When I first started speaking publicly about feng shui in 1992, I was very enthusiastic about promoting it as a natural science, mostly because I believed it to be so. I was also reacting to the mounting trendiness of feng shui, as it was being marketed by people who referred to it as “magic” or a spiritual practice linked to Tantric Buddhism.

I could not stand these comparisons because I knew they were not true and I also felt they tarnished the integrity of feng shui. I did not want to turn off potential clients who could accept feng shui as real, but with a clear conscience that it is grounded in laws of nature and a time-tested methodology transcending Chinese culture.

I wanted to educate the public that feng shui theories and principles would not be in conflict with anyone’s spiritual or formal religious beliefs and is as relevant, or more relevant today, than when it was discovered thousands of years ago. That part I still do believe. Feng Shui is no more in conflict with any organized religion than say, the laws of gravity. Feng Shui is a natural phenomenon on this planet. But is it a science?

A friend with an impressive scientific background gently told me years ago that it cannot be considered a science because the circumstances which we evaluate and interpret cannot be guaranteed to repeat or be identical all of the time. Like a science experiment where a set group of compounds are combined with a repeatable and identical outcome, feng shui includes too many variables which cannot be repeated or guaranteed.

For example, I can say with confidence that a house which was built in the 1970’s and which faces South is one where there is a strong tendency for a couple to divorce in. And yet, I cannot guarantee that outcome 100% of the time or say exactly with 100% accuracy when the separation will occur, even when factoring in annual cycles. This same house type is one which a recently divorced person often retreats to.

With two houses that were built the same year, same orientation, and same floor plan, we still cannot guarantee the two houses would be decorated the same way or used the same way. One family might use the Northwest bedroom as an office and another might use the Northwest bedroom as a sleeping room. That alone will change the influence of the houses on the two families. Nor can we repeat the exact same exterior environment. One house might have a park across the street and another house a hill.

These outside features would affect the same floor plan differently. And finally, with all of us having some measure of free will or destiny, we cannot place the identical occupants in two separate but equal living spaces. Perhaps the closest we could get would be occupants for each house with the same birth dates.

And yet, feng shui gets pretty darn close. I call it a “predictive art,” like astrology, because there are tendencies, strong ones, when certain circumstances are similar or when enough variables are identical.

My books cover many case studies of certain house types that I have evaluated, documented and have seen with great amazement that their “personalities” are well defined. There are house types that can undermine fertility, house types that seem to attract legal problems to their occupants and house types that can suggest infidelity, just to name a few examples.

There are 144 different house types based on the 20 Year Era that they have been built in and their magnetic compass alignment. For instance, a house built in 1985 facing east is different in its influence than a house built in 2004 facing the same direction. Or a house facing West at 260 degrees is different than a house facing west at 265 degrees.

Within these 144 house types, there could be hundreds, maybe thousands, of different basic floor plans. This is why every house is truly unique. As well, houses change their influence on occupants over long periods of time. A house built in 1903, without any remodeling or decor changes, will affect people differently in 2009. Houses go through their own “maturation” process and the biggest cycle repeats every 180 years.

Even though feng shui is not an absolute science, I have been impressed at how close it gets, with clients confirming the influence of their home or business based on the traditional calculations of time and space. When I ask the occupants if they are experiencing certain health issues indicated by their environment, the affirmative response is about 90%. When people experience a certain event, like a robbery or fire, the timing of these events can be corroborated with almost as much accuracy. In the same way that our weatherman can predict a 70% chance of rain or a pollster can predict the likely outcome of an election, feng shui can be considered a “predictive art” without diminishing its authenticity, usefulness, and relevancy in our modern world.

Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Feng Shui Theory Blog Series