Main door is on the side

[Alison]

Dear Cecil & Robert,
I know this has been raised before, but the main door of my house is on the side. A narrow driveway runs down the side of the house past the door to the garage.
My question is, how do I make sure that Qi
enters the house and does not go straight past the main door? Along the driveway there is a hedge separating our land from the neighbour's. I guess that if the side of the house containing the main door is always the 'front', then this is not good, although it is at least protecting us from poison arrows from the neighbour's roof.
Also, I was originally assuming that the houses on either side were my Green Dragon and White Tiger, but it appears from your answer to someone else that in fact I have to look for these in the road running past the architectural front of the house, and in or behind the garden at the architectural rear. Is this correct?
Sorry for the long question and thanks for a great site.
Alison

[Cecil Lee]

Dear Alison,
You will be surprised to learn that many `good' houses have doors on the side of the house. For the following reasons:-
1. The greatest advantage of this is that their is simply no way of having a neigbhour's poison arrow or any poison arrow on the frontage of the house.
In my opinion, it is thus advantages to have the main door at the side based on the above reasoning.
2. I am not there to see how narrow the side where the front door is. Ideally, it should be the space where a car can drive `thru'; parked and you can enter the main entrance door.
This is the best (ideal senario) for a house with a side door.
3. On the question of Dragon and Tiger, to elaborate; there are a few different interpretations (which I have covered) in a few messages. But here are the important points:-
a. Under Shapes and Form School
Here, the simplistic view is that when you stand at the frontage of the house facing out (or if your main door is at the frontage), the Dragon is on your left while the tiger is on your right.
b. Under the Compass School of Feng Shui
We should then use the term `Green' = East and `White' = West. Under the compass school, the GREEN Dragon is always at the East while the WHITE Tiger is always at the West.
Please see below:-

Quote

On 2/2/00 9:02:12 AM, Anonymous wrote:
Dear Cecil & Robert,
I know this has been raised
before, but the main door of
my house is on the side. A
narrow driveway runs down the
side of the house past the
door to the garage.
My question is, how do I make
sure that Qi
enters the house and does not
go straight past the main
door? Along the driveway
there is a hedge separating
our land from the neighbour's.
I guess that if the side of
the house containing the main
door is always the 'front',
then this is not good,
although it is at least
protecting us from poison
arrows from the neighbour's
roof.

Good point:)

Quote

Also, I was originally
assuming that the houses on
either side were my Green
Dragon and White Tiger, but it
appears from your answer to
someone else that in fact I
have to look for these in the
road running past the
architectural front of the
house, and in or behind the
garden at the architectural
rear. Is this correct?

Yes, this is correct if we consider the dragon and tiger under the Shapes and Form School of Feng Shui. But it is a completely different answer if we consider this under the Compass School of Feng Shui where the term `Green' Dragon is considered at the East and White Tiger is at the West compass point.
Therefore, there is no `right' or wrong answers. It depends on the correct interpretation of the question.
Nowadays, there are few `true' dragons or tigers to evaluate a landscape. In the past, it is easier to locate a hill and see whether the higher dragon is embraces the lower tiger in a gentle embrance.
Are you referring to roads etc... to find the false dragon and tiger? Nowadays, it is difficult for someone to find a `false' dragon or tiger and the services of a Feng Shui expert is sought for this. Ideally, this is good if one is buying or investing in a plot of land or buying land to build a house.
But if one's investment is small or staying in an apartment, it is not cost effective to hire a Feng Shui expert unless he/she happens to be good at Shapes and Form.
One more point is that, it is hard to measure Qi. Therefore, even if your main door faces a narrow passage, it may still be a better choice (as it is shielded from poison arrows - most of the time).
One also do not have to `worry' for the future, if it happens that a neighbour or a new lamp post etc.. turns up and becomes a poison arrow aimed towards the main entrance.
You can still use the traditional method of assessing your home and Qi can still effectively come into the home from the windows (not necessary the main door). Here the `trick' is to let Qi which enters from different locations of the home to meander rather than come-in and out of the house.
(Have you wondered, why some of us close the main door most of the time. If they do so, usually, they do open some of the windows. Here Qi can still flow in the house.)
Warmest Regards,
Cecil