CONSULTATIONS and SERVICES During a traditional Feng Shui consultation, a compass reading is taken at the site (using a Chinese geomancy compass called a "luopan") and combined with the building's construction date(s). This combination produces mathematical calculations that reveal the characteristics and potential of the building. After consideration of this information, the birth data of the client and/or other inhabitants and careful analysis of the site, precise remedies are recommended to balance and optimize the energies of your home or business. Remedies used most often in classical Feng Shui are the natural Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. You will receive a personalized consultation on your home or business. The remedies can be integrated with your existing decor according to your personal taste. Additionally, I am one of few practitioners in the country trained in using various Water Methods, which are used to improve your finances and create new opportunities. I have seen excellent results with these remedies. What Do Clients Need To Provide For A Consultation? In order to provide you with the most accurate and personalized reading, I need the following: A visit to the site The construction year of the building and any additions Birth data of the occupants Accurate, to-scale floorplan -- if you do not have a floorplan for larger buildings, a draftsperson will need to come to your house/business to draw the floorplan (at an additional fee) before your consultation. Why Do You Need To Know The Construction Year Of The Building? The construction year of a building is critical to an accurate Feng Shui reading because not only are the building, the environment and the occupants themselves being taken into consideration, but also the time cycle in which the building was constructed. The more recent versions of Feng Shui do not take the construction year into consideration, leaving out the very important aspect of Time. Timing is everything! Feng Shui comes from the Yi Jing, "The Book of Changes", which teaches us that life is constantly changing and nothing stays the same. Do not rely on a "guesstimate" of the year the house was built. Get the full value of the consultation and find out for sure. Houses are built in 20-year cycles so, for example, if you say "1963" when the house was really built in 1964, the reading will be completely wrong. How Do I Find The Construction Year For My House? First, check the deed on your house or ask your realtor or landlord. But if the date is not on the deed and the realtor or landlord says, "Oh, it was built around 19__", you need to keep looking. Remember I need a specific year to be most accurate. You can call a local title company and ask for customer service. Tell them you want to know the date of construction of the house and give them the address. If they have it in their files, they will give you the information free of charge. Another good resource for finding the construction year for your house is your county or city's tax assessment/property assessment office. While some offices will give you this information over the phone, many require you to visit in person. Some offices offer this information online. This is not an imposition but an important step so that you will get the most for your time and money at the consultation. What About Additions? If your house has had an addition built onto the existing house, you also need to know when that addition was constructed. There is a lower-level Feng Shui method that can be used for the addition, but it will not be as specific to your home as if you can get the exact year. If you can't find that information at the tax assessor's office, ask your neighbors. Often a neighbor will know when an addition was constructed because of an important event taking place at the same time (e.g., "they added on the family room when I was pregnant with my second child, so that was in 1970"). What About Apartments or Condominiums? A Feng Shui consultation can indeed be performed on apartments and condominiums. I Want To Build A New House -- Can You Help Me Locate And Design It According To Feng Shui Principles? Certainly. I can help you choose the best site for the house, its preferred sitting and facing positions, and best time to build. Additionally I can advise you on choosing/designing the floorplan that will allow you to take advantage of the good qi. I am also available to consult with your architect to ensure that the design is correct and will best benefit you. Can You Do A Long-Distance Reading For Me? No. A good Feng Shui practitioner must see the client and site in person so that no important factors are missed. Feng Shui is very powerful. If I am given a wrong compass reading or do not see a critical environmental factor, the remedies will also be wrong, and can cause more harm than good. Also, I can't tell you how many times I've seen a certain look pass between clients that tells me much more than what the client would have divulged long-distance! Feng Shui practitioners are house doctors. Be careful of offers from practitioners to do long-distance consultations - would you want your doctor to diagnose you long-distance without a thorough examination? What Kind Of Remedies Do You Usually Advise? In traditional Feng Shui, the natural Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are used for remedies and enhancements. Some remedies need to be placed outside the building, but most are placed inside. You will be told what particular element you need and the advised size or weight, and then you choose the style of the element to match your decor. After installation of your remedies, your home should never look "Feng Shui'd" or like a Chinese restaurant! Whether your house's style is Contemporary or French Provincial, Southwestern or Colonial, the remedies can be integrated accordingly. I've seen many homes where a client used more recent versions of remedies, and they stick out. Remember, Feng Shui is about harmony, so your remedies should blend in with your decor. No one other than a Feng Shui expert should be able to tell what items in your home are acting as remedies. Is Color Related to Feng Shui? Feng Shui was developed from observation of the physical world, which is vibrant with color. The physical world is made up of five elements - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Each element has a color or colors associated with it and sometimes it is preferable to use the element's color rather than the actual element itself. For example, if I find that a client's home or business needs the Fire element in a particular area based on the mathematical calculations, I will advise using the color red, purple or burgundy rather than burning candles, etc., which present a safety risk. Each of us has four favorable directions and four unfavorable directions which are determined by one's birth information. I often advise clients to turn their bed and/or desk so that they can receive the best possible energies when they sleep and work. But this is only the Eight Mansions or East-West system. The Xuan Kong (Nine Palace Floating Stars) system uses mathematical calculations that are a higher, deeper level. This system allows me to be much more accurate in determining what element may be needed in a particular area to balance the energies. What Kind of Rituals Will You Perform? Traditional Feng Shui does not employ rituals such as chanting, burning incense or prayers. The remedies are powerful in themselves. Some practitioners claim to use Buddhist Feng Shui rituals, but there is no Buddhist Feng Shui per se. I personally believe that ritual is very important, but rituals are not Feng Shui. Some clients celebrate installing their Feng Shui remedies in a ritual with their loved ones, some do not. The remedies work regardless of ritual. Will Feng Shui Interfere with my Religious Beliefs? No. Feng Shui was developed by Chinese people who happened to be Buddhists, but it is not related to any religion or spiritual belief system -- it is an Earth science. You don't have to believe in Feng Shui nor do you have to pray for the remedies in order for them to work. However, once your remedies are installed, it is important for you to look for and act upon the new opportunities that come your way. Why Don't You Use Ba Gua Mirrors as a Remedy? In ancient times mirrors were made of heavy, highly polished metal. When a Feng Shui Master advised someone to hang a mirror in a particular place, it was usually because that area needed the Metal element. Many books and practitioners advise hanging a "ba gua" mirror (an eight-sided mirror) to deflect perceived negative Qi back at its source. Remember Feng Shui is about balance and harmony - it is not harmonious to wish bad things on another person! Also, placing a ba gua mirror on your house tells other people that you think something is wrong. Feng Shui is about balance between Yin and Yang, so if a room is too dark or very small, a mirror can be used to brighten the room or make it appear larger. The only other time I recommend use of a mirror is to deflect "toilet sha", which I have repeatedly found causes serious health problems. I may advise moving a mirror to another location. I Want To Read More About Feng Shui But There Are So Many Books Out There That Contradict Each Other. What Do I Do? Feng Shui is very popular right now, and this means that some writers want to take advantage of that popularity. One woman at a party said that she was writing a book on Feng Shui. When asked about the content, she replied, "Oh, I don't know anything about Feng Shui. But it's really hot right now, so I bought a few books on it. I'm combining some of the ideas and adding some of my own while I'm at it!" This book will likely be published whether the content is correct or not because of Feng Shui's popularity. This causes great concern, as most of these people do not realize that remedies placed in the wrong place or under the wrong conditions can actually bring injury or worse to the occupant. For example, a misplaced metal windchime can cause injury or even invite unwanted spirits into one's home. In fact, I have already treated three homes where windchimes attracted ghosts. When looking at a book, consider: 1. How does the book make you feel? Do some of the ideas alarm you? One prodigious author talks quite a bit about "poison arrows" and states that even venetian blinds can shoot poison arrows at you! A good Feng Shui writer wants you to understand the basic concepts of Feng Shui, but should not scare you or ever make you feel uncomfortable with your own house. 2. Do the ideas make sense? One book recommends that a woman who wants to become pregnant should feed her husband a bowl of rice and place the dirty bowl under their bed. It is safe to say that this will attract bugs but not babies! 3. Even if you feel comfortable with a particular book or writer, be open to the fact that he/she is very rarely the final authority on Feng Shui. True Masters of Feng Shui are exceedingly few, and they rarely seek out fame. ~ List of Services ~ ~ Feng Shui Analysis and Consultation on Existing Homes and Businesses. Optimize the energies in your home or business to support good relationships, health and finances. ~ Looking for a house, apartment or office? “Yay or Nay” Readings. “Yay or Nay” readings can be performed to give you a quick yes or no on whether or not to rent or buy a house, apartment or office. ~ Site Selection for a New Building. Choosing the best area of land on which to build. Choosing the best direction for the building to sit and face for the time period in which it will be built to support good health, relationships and finances. Advice to the client and architect on the best floorplan design to make use of the good sections of the building, such as having beneficial entrances and a master bedroom with good qi. ~ Day Selection Day Selection is very important to help you choose the most auspicious day for important activities. To do this I need the involved parties’ birth date, hour and place of birth. Wedding date Beginning construction on a new building. Moving into a new house or business. When to have a grand opening for a new business. ~ Conceiving a Baby Some houses are better for conceiving a baby during a particular year than others. This service determines if and where your house can help support conceiving a baby. For more information or to arrange a consultation for your residence or commercial property, contact: Barbara Finch at 301-946-0108. Or email me at barbara@finchshui.com ©2006 Barbara Finch Feng Shui. All rights reserved. home . what is feng shui . consultations . classes . biography