Published in 2002, Ulrich Wilheim Lippelt wrote Feng Shui Demystified: A Comparative Compendium on Flying Star Feng Shui and The Eight Mansion Formula. As you can imagine, I have an extensive feng shui book collection and I pulled out this one to re-read in order to write a review.
After a flood of New Age-y feng shui books were printed in the 1990’s, Lippelt’s was one of the more sophisticated and nuanced books to come out later, where he covers two branches of Feng Shui, which have continued to be the most well-known practices in the classical feng shui community.
The inherent contradictory nature of these two schools makes it especially interesting that so many modern-day consultants practice parts or all of these two schools together. The Flying Star School factors in timing and 24 directions, while the Eight Mansion School only factors in Eight Basic Directions and no timing factors. In other words, a house facing east in 1990 would be viewed the same as an east facing house built in 2005, according to the simpler Eight Mansion Formula. Thanks to Dr. Stephen Skinner and his books on Eight Mansion formulae, we now have a better understanding of how these two schools can be practiced together.
Right from the second paragraph in the Preface, Lippelt states, “we should also be aware that this very atmosphere of respect which has preserved much diversified knowledge, may often have prevented critical thought to be applied.” A modern-day feng shui master should question everything and put all theories to the test when possible.
Right from the first few pages, he jumps into advanced concepts, such as how one might remodel and expand a floor plan with the intention of casting out a pairing of untimely stars to the outside space. And while two main camps duel it out whether a house should be calculated based on when it was built, compared to when an occupant moves in, Lippelt mentions a little-known third practice of calculating a house based on the time the land was acquired!
He also ponders the topic which I covered in my article titled “Rich City, Poor Country” when comparing the hierarchy between an apartment and the building it is inside of; what to do when they have distinct orientations.
He delves into the symbolism behind the Earlier Heaven Luo Shu and the Post Heaven Luo Shu; usually this section of learning is reserved for the serious student and not the casual reader. While I don’t agree with or practice everything put forth in Lippelt’s book (which has had revisions and expansions over the decades), I admire his straight-forward organization and honest approach.
He also presents a theory about the flying stars which I have not seen discussed by any other author besides Eva Wong. This is the concept that the flying stars have an order of importance, with the Water Dragon being the most active, the Period star second in line and the Mountain Dragon the least influential. This challenges the more popular practice of considering the main relationship to be between the Mountain Dragon and Water Dragon, with equal importance in many instances.
Another respected technique is to consider the Water Dragon more important in yang-like rooms and the Mountain Dragon more influential in yin-like rooms (like sleeping rooms). Even I have referred to the Period star as a “shadow” influence among the three Stars. But with authors like Lippelt, there is an assumption that we could treat an area with an elemental adjustment based on the pairing of the Water Dragon and the Period Star, instead of the Mountain Dragon.
Lippelt covers Special House Types, Replacement Star Chart formula for the Out of Trigram compass readings, and even monthly stars. According to his sources, the monthly stars ascend each month for the entire year in some Feng Shui Schools, while other schools switch from an ascending to descending pattern from solstice to solstice. My own training is to descend the monthly star in each direction for the entire year (February to February). This means there are three different ways to fly the monthly stars! I didn’t know previously that this was disputed, but I can vouch for the accuracy of the method I use. I knew that DAILY flying stars switch their ascending or descending pattern based on the solstices, but didn’t know that monthly stars were treated that way as well, in other traditions.
It’s fair to ask how many feng shui practitioners work with the daily stars. The answer is that hardly anyone does, but it is still an important section of learning and it comes into hyper-focus when studying (or forecasting) the timing of something critical where the day is so relevant. For example: astrologers, feng shui practitioners and Nine Star Ki specialists all headed to their work desks to have a look at July 13th, 2024 at 6:11 p.m., after the first known attempted assassination of Trump.
In both Feng Shui and in Nine Star Ki, we can look at monthly and daily stars, although the interpretation of them is completely different, a separate domain in each system.
Born in 1934, that would make Lippelt 90 years old in 2024 and according to his Bio on the book cover, he was retired by the time he published Feng Shui Demystified in 2002. I have not been able to confirm if he is still on this Earthly plane, but I am grateful to his work, which definitely had a positive influence on me in my early years of Feng Shui practice.
Other Highlights and Notable mentions from Feng Shui Demystified, which deserve their own articles (stay tuned) with deeper explanations and commentary include:
- Ho Tu Number Combinations in a flying star chart using Period Star and Water Dragon vs. Mountain Dragon and Water Dragon
- A Different Approach in Using Elements as Counter-Measures and Enhancers
- Special House Types and whether or not their reputations have a perpetual influence, with exceptions that may cancel their specialness
- The importance of the Facing Sector vs. Entrance Door when they are not one and the same
- Timely and Untimely Stars in bathrooms and kitchens
- Different Exterior Approaches to the Four Basic House Types
- Use of Water Superseding Conventional Five Element Theory
- Castle Gate Formula
- A Section of Eight Mansion School I rejected in 2011, but still practiced by many.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Feng Shui Theory Blog Series
