A Book Review by Kartar Diamond

Monica Hess and I were tracking along the same time-line in the early 1990’s: she was a student of Master Joseph Yu and I was with Master Larry Sang.  Her Feng Shui book about George Washington’s home is an organized and disciplined case study and I wish we had more of these to learn from.  Of course, in Chinese history there are case studies like these, including divination of grave sites through Yin House Feng Shui. In that system, one can predict if a person will become a great political leader, based on the feng shui features of their ancestor’s grave site.

Some of the key analysis protocols that Monica Hess laid out include commentary on the remodels done on the house, spanning decades. She also provides insight into how the interior flying stars are influenced by the outside environment, (such as the Potomac River) as well as the coupling of certain stars from adjacent directional zones.  This is not something that I have included in my books, but I discuss this technique with my private students.

It’s been my understanding that adjacent “water dragons” can unite, creating their own dynamic when directional sectors are open to each other.  For example, if you have a 6-6 combination next to a 5-7 combination in an open room, the 6 water dragon can pair up with the 7 water dragon.  Hess takes it to a whole other level that I have not seen other feng shui practitioners do and she equally combines mountain dragons with each other and combinations of neighboring mountain dragons with water dragons.  I can’t personally vouch for so much use of this technique. My own experience is that these flying stars stay in their own designated directional zones.  And yet, it’s all very interesting to consider.

There is mention of the kitchen facilities being off site in another building, but like a holographic arm extended from the house, this separate structure had a flying star connection and relationship with the main house, like an umbilical cord between a child and its mother. We can even superimpose a flying star chart over an entire compound of buildings.  I touch on this lightly in my book, The Feng Shui Continuum, in a section on how to choose where to place structures on an empty parcel.

Her initial explanations of what Feng Shui is, the Five Elemental cycles, and Landform Feng Shui are clear and uniquely described. And this is no ordinary home Case Study: It’s a peek into the personal life of one of the greatest leaders in American history and the subtext is that Washington’s personal Feng Shui also affected a nation and the future of the country. She paints a lovely picture of early America and the natural setting, chosen by destiny.

Like other classical Feng Shui practitioners, Hess briefly explains that a Flying Star chart is created, based on when a structure has been built and in combination with its compass orientation. She notes when and how the house was remodeled, with an additional story added in 1757 which justified the house going from a Period 3 house to a Period 4 construction.

Then, when the house was expanded on one side from 1774-1778, the total percentage of the addition did not justify changing the Period of the house when this addition was done in Period 5. I agree that the house would remain from Period 4, but the geometric center changed because the dimensions of the house were elongated.  This also shifted the front door location from one sector to another.  These are the kinds of changes which can make a big difference in someone’s experience in the same house after a remodel.

Hess also has a section on Washington’s private study, where he spent most of his time as his favorite room in the house and where he met with other forefathers like Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. The single room can be micro-managed, just like any modern-day home office, minus the electronics.

Hess asserts that when Washington added some very large closets along both side exteriors walls of the house, that these long narrow rooms, like bookends to the house, became “virtual mountains” for the adjacent flying stars inside. This is a whole other way to interpret interior rooms and how the Qi travels up and down walls or through windows.  She also mentions that the fireplaces in the room (made of brick) are virtual mountains.   We have to keep in mind that long ago, fireplaces were used to heat the home and that is why older homes had a fireplace in practically every room.  Back then, the fireplace was really more of a source of the fire element than anything else.

This case study book intrigued my interest so much, that I had to look up the property on-line and also get an aerial view and compass reading. When I did my own remote compass reading, I got a different reading than the author.  She states that the Mount Vernon home is facing magnetic Northwest at 329 degrees.  What I got was 314-315 degrees. This is a big difference (14 degrees), but in this case it would not change the flying star charts. It would however change the tilt of the sector gridding over the floor plan. For the aerial photo inserted in this article, you can see the adjusted compass reading noted in the upper right hand corner.  The compass transparency laid over the roof is geared toward true north. This explains the difference between true north and the adjusted declination.

The book was published in 2004, so I used the noaa.gov declination calculator to see that the declination (compass reading) had not changed since then.  Monica Hess did an in-person compass reading and I know her training with Master Joseph Yu was excellent so I am a little befuddled here. In fact, one can assume that an in-person compass reading would be better than a remote one.

