There’s a lot of confusion around feng shui. The first thing you need to decide is which type of feng shui you are interested. New Age Feng Shui has many names, including Modern, Western, or Intuitive Feng Shui.
The most common type of feng shui practiced on the west, is called BTB (Black Sect tantric Feng Shui). It’s also known as Black Hat or Western Feng shui. BTB school combines the essence and philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, holistic healing, transcendentalism, divination, psychology, and Classical Feng Shui. The Classical Feng Shuiis based on compass and form schools of feng shui as well as four pillars, eight mansions, and other disciplines. The type practiced in Asia is called traditional or classical Chinese feng shui.
While Black Hat may be popular in the West, it often gets ridiculed and challenged for its methods in the East. One of the main criticisms of Black Hat is that it was invented to make Feng Shui “easy” and to fit the western cultural mindset so as to reach mass appeal. Classical Feng Shui, essentially a niche, is difficult to sell by comparison because it is less flashy and can get too technical to appeal to a wider audience.
Since Black Hat is a non-directional practice, the Map is laid out the same way for all types of properties. Instead of orienting the house with the Feng Shui compass, the Map is oriented to the entryway in any room every time. As you can imagine, it relies less on directional energies, landforms, and astrology than Classical Feng Shui. The internal orientation of the door is what matters here.
What’s even more alarmingly different is that many Black Hat Feng Shui practitioners and enthusiasts also say the practice is a spiritual and holistic experience, and sometimes even a religious one. It combines the art of meditation by quieting and centering the mind in order to intuitively feel the space and its energy. Many also perform rituals, chants, mantras, and other affirmations to bless their dwellings or to “call in” the qi. The school combines the essence and philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, holistic healing, transcendentalism, divination, psychology, and Classical Feng Shui. Clearly, there’s a lot going on here.
Also, many Black Hat practitioners are often deeply spiritual and/or reli- gious individuals, blending or incorporating their personal beliefs into the practice of Feng Shui. This is one of the reasons Feng Shui gets mislabeled as a religion rather than the logical, metaphysical science it is.
Classical Feng Shui is the original Eastern practice that originated in China. Like yoga, Ayurveda, or Chinese Medicine, Classical Feng Shui hails from a long and sophisticated line of interdisciplinary bodies of knowledge and philosophy. The foundation and philosophical thoughts on Chinese cosmology (Yin and Yang) and the Five Elements date back to 4500 B.C., to the time of a man named Fu Xi.
Throughout the centuries, the types of feng shui have developed and evolved as new methods and ideas were instituted. However, when you compare the different types of Chinese feng shui, it is easy to see the underlying foundation and principles that have existed from the earliest days to the present. The knowledge of the importance of living in harmony with nature and having the cosmic energy of life, known as chi, flow freely around us is the basic principle of feng shui regardless of the type you practice.
As time progresses, people and their homes evolve. So, has Feng Shui. A well-trained Feng Shui practitioner makes use of all available resources, tools, and techniques to assess the Qi quality of the environment. There is no such thing as the “perfect house” in a “perfect environment” for all of eternity. We use Forms to assess the Qi quality surrounding a property for its long-term and long-lasting effects to withstand the dynamic changes of time.
Because Classical Feng Shui is essentially a macro or “outward-in” practice, it considers and emphasizes the importance of the external landscape first, extending beyond the four walls of a house or even before considering the building structure itself.
To further dissect this, one must also understand the branches of Classical Feng Shui. Granted, learning the branches alone can get complicated because different schools place emphasis on different applications and techniques. To streamline this introduction for now, you can consider Classical Feng Shui as a two-part system that can be classified as Form School Feng Shui and Compass School Feng Shui.
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