| Meet Helene Weber from France |
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1. How long have you been practicing Feng Shui (professionally and personally)?
I have been practicing professionally for 4 years and personally for 6 years.
2. How did it all started? Where did you begin with Feng Shui and what exactly piqued your interest in it?
Helene and friendsI used to have a travel agency specialized in South Asia and I traveled often to Hong Kong. I was invited to the Grand Opening of the Regent Hotel with all the good society of Hong Kong. The Hotel was half finished and the cocktail took place on the concrete among workers and cranes. In fact, the hotel was not built in a good way according the Feng Shui Masters, and they had to tear it down to the ground and start to build it the good way. They kept the date for the Grand Opening because it was the best day of the year. This took place in the early eighties and it started really my interest for Feng Shui. When I started reading about Feng Shui, I never thought that it would ever come to France.
3. Do you teach classes? Give consultations? How much time does that take in a week? (for example, twice a week for classes, 2 consultations in a week etc)
I have 2 courses that take place once a month on Saturday. One is starting in October, the other slightly shorter is starting in January. They both finish in June. I also teach a course for the YCH Center of Excellence every two months. One will take place in June, so I hope to welcome in it as many students from my own courses as possible. I have at least 4 consultations a week. The rest of the time, I study and I reply to the mail.
4. Which Feng Shui Masters have you specifically studied with? And any other qualifications you may have taken professionally or otherwise?
I have specifically studied with Grand Master Yap Cheng Hai and I am very lucky to have met him. His courses are very complete. He is not only teaching the real Classical Chinese Feng Shui, he is also teaching his students how to have the spirit, the ethic of a real practitioner. He gives us all his knowledge, his secret methods which he translates for us in something "learnable". His work is completed by Joey Yap who is more specialized in Xuan Kong Feng Shui.
5. You mentioned that you studied under Grand Master Yap Cheng Hai. So prior to this, how did you learn Feng Shui? Through books? It must be difficult to get Feng Shui books in France 6 years ago. Where did you seek to enhance your knowledge before studying the subject professionally?
I used to go to London to buy books. Especially at a bookstore in Neel street which used to sell a lot of books on Feng Shui. They had Lillian Too's first books printed in Malaysia. And they all referred to Master Yap Cheng Hai. So one day when I saw a paper in London about a Seminar with Master Yap Cheng Hai in Malaysia, his first course ever, I did not hesitate one second to take his course. And I was so lucky.
In France, in that time, very few people knew about Feng Shui.
6. What drives you on? Many people might be content to study simple Feng Shui from books but you have chosen to spend time and money studying this subject. Why?
Some people love what they do. I do what I love. I cannot think of anything else that I would like to do and to study. Since the more I study, the more I see that I have so much to study. There are strong links between Feng Shui and other Chinese subjects like Yi Chin, Ba Ze, Face reading and of course, there is still Mandarin Language to learn.
I started with books, and I read a lot of books. Some were "New Age Feng Shui" and I got often mixed up. Even practicing Feng Shui can lead you to develop certain habits which could be twisted Feng Shui. So I know that I just have to read my notes or the books from the courses to know what is the real thing and I can always question by e-mail my fellow students to get an answer to my Feng Shui problems.
7. What is the Feng Shui scene in France like?
In France, it is not a trend anymore. The magazines are not so interested by a new tendency called Feng Shui. It has become something that you want to do for your home, your office. And a significant number of Managers are not so afraid that their employees learn that they are practicing Feng Shui in their office.
8. Can you give us a rough idea of the percentage of people in France practising classical Feng Shui, and New Age Feng Shui? As a pioneer practitioner in the France Feng Shui scene, where do you see the direction this industry in France is heading to in say, 5 years?
It will be a very rough idea indeed. I would say 50% of people in France are practising classical Feng Shui and 50% are practising New Age Feng Shui. Among the New Age adepts, there is again one half who could practice really New Age Feng Shui, following a school, etc. The others are mixed up in decoration, colours and symbols and certainly ready to learn the real thing. In France, there is a strong cultural inheritage of study of environment and energy. This knowledge was done in the past by architects, artisans with secret measurements for building cathedrals and palaces. (Versailles has been partly built like this) Of course, nothing as sophisticated as the Chinese Feng Shui, but enough to give people the desire to learn about Classical Feng Shui which is closer to our inheritage than New Age Feng Shui.
It is our mission to help people to make the difference between classical Feng Shui and New Age Feng Shui. In fact New Age Feng Shui is drawing people away from Feng Shui. And classical Feng Shui is speaking to a lot people, who could be learning other Chinese sciences, like Acupuncture, Martial Art, and Plant Medicine. And my feelings are that more and more people will be concerned by the way their FS consultants have learned. "Is my FS consultant doing the genuine thing?" More and more serious people will be consulting.
9. Are there any particular buildings or landscapes in France that has Feng Shui significance?
The Louvre Pyramid which was built by the architect Pei might have as a Feng Shui significance. I have to take a day to study it carefully. What I know is that since it was done, the Museum has tripled the number of its visitors.
10. There are so many Feng Shui schools/branches now. What is the difference between commercial and classical Feng Shui? Which one do you advocate?
Commercial Feng Shui tries to adapt Feng Shui to the taste of Westerners, so they don't get discouraged by the complexity of this Science. There is a tendency to lure people into believing that in a very short period of time, maybe even a few days, they will become Feng Shui practitioners. They get rid of everything they think is too hard to learn and they put decorating and colors to replace it. Classical Feng Shui is to be taken as it is : a difficult Chinese science which has been practiced for many years. And you are very thankful to those who translate the ancient words into something learnable.
11. From your experiences, what is the most common reaction when your students/clients are exposed to classical Feng Shui?
They understand immediately that this is the real thing and very seldom, they mention another way. Sometimes, they speak about the "8 aspirations of life", and they understand quite well when I tell them to forget about that and take their "gua" good and bad directions. Westerners are very concerned by colors too - but they understand when I tell them most of the time colors don't count for much. Nearly anyone who has been in contact with Classical Feng Shui will never return to other Feng Shui. Just like once you have tasted real chocolate, you don't want to taste fake one.
12. As you might know, the First Annual World Classical Feng Shui Conference 2002 will be held in Cologne, Germany next March 8th - 11th. How do you think this event will benefit the Feng Shui world?
It will be the proof that in Western Countries, people can now make the difference between Real Classical Feng Shui and the others and organize a conference based only on Classical Feng Shui.
13. Any last words for our readers?
It's always very important for a Feng Shui Student to be able to speak about his lineage. Always be wary of a teacher coming out of nowhere. When a student starts to learn with a teacher, he has to know with whom his teacher has learned, and even his teacher's teacher. His teacher should be proud to present his student to his teacher when the time has come for him to start learning with him.
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| This article is brought to you by |
![Suan Tew]() |
Suan Tew
Managing Editor for Feng Shui Times. |
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