Cecil Lee

Dear Robert, In the `life' pillars we have House of Life and House of Conception. Similiarly in Yin Feng Shui there is the opposite of House of Life i.e. House of `Death' and roughly the translated term is House of Reincarnation. The House of Death does not mean when a person die. But rather in a spirtual sense of the dead such as the person's spirit or `ghost'. For the House of Reincarnation, it is the belief that when a person dies, he/she is reincarnated. By the way, these additional Pillars (1 pillar = 1 heavenly stem + 1 earthly branch) e.g. House of Life, Conception etc... these are the so called additional pillars for more advanced readings. The basic readings is usually done with Four pillars which is why most of the time Pillars of Destiny is called four pillars. Similarly, the Eight Characters of Birth is another name for Pillars of Destiny reason being Four Pillars x a combination of 1 stem and 1 branch each = 4 x 2 = 8 characters. The additional Houses of which House of Life and House of Conception can `sway' a person's element STRENGTH particularly the House of Life. Therefore, if one calculates Pillars based on the regular 4 pillars: Year, Day, Month and Hour may get a result as e.g. weak water. But because of the addition of the two new `houses'; the final result could end up as Strong Water. Yin Feng Shui is nowadays no longer popular or in use, little of it is discussed today. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Mag, I truly sympathise with you as Feng Shui can nowadays become quite `complicated' due to the vast amounts of differing "views". All other methods you mentioned are not excatly wrong because there are several ways of determing element either using the earthly branches and/or heavenly stem. For example, there are different levels and methods of determing the personal element. Take for example, if you use the Gua (Kua) report from our website, you will get the element that is different from the analysis from Pillars of Destiny. The reason because the Gua (Kua) number uses the year of birth. Where else, the pillars of destiny uses the Day, Month, Year and Hour of Birth. A more advanced model of Pillars of Destiny will even provide you with weak or strong element which is essential in a more accurate reading. Even for Pillars of Destiny, some practitioners do not take the Heavenly stem of the day as the birth element instead, they may take the heavenly stem of the year or earthly branch of the year as your birth element. Another version that Derek Walters uses is a combination of Eight House theory plus Flying Star theory. This method may be considered more accurate than the basic eight house theory but however, it is less accurate than a Full fledge or advanced version of Pillars of Destiny which provides you with the True birth element and strenght. Thus because of this, often when Pillars of Destiny is used together with Feng Shui, it is often called "Ba Zi Feng Shui." And this is the method that this website (geomancy.net) strongly uses to provide all users (which we feel is the most accurate and comprehensive method). Based on the report you generated, your birth element is a water element. This site uses Pillars of Destiny (Ba Zi Feng Shui) to determine your true element taking into consideration the Year, Day, Month & Hour. In addition, it uses two additional classical Pillars known as House of Conception and House of Life totallying 6 Pillars (each comprise of Heavenly stem and earth branch) which results in 12 sets of elements to be analysed. In the very traditional Pillars of Destiny there were 16 elements of which many of them relate to Yin or (or for the dead) which is no longer in use. The rationale for having more sets of combination to analyse is that if we use few Pillars (triple combination reactions and double combination reactions are harder to appear). These double/triple combinations can greatly alter one's birth element strength. In addition, since the common denominator is based on the Five elements, it can easily be related to the Flying Star analysis which we have also used the common denominator of the Five elements. Therefore, most of the theories are not wrong. The only thing I feel is that most of the theories that you mentioned perhaps were not clearly stated as to what it is, its strenghts and weakness and the purpose of how it is to be used. Generally, most of the methods you mentioned in one way or another is used in one area of Feng Shui only and also depending on the `depth' of analysis such as based Year of birth. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Cheui May, Please see below:- It is good to feel very comfortable in the new house which is a good start. Overall, it is still difficult to have a `feel' just by description alone. Pictures would be useful. For a house on a hill, the chief concerns are: 1. It shold not be on top of the hill such that the house is `exposed' e.g. no proper trees etc.. to protect it. Thus may inadvertenly be subjected to sha qi ... i.e. exposed wind blowing.. 2. If it is next to a steep slope, check the steep slope for possible present or future soil erosion especially if it is of `soft sand' and not solid rock slopes. If the slope is of soft sand, is there any natural protection e.g. strongly rooted trees or plants or any manmade support. 3. As mentioned, without any view of it, it is difficult to comment on whether there is harmony of the dragon with the tiger or whether, the site can accumulate wealth or allowed to be washed away. 4. Para 3 - with regards to accumulation of wealth has to do more with finance rather than woes related to usually misfortune or sickness. But it depends. Usually theses trees are not a threat especially if their tree trunks do not slice thru any of your house windows or door. This sounds ok to me. We have `discussed' this in one of the recent replies today i.e. West or NW facing based on your friends birth chart. Please refer to today's reply on this. