Cecil Lee

Dear Geral, Ideally, rooms including bedrooms should be either rectangular or " square " shaped. Sorry, I am not sure what you meant by "Meat Cleaver". Do you mean that the L-shaped represent a `meat cleaver'. If one has an L-shaped room e.g. the living room "joined" to the dining room forming an `L' shape, the best situation is to place a `partition' dividing the rooms into `two rooms'. Similarly if your bedroom is `L' shaped, try to `partition' it e.g using a screen etc.. to create `two square/rectangular' shaped rooms. If your room is `odd' shaped e.g. a circular room, usually one can built cupboards and `change' the room into a square and rectularly shaped. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Joe, In general, we should consider Yin Feng Shui as having a different "ruleset". What I mean is that all (or most) books that you purchase are usually based on Yang Feng Shui. Yin rulesets are quite different from Yang Feng Shui. For example, the Feng Shui ruler has a measurement for the living (Yang FS) and a different set of measurement for the dead (Yin FS). In Yin FS, a FS practioner will usually do a FS assessment of the gravesite. For example, he/she will use a Chinese Luopan. Place it in the middle and even use a long string to get the correct measurements to check the alignment on the Chinese Luopan to ensure that he/she get the right ausicious direction for placement of the coffin. In the above, you can see that much care need to be taken not only to find the gravesite but also the placement of the coffin. This is not the end of it. The "horse shoe" grave site need to be constructed including the headstone, decoration etc... based on Yin Feng Shui. It is good to clear the grass surrounding the gravesite. But what is most important is the inital work carried out by the FS practioner. Cleaning etc.. are secondary to this. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, Off-hand, it is hard to say what is the best colour for say a building. For a home, the most common colour is `neutral' white if it is the plastered walls. I guess, white is good as it is `better' at deflecting light than dark colours which aborb heats. This also depends on the country you live in. Usually if one is not using white, usualy pastel light shades of colours are acceptable. If one's side of the house is say facing a Yin location e.g. a cemetry, one should try to use a Yang colour to `offset' or neutralise the Yin qi. For a building, if one is using Feng Shui, you may need to consult a Feng Shui consultant to look at the surrouding and recommend a solution. The purpose of looking at the surrounding is to identify the type of buildings which surrounds your building and try to build a building that can "consume" buildings that surrounds yours. For example, if neigbouring building is a `metal building' you can build your building as a `fire building'. Here, your fire (element) building can engulf the `metal building' resulting in the creation of wealth. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Clocks are considered `objects' of activity. It is best placed at locations of activity such as near to TV sets or hi-fi. More about clocks: 1. Do not place it above any door. 2. Unless it is used to neutralise poision arrows, you should not place it facing a window or a door. 3. Do not give a clock to a friend. Chinese consider this bad luck. 4. Do not let a clock face a stove. 5. Do not let a clock face a bed. 6. Do not let a clock face an altar. A clock is another `tool' used to deflect sha qi or poison arrow and it does not do good for it to face a bed or a stove. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi Everyone, If you are not sure where to place a wind chime, it is best not to place a metallic wind chime indiscrimately at the following locations: 1. West 2. North-West 3. North-East The reason is because West and North-West belongs to the metal element and are considered Yin locations. For the North-East, this is the devil's gate. This is because the buddhist and Toaist call the spirit of the dead with the sound of bells. You may inadvertently attract the dead with metallic sounds (particuarly if the wave lenght fits that of calling the dead). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, Thanks for your suggestion. Yes, I do hope to share with you tips whenever I can. The fastest way to get tips is to write a short message on a question and you will get an answer almost immediately in this forum most of the time. This is because, if the question is more complex, it may take abit more time to reply. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, Yes, I totally agree with you for now that the anonymous feature should not be disabled. This forum has a long history. Two years back we were using a rudimentary `third party' forum i.e. using those provided free on the web. I am very happy that since then, I can recall clearly that there is only one flame (arising from " Jerry's nasty remarks '. Other than that, this forum has existed for quite sometime: 1. The members here have grown to at least 5,000 users majority subscribe using a mailing list. 2. Free Advise forum alrady has more than 1210 messages. Thanks to everyone, this Forum continues to be literally `flame free'. This is attributed to everyone who have always written polite messages. I always believe that if one do `flame' there must always be a hidden agenda behind it. The best part is that the truth always prevails. We always believe that whatever we write, we can justify giving our personal reasons. We are here to learn and share our experiences! The anonymous feature will always be available as a " useful " tool of this forum. Cheers! Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Ken, There are two ways at looking at whether to hang a wind chime: 1. On personal feelings or we usually call this Feng Shui by our personal intuition or using simply our sixth sense. Usually hanging a singular wind chime will normally not have an adverse effect on us. This is because, under the Flying Star Feng Shui there are a total of 24 directions. Some of these are ausipcious for us and some are not. The probability is one to 24 that we can place the wind chime at either a good or bad location. 