That being said, I use remote reading tools through www.SetCompass.com and I can verify how precise and accurate it is. Even when I have a local job, I check the compass reading on-line first and when I show up in person, I always get the exact same reading as the remote one.  There are even times when the remote reading is superior to an in-person compass reading, if there is any kind of local disturbance (like underground water) to throw off the compass for on-site readings. Sidebar: ghosts can also disturb a compass reading.

Another wrinkle in the compass reading discrepancy is the changing declination over long periods of time.  For the Mount Vernon zip code, the declination has moved both easterly and westerly over the last couple centuries.  Going back to 1757, the declination was 3 degrees west of true north.  In current times it is 10 degrees west of true north.  What this means is that the compass reading has moved 7 degrees further westerly since 1757.  When I subtract 7 degrees from the current 314-315 degrees facing, we arrive at a plausible compass reading of 307-308 degrees for the facing side of the home when it was added onto enough to change the Period chart.  Yikes!

Flying Star School practitioners know that 307.5 degrees is the cut-off point between Northwest-1 and Northwest-2 compass readings (two distinct charts). This complicates the reading, which chart is the real one, and even the possibility that the house could be an Out-Of-Trigram house!    Out of Trigram is the term we use for a house with an indecisive compass reading and, generally speaking, these can be very problematic house types.  At this point we are talking about just a few degrees; most compass readings land comfortably within one of the 24 possible directions, so this is not a frequent problem.

Hess draws parallels between the regular Northwest-2 facing Period 4 chart and events which took place in the personal and public life of George Washington.  With Washington having a home with a prominent 6 Metal star (Military star), we can appreciate how this supported him as a leader. On a small scale, we can chuckle about the president known for his wooden teeth, living in a home which could allude to dental problems. Hess refers to the 7 star more than once as being symbolic of the head and lungs, when it is more the 6 star associated with the generalized upper body, head and lung region. The 7 star is directly related to the mouth, teeth, gums, lips, jaw and neck.

Some of the author’s interpretations of the stars appear to be Period 8 specific, but we have to remember that Washington was living in the house spanning parts of Period 4, Period 5 and Period 6.  (His father Lawrence built the house in Period 3).  In Period 5, the 5 star was the major wealth and health star.  The last Period 5 we’ve had was from 1944-1964: a great period in American expansion and prosperity.   Period 5 returns every 180 years.

Toward the end, Hess adds yearly, monthly and daily stars to corroborate when important events took place, including Washington’s death on December 14, 1799.  He apparently died from a throat infection at age 67. While the author gets into the feng shui details of his bedroom and study, I can see in broader terms how the center stars of the house may have contributed to the health problems of several occupants.

The center stars for a Period 4, NW-2 facing house are the 3-5 combination.  The 5 star is usually an irritant to whatever star it joins, except during the 5 star’s own reign during a Period 5, such as 1764-1784.   The center stars are the “hidden agenda” of the house. I cover this in a chapter in The Feng Shui Matrix. There are 72 different center star combinations.   The 3 star is related to the feet, throat, nervous system and liver.  In 1799 when Washington died, the house was also in a one year People Lock, which can further undermine health and relationships.

Aside from any rooms that they occupied frequently, the center stars influence the whole house. If George Washington died from a throat infection, that could have been tied to the 3-5 stars.  His wife Martha died from “bilious fever,” which is a medical term no longer in use.  But bile comes from the liver.  Martha Washington’s daughter had epilepsy, another “3” star health issue as it relates to the nervous system.

Even though history has preserved many details about George Washington and Mount Vernon, there are still other unknowns.  For example, we don’t know how his home was decorated and whether or not any unintended interior feng shui remedies were in place.  While the author laments about how the Potomac River did not support the house, it actually did during at least Period 4. During Period 4, the house was deemed a Double Sitting chart, where water behind it helps with financial luck.

Throughout Period 5, if we have the correct chart for the house, it would have been in a 20 year Money Lock.   Washington was not living in the house for all of Period 5. I did not expect the author to cover every detail of a flying star chart because that would have required much more foundational instructions.

Public figures make great case studies because we often know details of their personal lives as well and what they accomplished professionally.  Monica Hess presents a thoughtful and insightful, nuanced picture of what might have been and how feng shui influences even those whose destinies might otherwise override their environment.

Author: Kartar Diamond

Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®

From the Book Review Blog Series