Each year there are inauspicious or bad directions to be aligned with in regards to a construction. Being close to a construction site, including your own remodel project, is not always fun. We have a whole set of things to do in order to off-set this “construction sha” alignment so that home occupants and builders do not get injured during the construction.

However, there are also GOOD directions to be aligned with during a construction and this can help make a project go more smoothly and safely. There can even be a financial windfall when the energies in a good direction are stirred up!

I like to mention this because so often the remedies and recommendations in a feng shui analysis are about avoiding problems or dangers. But there can actually be some good fortune when digging and construction take place at the right place and the right time. Each year there are four “lucky” directions for starting a construction and their names are Tai Yang, Tai Yin, Long De, and Fu De.

Based on the Chinese zodiac sign for each year, there is also a direction associated with it. Most people don’t know that the Chinese zodiac signs are symbolic of both time and direction. If the zodiac sign of the Year is the same as the sitting or facing side of a house, then we can look to the lucky directions as areas to START a construction and have a positive result. This is a multi-step process.

For example, in a Rooster year, a house that sits in the Rooster direction (dead-on West 270 degrees), if there is a construction going on to the NW, North, SE or South, it can be especially lucky that year for the occupants of the “Rooster” sitting or facing house. The facing is the front direction and the “sitting” is the back wall direction.

Some houses do NOT sit or face one of the Chinese zodiac signs. For example, a house that sits in West-1 range is between the Monkey and Rooster sectors, but not either one of them. This orientation would not be able to take advantage of certain lucky practices. But this same house type would also be exempt from other problems. So, there are advantages and disadvantages to just about every orientation. We have twenty four basic orientations that a house can sit in or face in for the Flying Star School formulae.

Another “escape route” during unfavorable times of construction is the “San Sha” Remedy, which I have instructed clients in doing, when they absolutely could not avoid bad timing or location of a construction or repair. This is also useful when a neighbor is doing a project that you have no control over.

The San Sha remedy involves you doing your own “counter” digging either on a good day for you personally or a good location for you personally. The good days and locations change from year to year. In my annual update reports I give clients a heads-up regarding the main precarious directions for digging or disturbing each year, and where those areas align with your house or commercial building.

When I was growing up, there was a saying “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” Whoever came up with that quote was not the brightest because nothing could be further from the truth. Knowing about tendencies and repeatable cycles in your environment, in advance, is a huge advantage in life! Feng shui aims to serve you in that way and on multiple levels. Feng Shui can forewarn you of potential negatives with remedies and “escape routes”, as well as inform you of the potential positives in your home or work environment so that you can capitalize on them.

Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Architecture & Design Blog Series