Understanding Black Sect
by Elizabeth Moran

      Black Sect is a modern school of feng shui developed some twenty years ago. It plays on the western world's obsession with parts and our unending fascination with seeming mysterious and magical eastern traditions. It uses people's deep-seeded attraction to superstitions icons. It promotes material gain over balance. It is a bogus school of feng shui that has become widely known through the proliferation of books, articles, websites, and seminars.

      As a short review, remember that feng shui is about balancing the qi in your environment. With balance comes the likelihood of better health, wealth and relationships. Because qi is physical and meta-physical and therefore, cannot be fully understood using sensory perception, the Chinese at least made the attempt to understand this vital force by observing how it moves, changes, and transforms in nature. Put another way, they set out to undestand how qi moves through the cycles of yin and yang and it's tangible correlative aspects, the five phases of fire, earth, metal, water and wood. (We won't get into numbers here.)

      Feng shui is the study of TIME and SPACE. Everything in its SPACE changes over TIME. Life is not stagnant and unchanging. Classical feng shui studies the environment, people, places, and time and how the qi of each interacts.

      While the Life Aspiration method at least orients the pseudo-bagua according to the magnetic facing of the dwelling, Black Sect does not. Here, one overlays the pseudo-bagua in the exact same way in each home so that the north (career) sector will ALWAYS be facing toward your belly. Your main entrance will ALWAYS lead into one of three life aspiration sectors: knowledge (northeast), career (north), helpful people (northwest). Directionality (SPACE) is irrelevant! This method proposes that each home is the same. It paints a still-life portrait. It's uniform. Stagnant. Unchanging. TIME does not exist.

      Moreover, Black Sect uses a variety of "cures" to "activate" the qi of each sector: light-refracting objects like mirrors, crystals, and lights; sound (windchimes, bells); living things (plants, aquariums); moving objects (mobile, fountain); metal objects (statues); bamboo flutes, colors, red ribbons, pictures of doves, etc.

      Qi cannot be compartmentalized. Qi is not a dog that can be commanded: "Knowledge qi, over here. Sit and stay." The Black Sect notion of fragmenting qi adheres to the western mindset. In order to find logic and reason, we scrutinize, separate, and confine. Further, Black Sect is an easy-to-understand method that fits into our fast-paced society. We want things NOW. We don't want to take the time to learn, explore, ponder.

      Currently, I'm working on a book project proposal about American mah jongg, a Chinese tile game. In the 1920s, an American entrepeneur went to China and saw everyone playing playing the game. At that time, all things eastern were very popular (including opium!). So, he bought several sets and marketed them in the U.S. Because he didn't learn how to play the game, he used its component parts and simply made up the rules. Also, other things were added. Like jokers, racks, and a "card." Presto! American mah jongg was born.

      The same thing happened to feng shui. The components parts (yin and yang, the five phases, the eight trigrams, etc.) were used, but not in the way they are intended to be used. Like the game example above, other things were added. The authentic concept was twisted into something completely new and different. Now, of course, you can't really compare a game to feng shui. While a game can't hurt you, feng shui potentially can. We don't seem to consider this because feng shui can't be "touched" with our senses.

      Before you plunk down your hard-earned savings on feng shui courses, understand the differences between the schools. Participate in (free) on-line lists. Be a discriminating consumer.

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