One of the common dilemmas couples face when choosing a house is when the Feng Shui ‘needs’ of the two individuals differ – one belongs to the West group while the other belongs to the East group. As a result, many people have the unfounded fear that a house will only benefit one person and not the other, and often ask how the Feng Shui of a house should be planned and who it should benefit.
This scenario is extremely common, but please do not worry!
First of all, an East group person staying in a West group house can benefit just as much from an East house and vice versa. Second, good Feng Shui is more than just about getting a house belonging to the same directional group. On top of that, there are several other methods and best practices you can implement to get the most out of your home.
In this article, I have prepared a few actions you can take to get the most out of Feng Shui, even if you and your partner belong to different Feng Shui Kua Groups.
1. Consider Getting an Astrological (Bazi/4-Pillars) Reading First
Traditionally, the ancient Chinese have always prioritized one’s astrological chart before Feng Shui because the house is seen as a natural extension of one’s life and it exists not for itself, but for us human beings.
Throughout the course of my career as a practitioner, I have noticed a very close relationship between one’s astrological chart and the Feng Shui of the house one ends up in. Both almost always point towards the same conclusion in terms of where one’s life challenges will come from and which aspects would be weaker.
For example, if someone has an astrological chart that indicates poor health, it is likely that this person will end up in a house with Feng Shui which will negatively impact one’s health as well. On the flip side, people with a strong astrological chart will often naturally end up in a house with good Feng Shui.
Related: What does your Bazi astrological chart indicate? Find out.
The house you end up is can often be seen as ‘fated’, and the reason why Feng Shui so was popular and widely practiced in the past, and even now, is because it offers us an opportunity to transcend what’s meant for us, and to harness what’s good for us such that we are able to lead happier and healthier lives.
I would personally recommend that you and your partner get an astrological chart reading first to identify where the challenges will come from. With this information, you can plan the Feng Shui of your house accordingly to strengthen these areas.
Many people focus only on Feng Shui and miss out on the invaluable insights one can get from an astrological reading. This lack of insight may have its repercussions.
For example, someone might implement Feng Shui to focus purely on wealth, not knowing that his or her health is the one thing that’s getting in the way of acquiring riches. Hence, the Feng Shui that’s implemented is in a less than ideal way.
All aspects of life are interlinked and influence each other, and Feng Shui should be implemented in such a way that it balances all these aspects.
Another example. With good health naturally comes wealth and deeper relationships simply because you feel better, have more energy and are more productive. Most people fail to see life this way. Instead of choosing a more holistic and balanced approach to well-being, they focus only on the thing they desire. This leads them down the wrong path to more problems than solutions.
2. Determine What Your Objectives are With Your Partner
One of the first things you should do is to determine what your objectives are and which areas of your life you and your partner are most concerned about, ideally with the insights from an astrological reading. With those objectives in mind, plan and use Feng Shui as an ‘enhancer’ to achieve these objectives while keeping in mind that every aspect of your life is interlinked and requires attention.
I’ve encountered many couples in the course of my practice, and every single one of them presented a unique requirement or need. As such, a customized solution needs to be implemented.
For example, I’ve encountered cases where someone with a strong astrological chart chose to set-up the house such that it benefits the spouse who has a weaker astrological chart, while another couple will choose the practical option by focusing the Feng Shui on the main breadwinner of the house to maximize their earning capacity. For clients with health concerns, the Feng Shui of the house was set up to maximize the health aspect instead, which naturally benefited them in terms of career, wealth and marriage as well, albeit indirectly.
3. Consult a Practitioner Before Purchasing a House
Most people make the mistake of rushing to purchase a house before engaging a practitioner, only to find out that the practitioner is unable to remedy the Feng Shui flaws of the house. As mentioned, there is more to Feng Shui than just staying in a house belonging to the same group, getting the facing direction of your main door right, or adjusting your furniture for ideal placement.
The practice of the 8 Mansions method includes looking at where key elements of the house end up, which is your main door, master bedroom and kitchen. More often than not, real Feng Shui remedies are hard to implement because it requires a complete shift of the key rooms and areas.
Unless you are ready to make major renovations to your place, it’s usually more economically viable to purchase a house with all these factors already in place and minimal renovation is required. So if you are staying in an apartment, such renovations are virtually impossible, so you will have to make sure you are buying an apartment with a good layout already in place.