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Cheui May, In view of your request for a `better' understanding of some of the online reports such as " Balance of the Five Elements "; We have created a new topic in this forum " Learn more about Online Reports " where we will help to clarify or elaborate any questions relation to the interpretation of such reports and what to look for. The number of online reports have grown tremendously and there are quite a no. of them. We will try to add as many of them into the above Topic as soon as possible. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi Everyone, Recently, I had the opportunity to review a new condo development which has good Shapes and Forms based on: 1. The auspicious horseshoe layout design. 2. The site meets the above and has the Dragon-Tiger gate at the south-side. This concept will be explained in due course. Do look out for it. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Varnie, Please see below:- Frankly, it is difficult to relate what you have described under Traditional Feng Shui as no analysis is done using all three major forms of Feng Shui: Shapes and Form, Flying Star and in Eight House analysis. At the moment, all I can say is that for currently under Period 7 (if the house was built between 1984 to 2003) the base chart of a West house is considered `very auspicious'. (Not considering the mountain # or the water #). You also may have to determine whether the frontage is `dark' or `bright' depending on say the amount of light that filters into the house. Assuming, that since, the West is where the afternoon sun comes in, and there are windows at this side, light coming in can easily (I believe) brighten this area. In such a situation based on Yin and Yang concept, the darker cream colour is acceptable. I always believe, if one is not too sure, use neutral colours such as white (metal element colour) or light pastel shades. White is always considered an acceptable colour because it is bright and in most situations, metal cures are used. For the living room it is good to follow the concept of `clear space' or low level furniture. This is more important consideration. As for the colors of the french doors and carpeting, overall, this should be considered secondary important at the moment. I am unable to comment on the colour as it would usually depend the couples element and strength and the binding elements. This is difficult to comment without looking at the layout. In traditional Feng Shui, the placement of the stove is important relative to the water positions in the kitchen, Where possible the stove should be located with a solid backing eg. a wall behind it rather than open windows. Usually hte Loft is not favoured in Feng Shui especially since it is slanted. But there may not be much choice due to the construction. For the bed, it is always advisable to place it against a wall and the bed should not be on the same wall as the bed. If the house is on its own and not joined together with other houses, this should be ok. (OK in that each house can take its distinct character). If your house and the other house is joined together, then height is an important consideration. Where possible both houses should be of similar height. More importantly it is good to stand at the front door entrance (facing outwards) and check for any poison arrows aimed at it e.g. a sharp neigbhour's roof or a lone lamp post `slicing' either the main door or thru the windows of the home. Please see above In such a situation, it is a good idea if the back of the house has `solid support' e.g a wall or hedge that `acts' as the back of the house. Under traditional Feng Shui, it would depend on the Flying Star chart of this sector to see if there are any imbalances. Where possible, the inauspicious element colour should not be used to strengthen it. I understand that you had posted this question e.g. to the newsgroup and may have posted it elsewhere, I appreciate if you do not post what is provided in this forum elsewhere. I know of many notorious forums/newsgroup that are unfortunately - notorious for heated arguments and slanders. At geomancy.net, we do not want to be associated with any of these - bad hats. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Cheui May, For your personal self, based on the report, it not only takes into consideration the element but also takes into consideration the element strength. 37% metal is acceptable although it is abit more than the norm which should be around 15% to 25%. Were each element should be around 20% on the average. For your case, you should increase or have more water. Whenever, one increase an element, it will inadvertenly reduce other elements assuming that there can only be 100% (to be shared by all Five elements). By increase the water percentage, it will reduce the other element percentage in your pillars chart. By increasing water, it will thus change the balance of the whole chart. Warmest Regard Cecil

Dear Cheui May, In a chart with too much Earth elements, Metal is currently the option to control the Earth. Since there is 60% earth and only 30% metal and very little or no other elements; you should then in such a situation, `go with the flow' by using the Productive cycle of the Five Element principle. Therefore, it is advantages for you to use Metal element. Which in turn exhausts earth while producing water and as the cycle go, water will produce wood and thus creating a balance. The advise here is to use Metal, but at the same time induce the production element. You can vary the type of cures used, Eg a house which is Metal type, colour, clothing colour which is Water (blue, black etc) Though you have metal, your metal may not be able to compensate for too much earth as the earth element of 60% is twice more than the earth element. Thus, based on the `flow' of the Productive cycle, priority should be for chosing a house with the door e.g. such as facing West/North West (metal element) Warmest Regards Cecil

