Feng Shui is an ancient natural earth science, which explores the physics of our environment and the predictable outcome of its impact. Credited with originating in China thousands of years ago, and professionally practiced only by men until very recently, Feng Shui has been regarded as a highly evolved, secretive, metaphysical art. Power lies in the use of this knowledge and the emperors of China would employ a Feng Shui Master to advise them in the construction of their palaces as well as the auspicious timing of their political maneuvers.

Feng Shui, as described by Thomas Lee at a Yale University conference in May of 1996, is the "theory of time and geography in Chinese culture." He also stated that "the outstanding financial performance of the New York stock market and the academic achievements of Yale University may be explained by K'an Yu (Feng Shui) theory". In Lee's address, he further recommended that in order to understand the difficult theories which constitute the science of Feng Shui, that related subjects include "Architecture, Town-Planning, Probability, Fuzzy Logic, Chaos Theory, Land Surveying, Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing".

The mathematics and astronomy used in Feng Shui can identify predictable building and site location models which could be said to possess personality traits. This is no small matter when the implications are that we can consciously design buildings and environments which will have a reliable impact on the occupants who live and work in such surroundings. Lee points out some of the more crucial building types which can produce environments that 1) maximize the success of a commercial operation, 2) fire-prone houses for preventative planning, 3) robbery-prone structures for police force allocation, 4) interior design considerations to control birth rate, 5) site location for optimum school buildings, 6) correlation analysis between building orientation and illness, and 7) influence of topography on cultural and personality development.

So why are 90% of my Feng Shui clients and students women? Why do so many Western men ignore the concept of Feng Shui, regard it as superstition, or exotic New Age non-sense? (Of course, there is the occasional male architect or contractor or realtor, curious about a subject that is starting to be requested in his own business.)

Part of the problem is because of the unscientific and non-logical way in which Feng Shui is promoted in Western culture. Most popular English authors present it as a potpourri of seemingly ritualistic placeboes, quirky interior design, color psychology, and magical-thinking with religious overtones. Master Larry Sang refers to this hodge-podge of non-traditional practices as "Feng Shui chop suey" and Canadian Master Joseph Yu has called it "pseudo- Feng Shui." Few of these popular authors have been properly trained in 5-Element Theory or the advanced calculations derived from the original Compass School or Form-School methods. As a result, they are reduced to perpetuating the myths and folklore surrounding this serious subject. Western schools of Feng Shui are springing up, where students are being certified as consultants, with little or no knowledge of traditional Feng Shui basics.

I have found female clients almost crushed to learn that there is no such thing as a "wealth corner" or a "marriage" corner in their home. It's not unlike that inevitable day when you must inform your child that Santa Claus is make-believe. Nevertheless, once the husband (usually sitting skeptically in the background) overhears that the bedroom indicates back pain or the lawsuits he's embroiled in, he cannot contain himself and starts to participate in the consultation.

All people, men and women alike, experience Feng Shui on a daily basis, and yet we are reluctant to identify it as such. We all know when we feel uncomfortable in a particular place and can't wait to leave. We all notice buildings that seem to carry their own reputations or act as status symbols. We have all witnessed buildings in our neighborhood which can't seem to stay in business and realtors acknowledge the house that they sell over and over again because whoever moves in gets divorced.

We are aware that people who live in close proximity to toxic environments will have a greater potential for cancer. And there are now people studying indoor air pollution, sometimes called "sick building syndrome" and organizations such as Eco-Home Network, where the focal point is holistic building design for the benefit of mankind. Calculating the magnetic field of a structure based on when it was built and its compass alignment is just a natural extension of wanting to understand our relationship with the forces of nature. The application of Feng Shui in the design or re-design of our surroundings will continue to increase, and I am confident that western technologies will eventually provide a way to validate this ancient, universal wisdom.