The term “Form School” may mean different things to different practitioners and it is used to describe observations made about both interior and exterior environments, and environments which are man-made or natural. We are profoundly affected by our immediate surroundings and Form School is part of many classical traditions. It goes hand in hand with other applications of Feng Shui that have to do with timing or personal compatibility.
Form School may refer to natural landscapes such as mountain, hills, trees, and any body of water, from the largest of oceans to the smallest of streams. And it is the larger exterior environment which can affect us more than the interiors of our homes and businesses.
Form School may refer to the outside built environment with examples including other buildings, roads, freeways and any type of man-made structure which can manipulate qi flow. “Qi flow” refers to many things and in this instance we could literally be considering air currents and how the positioning of other buildings in relation to yours will control the flow of air and circulation. Have you ever been to an area where just between two angled tall buildings it was very windy, but not when away from those buildings?
The positioning of furniture and the architectural lay out can also manipulate qi flow within a house or commercial structure. Some of the more well-known and basic Feng Shui directives have to do with qi flow, such as not having two exterior doors aligned directly with each other or not having a bed aligned directly with a door. We have principles regarding what is too much qi flow and what is not enough.
Exposure to too much qi flow can make people irritable and even accident-prone. Not enough qi flow creates a kind of stagnation that can also negatively affect health and mind-set and personal productivity or creativity.
Form School is practiced on a wide scale without it even being named as such. For example, when the landscape architect includes bushes and trees along side a freeway, this would be a way to buffer qi flow (and sound) from adjacent neighborhoods. We also experience good or bad qi flow on a gut level when we find ourselves disoriented and looping endlessly around a poorly designed parking structure.
Within our personal living space, common sense usually dictates how we arrange things and most people will instinctually take advantage of having a view or exposure to maximum sunlight if possible. Lack of space and narrow passageways can kick start our animal nature to be on alert and not relaxed.
Any Form School consideration can then be further assessed when we build on it with location and timing. For example, let’s say we have a rough, ugly looking mountain in constant view from inside our home. That can be a general irritant or “sha.” When we know what direction that mountain is in relation to our home that can reveal more details, such as an ugly mountain to the south compared to an ugly mountain to the northwest. Different health issues can arise from the “sha” coming from different directions. Then, we can add another layer on with timing because in certain years the affects will be more pronounced.
This is just a simple over view of a profound topic. From the shape of a piece of furniture to the design of a whole city, we can find correlations in Form School Feng Shui in how people will then function and relate to others.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Landscape and Exteriors Blog Series
