Author’s Note: This article was originally written in 2005 with the title being Kartar’s attempt at humor, and a nod to a best-selling motivational book entitled, “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Dr. Spencer Johnson.
The Chinese have a word which describes many different manifestations of energy. The word is “chi” and sometimes it is referred to as “life force” or “air currents.” Chi is also now more commonly spelled “qi,” and pronounced the same. This concept of “chi” pervades all of Chinese metaphysics, Chinese medicine, Chinese martial arts, and of course feng shui.
In the simplest sense, chi can be broken down into two main categories, “sheng” chi and “sha” chi.
Sheng chi describes energy which is life enhancing and positive. Clean air, positive feng shui environments, even healthy food can all be manifestations of sheng chi (good energy.)
Sha chi is a description for anything which could cause harm or undermine your health and well-being. A dark, dingy, dirty space is sha chi. Even negative thought patterns can fill a person’s inner being with sha chi and eventually cause sickness.
One of the goals of feng shui is to create or maintain balance, so if there is an extreme of yin or yang in a space, that can also be considered sha chi. A place that is haunted will be an extreme display of yin sha. Conversely, a tsunami is an example of extreme yang sha.
Even the five elements can be sub-divided into sheng or sha chi:
Water that is stagnant or dirty can be called water sha. Water that is pure and circulating smoothly is sheng water.
Wood, like a plant that is dying or a tree root that is buckling pavement is wood sha. Whereas a healthy, lush plant is generally regarded as sheng wood.
Fire that is used for cooking or to create something productive can be sheng fire, but a fire that is out of control and destroying things is definitely fire sha.
Earth can be beautiful to look at or traverse such as nice rolling hills, but sharp, jagged rocks that you could injure yourself on is called earth sha (like an earthquake.)
Metal can be used for very pleasing and productive purposes, including jewelry to wear or acupuncture needles used to heal. But an example of metal sha is a sharp knife or the sharp edge of anything pointing at you, such as the corner edge of a building angled towards another building.
Chi is also the term to describe the literal air or wind that moves through a house or room. The speed and direction of the chi is based partly on the dimensions of the space, the design lay-out, and the positioning of furniture. An odd-shaped room will make the chi (air currents) ricochet and create irritations to the people using the odd-shaped room.
Architectural features like sloped ceilings, exposed beams or successive door alignments are feng shui design flaws which can sabotage a good night’s sleep and have even more serious consequences. And in the same way that a person would have to walk around a piece of furniture that was blocking a direct path, the chi also has to wind around the very objects in the room. Couches, partition screens and lighting fixtures can all work as ways to slow down direct paths of chi.
Another type of chi is created in a house based on when and where it is built. This is a blending of energies that come up from the ground below and then combine with the astronomical energies, including the rays of the sun projecting down on the structure as it is being built. This type of chi stays more or less stationary in a house unless a radical remodel (like gutting a house) would allow the chi to escape.
These examples of chi which have been described in this article can be learned and dealt with. Developing your own internal sheng chi can be accomplished with healthy lifestyle choices, including good nutrition, exercise, a positive state of mind and kindness to others. When your own internal chi is positive and strong, it makes you more sensitive and aware of the various types of chi around you.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Feng Shui Theory Blog Series