Dear Varnie, As I do not have a good picture of how your house looks like, it is difficult to really comment on just the NorthEast. Usally, the flow of Qi is looked at from the whole house i.e. window positions, the main entrance, the back area (windows, doors) etc... This is because Qi usually has an escape point as it moves from one side to the other end. Factors including air pressure e.g. high/low pressure points especially if one is living close to the sea differs from day and night. Generally, not to sound too complicated, layout plans in relation to the windows/doors are a preferred way of looking at it. Taking into consideration other factors such as the shape / missing/protrusions of walls. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Spring, I am not sure what u mean when you mentioned that the `Site said' this was a bad home address. This is because, if you are referring to the House Number Free Flying Star report at www.geomancy-online.com it mentions that the report is used to look at the vertical houses i.e. apartments/flats. The House Number Free Flying Star report cannot be used to look at landed properties. The Flying Star Theory can only look at horizontal levels. While Flying Star House Numbers for Apartments is used to look at it vertically as it is said that no house has the same FS on different levels. Appreciate, if you can check again. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Ryan, Under Feng Shui, there is a concept which I termed the 33.3% ruleset. Under this concept, anything not larger than 33.3 percent normally would not pose any effect on the surrounding. For example, of a `missing corner' in a building. It has to be 33.3 percent `missing' from the sector of the house. This is why, usually when we paint the wall, and if we paint quite a large area of a room it would normally exceed 33.3 percent. In the same parallel, the little turtles would usually not have any effect. Therefore, place it somewhere both you and your girlfriend feels comfortable with. (Other than the bedroom). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Jill For reference, you could use the method shown under the following link:- http://www.geomancy.net/fs/cecilcompass.htm Where possible, try to use a compass with a higher mass. Since, you most likely may be using the compass, not as often, then try to take note of the following: 1. Try to keep 1 metre distance from the wall (if possible) as walls have reinforced metal bars. (It is also possible for the floor to have the reinforced metal bars which may also have magnetic influence). 2. If there is a sub-power station under your unit, there is also likely to have magnetic force. 3. Where possible, try also to take the reading from the external e.g. a empty plot of land. Here, (becareful) of any magnetic object hidden beneith the earth. Where possible move about to see if the compass readings move. Please refer to my above link if you need further assistance on taking measurements indoors. Warmest Regards Cecil Lee

Dear Judy, Many of the photos of auspicious symbols provided under " MyPictures " http://my.geomancy.net/mypictures/cgi-bin/imagefolio.cgi are standard Chinese symbols that are used widely in Chinese art. For example, many of the motifs are painted on porcelain figurines, plates and other cutlery. While other designs are found on `antique' rosewood furniture, or carved onto wooden panelling, window `grille designs', external wall facade decors, decorative panels in temples etc... Many of the motifs therefore can be found in Chinese `art' items including clothing, embrodiery, carpets etc... Thus, in my opinion, I would not exactly say that all designs will bring about `auspiciousness' but rather, these are considered `Common' Chinese designs that are "safe" to use. Some Chinese belief they bring good luck. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Elena, Yes, it is quite understandable that because it is a small bathroom, most likely plants would not be able to thrive in such an area. To `activate' wood, yes, painting it green would be sufficient in such a situation. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Ba Zhi is the romanised word = Eight Characters. In fact " Eight Characters " is actually Pillars of Destiny. The reason why it is often called Eight Characters is because Pillars of Destiny consists of 4 Pillars x 2 elements (stem and branch). Therefore " Four Pillars or Pillars of Destiny " is based on 4 Pillars x 2 elements = 8 characters = Eight Characters or Ba Zhi. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear M B, You can obtain your element from the free report at www.geomancy-online.com -> Under "Personal Self " Reports. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Further to what I mentioned below, this link will show the charm against the Five poisonous animals: http://www.geomancy.net/mypictures/cgi-bin/imagesearch.cgi?search=charm&img=8&cat=all There is also a charm to ward off evil for boys (left picture). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Elena, In the Chinese `arena', it has more to do with days that are best to be avoided. For example, paper charms are placed above doors such as the fifth day of the fifth lunar month against evil influences such as the 5 poisonous animals. Under this URL: www.geomancy.net/calendar (to enable to see the calendar of events, java feature must be enabled - usually if one is using Netscape 4.x or IE 4.x above no problems in viewing it). For example, if one uses the above calendar, and go to January 30, 2000, one will find that the Kitchen God is suppose to return to heaven on this day to report to the Jade Emperor (the highest ranking emperor) of the happening of the family (he stayed at). Thus on this day, Chinese usually offer the Kitchen God, a sticky cake so that it can "shut" his mouth so that he is unable to speak badly of the family since his mouth is fully of this sticky cake. For those who are interested in the various events throughout this year or the next can browse through the above link. For example, do you know that on 16 October 2000, The Goddess of Mercy became a bodhisattav or October 27, 2000 is the day of remembrance of the dead... Warmest Regards, Cecil rather than evil eye.