There are several things that would be out of the Feng Shui practitioners control, and it is a common misconception that Feng Shui practitioners can offer a miracle cure that can remedy every single Feng Shui flaw. I would always recommend that you consult a practitioner at an early stage and get us involved in hunting and planning process for a house purchase. This will help prevent yourself from being stuck in a situation where not much Feng Shui cures can be applied.
4. Bridge the Gap Using Other Feng Shui Methods
The practices of each Feng Shui school were built on fundamental theories of Yin Yang & the 5 Elements, as well as astronomy. Each Feng Shui school aims to study nature’s laws and how we can harness the positive energies around us, and no Feng Shui method is better than the other. Each method is beneficial as much as it is applicable in its own right.
If you’re caught in a situation where you and your partner belong to different groups, fret not! You can always apply other Feng Shui methods to bring out the best in your house. The most common method is, of course, the Flying Stars method. Other methods include the one mentioned above from the same school (8 Mansions), where you ensure that the 3 key areas of the house are in the right sectors.
If you are using the Flying Stars method, makes sure you stay clear of stars 2 and 5 as they are the most negative stars in Period 8, which lasts from year 2004 to 2023. Do your best to have your most important rooms in sectors with stars 1, 8 and 9. As we move into Period 9 in year 2024, it may be a good idea to plan ahead and consider the star arrangements for Period 9 if you’re planning for your next purchase.
I’ve personally encountered cases where the house was considered an auspicious one using the 8 Mansions method. However, due to the Feng Shui period we are in, the couple was not able to fully benefit from it, and in fact, suffered from a myriad of setbacks.
A lesser known, but widely popular method from the Eight Mansions school called ‘Yang Zhai San Yao’, which places emphasis on the placement of 3 key areas of a house. These key areas are: 1) the main door 2) master bedroom and 3) kitchen.
Houses with these 3 key areas in sectors where their elements do not clash is generally considered a good house. For example, a house with the main door in the Southwest sector (Earth), master bedroom in the Northeast sector (Earth), and kitchen in either the Southwest (Earth), or West (Metal) sector would be considered a very auspicious house because the elements representing these sectors are in harmony. Conversely, houses where these 3 key areas are in sectors which have a clash in the elements are generally considered bad for staying in.
There is a total of 512 variations of house structures (both good and bad) that can be drawn using this method from the 8 Mansions school of Feng Shui, and you should only choose those with a positive Feng Shui structure. Do note that sector and facing direction are two completely different things, so don’t get confused!
5. Implementing a Feng Shui Plan for Your Objectives
Buying a home is NOT something that should be rushed, ever. You should always plan ahead and take your time when hunting for a new home, especially when the quality of the house changes according to the Feng Shui Periods.
Armed with information from your astrological chart and input from a Feng Shui practitioner from the steps mentioned earlier, you can carefully plan out your next move. If you are considering an apartment, make sure the layout of the apartment is already an auspicious one. If you’re considering a house and renovation can be done, get your Feng Shui practitioner to chime in with the design so that the best layout can be implemented, regardless of which Feng Shui group you and your partner belong to.
And if you’re planning for a baby, make sure the room for your child is in a good sector, or enlarge your master bedroom such that your newborn can stay within the same room.
What I usually do for my clients is to apply the 8 Mansions method first to ensure that the right rooms and key areas of the house end up in the right sector. That’s because the layout of the front door, the bedroom, and the kitchen is fixed and cannot be changed. I will then follow it up with the Flying Stars method to make sure that the room tap into the positive stars for that particular Feng Shui Period.
As we are approaching Period 9 soon, I would recommend clients who are planning their next purchase with the intent of long term stay to take the Period 9 arrangements into account instead of Period 8.
Conclusion
There is a lot more to Feng Shui than what’s out there on the internet, and there are many Chinese classics on Feng Shui that have yet to be translated and put on the web.
So if you were reading about the 8 Mansion Feng Shui and found that you and your partner belong to different Feng Shui Kua groups, please don’t worry. That’s just one out of the many things you need to consider when you apply Feng Shui to your home. As mentioned here, there several other methods to bring out the best out of your house such that both you and your partner can benefit from, regardless of which group you belong to.
An old soul born in the wrong era, Sean is a Feng Shui Consultant who works at a tech unicorn in the day and is one of the most sought after Chinese metaphysics consultants in Singapore. He regularly shares his thoughts and case studies on metaphysics on his blog. Feel free to reach out!