expert, Paul Darby, to the notorious south dressing room at Cardiff’s prestigious millennium stadium at the request of the stadium’s owners. With Wembley out of action several soccer games have been played in Cardiff and it has been noted that the team that occupies the south dressing room almost invariably loses. In a bid ‘to counteract the static energy’ that Mr Darby claimed was trapped there he carried out various rituals and recommended several further steps, seemingly to no avail.
Similarly, last year it was reported that Hong Kong billionaire businessman Eric Hotung had decided to sell the house he had bought for some 6 million dollars from Senator Edward Kennedy in 1997. Why? Because he thought that the house suffered from bad feng shui.
Chi
Developing in China within Taoism feng shui or kan yu has been practised in various guises for over 2000 years. It was first used in regard to the siting of graves but was later taken up with enthusiasm by Buddhist monks when siting their temples and more generally by those siting new homes and towns. Feng shui (pronounced fong shwee or fung shway) is the popular name for the practice of Kan Yu. Feng means wind and shui means water. In ancient times a site was considered to be ‘lucky’ if it was sheltered from ill winds and untamed waters. Kan is to do with time and Yu with place and so is the study of a site with reference to a time factor.
Underlying the practice is the belief in chi or ki, an energy that is believed to be flowing through the universe on certain lines. Chi can take both yin and yang (literally, shade and light) forms and can attract both positive energy, sheng chi, which moves along curved lines, or negative energy, sha chi, which moves quickly in straight lines. (That is why straight pathways and similar features are avoided). There are also three categories of chi: heavenly, earthly and human, that further subdivide. The first includes meteorological and astrological considerations, the third social and personal ones. The five elements (earth, fire, water, air and metal) are also important.
Divination
Chi is held to be the source of life and harmony in the world. As with many forms of alternative healing the idea is that by means of various complex methods you can achieve harmony with nature by certain means. In feng shui it is positioning objects and structures such as buildings, rooms and their contents and gardens in a way that is sympathetic to this flow leading to health, wealth and prosperity. To do this divination is involved. Divination involves gaining information by reading hidden meanings in ordinary things, through spirit contact, or using tools. It is then an animistic approach, a form of geomancy, designed to manipulate the forces of nature to the advantage of the individual. It arose out of a desire for harmony between the elements, nature, and man, in order to prevent disaster and keep evil at bay in a world full of the unexpected.
In various forms (there are at least two major schools and many differences within these, quite apart from various offshoots and pseudo-practitioners) feng shui has become relatively popular in the west since the 1970s. The way it meshes with many of the eastern and new age ideas that are in the air has helped to popularise it. No doubt many have been attracted at first by the way its practice can often be aesthetically pleasing. Some of the advice makes obvious sense – a house should have ample sunlight and be well ventilated; avoid living by a straight road with speeding vehicles; use comfortable dining chairs; have a friendly fire in a cold room; balance the shapes and sizes of plants. Among the cures for problematic chi are the use of mirrors, wind chimes, certain plants and hexagrams. Also sometimes recommended are statues of a black tortoise, a blue dragon, a white tiger and a crane or heron. These can all look very attractive. However, the philosophy is built on a fundamentally flawed view of the universe and many people are not only paying good money for very poor advice but by believing these lies are endangering their immortal souls. It is not only a tedious, burdensome, unscientific and potentially expensive viewpoint that has no guarantee of success even on its own basis but it is also fundamentally flawed in its whole outlook.
The Prince of Peace
The truth is that this world is not controlled by impersonal forces. There are impersonal forces, of course, such as wind and electricity. However, none of it is at the mercy of luck or fortune. All of it is in the safe hands of the personal God who controls all things, the God revealed to us in Scripture and who is pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. A mere force cannot bring peace or harmony to anyone. The Prince of Peace, however, can bring reconciliation with an offended God who is full of wrath against us not because we happen to live in a certain place or were born at a certain time but because we have broken his law. He can bring us into a perfect relationship with the Creator of the universe if we will simply trust in him.
Further, all forms of divination are strongly condemned in Scripture (see for example Deuteronomy 18: 10-12). The Lord wants us rather to turn to his Word and to the Christ revealed there. We must put our trust in him not in some supposed harmony brought about by various pieces of pagan mumbo-jumbo and sorcery. In the end, feng shui cannot deal with our real problems and it cannot satisfy our spiritual longings. It cannot provide forgiveness and it cannot bring us to God. When we meet those who are enamoured of this particular form of superstition we must do what we can to alert them to the underlying philosophy and seek to show them its emptiness. May God help us to introduce the to the Saviour, the one who can give them real harmony – with God himself in Christ. if they are interested in power in this universe they need to know about the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and that is now at work in the lives of believers to raise them from their sins to be with the Lord forever.
In compiling this article I was greatly helped by various websites and in particular by an essay by Marcia Montenegro which can be found here I believe.
First published in Grace Magazine
First published in Grace Magazine