Dear Spring, In general, Good Luck symbols can be hung almost anywhere. For the bedroom especially for a newly married couples, the Chinese character of the double happiness symbol is hung in the room. Otherwise, if the symbol is `Fu' or Luck, some Chinese hang the word upside down e.g. on their main door (internal side). It can also be hung in the study room i.e. one can safely hang it just anywhere other than the toilet. As for broken foot of the statute, in my opinion, you can keep it e.g. in the closet especially if there is some sentimental value or quite costly (when purchased). Warmest Regards Cecil

Dear Keo Keo, There are two `levels' of analysis when using Chinese `tools':- 1. The most common is where we browse through any Chinese Astrology books, one will find that each of us as you mentioned were born in a particular year such as the year of the snake. And this zodiac sign is looked at in terms of compatiblity with loved ones. In fact, most Chinese Zodiac books will be similiar to the evaluation for eg. in the web such as www.lovesigns.net. 2. Overall, under Para 1, we are looking generally at a person's trait based on his year of birth only. 3. In more advanced Chinese Astrology or using a similar method such as Pillars of Destiny; the Year, Month, Day, Hour and House of Life and House of Conception pillars are looked at. Here, this is a more accurate view of a person especially since it maps out one's "stems and branches". For the Year, Month, Day and Hour chart there are a total of 8 stems and branches to be looked at. 4. Furthermore, the strength of a person's element is being looked into. For example, take the case of the mother who is found to be a weak wood person. However, her was found to be a strong water person. Here, under the Five element concept, water strengthens wood. Therefore, based on the Five elements concept, this is considered a good relationship. 5. Nearly two years ago, when my sister in-law was nearing the date when she was giving birth, out of curosity, we analysed roughly the pillars of destiny for the month (expecting the child to be born). However, the interesting thing was that her birth was a natural birth. Although one would like the child to be born on a certain day and month... it did not seem that way. Of course, one can go for on operation ... and specify a date/time of birth. 6. What I therefore meant was that usually, the situation is that only after the birth of the child, then, a Geomancer is consulted on the birth element of the child. The Geomancer than recommends a name especially if the child `lacks' an element e.g. fire or other elements. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, I believe you have brought up an interesting question:) Case 1 1. Let me share with you a recent case (showing the `non-importance' of unforuntately `women' ... on another issue.. 2. Recently, there is this case where this wealthy Chinese died. 3. In his will he asked that only after his last wife died and after 20 years later can then his wealth be distributed amongst his decendants. (Usually, this are his grand-children or later..). 4. In his will he specifically asked that none of his wealth can be distributed to the `daughters' of his children. As he felt that they `do not' belong to his family. (The assumption that `girls' would get married and later belong to some one else). 5. What happened was that her brother who was suppose to inherit the wealth, died and left no decendants. 6. The case was brought to our Local court and because the wealth was intended for the brother, since he has no family left, his inheritance then passed to his sister who is currently staying in China. Chinese Custom 7. Only the man can carry on the Surname of the family. 8. For example, if a `girl' marries a man, and if her surname + name is TAN Lee Hong, after marriage she adopts the husband's surname. 9. For example, if the husband has a surname CHEN, then she now becomes CHEN Lee Hong. 10. Especially in the past, many parents and husbands would like a `male heir' and this child would `carry' on their `surname'. In the past, if a women could not bear a male child, sometimes they may be treated `cruely' or the husband encouraged to marry or take no a second wife to `ensure that a male child was born.' In China's one child policy, there are many cases where, couples `kill' off their baby girl in order to give birth to a male child. 11. The shows that the mothers, daughters do not `carry' on the Surname of the family and are thus not mentioned in yin fengshui. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Jo, Nowadays, most jobs involve multi-skills. Thus one has to find out further the main skills involved. For example, in accounting, some people end up doing data inputs and thus their main scope of work has shifted to `computing'. However, I understand that you have asked questions relating to a job and what their elements are, it would not be fruitful for me to reply to each and every one of such questions. Perhaps, if you want to find out more, one can refer to my Applied Feng Shui electronic publication under the chapter " Five elements " which I have listed many types of jobs and the element they belong. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Kathy, 1. It is difficult to use FS to look into such a problem. 2. Most probably it could be due to earlier `defective' workmanship or other problems e.g. low water pressure etc... 3. If your house is still under `warranty' you could seek redress. 4. It is also good to get a second opinion (especially if the `engineers' that provided u with the advise has a vested interest in it. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear George, Usually, the office expansion should change the birth chart of the house. In such a situation, it is advisable to use the newer period i.e. Period 7 (1984 - 2003). Sometimes, we also plot the Period 6 chart. Here, it is looked at in relation to the Period 7's chart. Warmest Regards, Cecil