2. Usually, the only problem with hanging a wind chime at a wrong location is only the effects of having nightwares. This is due to a naughty imp and otherwise, not much of a problem. The problem arises when one hangs more than one wind chime. The result is the person may get a mental illness. The above are the main considerations. Other more professional methods include drawing a Flying Star Chart and analysing the location to see if it is `ok' to place a wind chime at the location. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Kenneth, Here, you have to do some homework and do up the Flying Star Charts for both period 7 and period 8 and spent sometime to analyse both periods. If you do not do any major renovations for a period 7 house, it will not become a Period 8 house after the year 2004 (Period 8) i.e. the house remains under Period 7. There are many cases where houses still remain under their "period". For example, there are still many houses which are under Period 6 ie. 1984 to 2003. We do not use Period 7 to do an audit if no major renovations were done for these houses. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, This is a good question. In general, some of the ancient practises may not be applicable to certain countries or location. In China, e.g. in Beijing the Chinese usually have the main doors at the South cardinal point. The problem with having windows or doors at the North is because either of the cold winds from the North or the `yellow' dust at the North. We can understand that such situations do not apply to many people in the world. In our present situation, ideally, if you are living in a landed property, to safeguard your home, you should have a backdoor but with good set of locks or even an alarm sensor at the back of the house. More importantly, you should apply the Four Symbolic animals concept and try to avoid having water positions behind the house. Here, try to create a "tortise back" or solid backing at the house e.g. with a good fencing and privacy e.g. bushes along the fencing or even have a brick wall fencing. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, This is really a none issue under Traditional Feng Shui practise. You can consider the " role of tassels " generally under `customs or supersition ' and not Feng Shui. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Persephone, This is `too general' a theory to use. What you need to consider are: 1. You should use the Shapes and Form School of Feng Shui i.e. under the Four Symbolic Animals theory, make sure that the bed is in a `good' position. What is a good position? a. When you open the door to the bedroom, it is best that the bed is not seen directly. b. The `headrest' of the bed should have a proper backing of a `solid' wall and not placed against a window. c. You can make use of the free computerised Eight House module at www.geomancy-online.com to `draw' your Eight House Chart. Here, if you can sleep closer to an auspicious intangible force but bear in mind (give priority) to Para a. and b. d. Only after you have considered the above and if you have the `luxury' to sleep with your head facing an auspicious location, than go ahead with it. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Hartono, Grateful if you can clarify further. Do you mean that your home has two set of stairs or is it the building that you live has two set of stairs. Usually, if it is the building, this could be due to fire regulations where many buildings have two set of stairs on both sides. For stairs in the home, (interior) of the home: 1. The stairs should not be located at the centre of the house. 2. The stairs should have a turn or landing and not be one long set of steps. 3. Where possible avoid spiral staircases. 4. The steps should not be directly seen from the main entrance door. 5. It is ok to have to sets of stairs in the house. This is acceptable especially if one side of the stairs is on one side of the external wall. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Laraine, The main important point to note is that even if you can see certain `pointed' arrows at your main door, they may not be `pointed' arrows. Based on what you have mentioned to me, some of the objects you mentioned most likely are not `poison' arrows. This is because, when standing at the main entrance door and looking out, we can see quite a range of things. What you need to remember is that: 1. It is not a poision arrow if it is not `aimed' at your main entrance. If I am not wrong, the TV aerial on your neighours house is placed on their roof and in such a situation, unless it `bends' down and like the barrel of a gun, aims at your house, this is not a `poison' arrow. 2. A tall street light must be tangent or directly facing any part of the width of the door. If this is not so, then it does not `slice' your main door in any way. If so, this is not a poision arrow. 3. The telegraph pole must also be `slicing' your main door else it is also not considered a poision arrow. This is distinct to a corner of the house at a right angle that `slices' the door. For cures, there are several cures: 1. Use a semi-circular carpet outside the main entrance door radiating outwards from the main door. 2. Consult a FS practioner to tilt the door to an auspicious angle (if this is applicable). 3. If the main entrance is elevated, use a semi-circular steps radiating outwards from the main entrance door. 4. It is best that the main entrance door is at the `side' of the house and cannot be seen directly from the main gate of the house. If so, do close the main entrance gate when not in use. 5. Other cures if such poison arrows are pointed towards the windows is to use a thicker curtain or use a Hong Kong cure such as is fish tank. (I usually do not recommend it unless you personally know your element and its strenght. Water is `harmful' to a person with weak fire or strong water element. For a weak fire person, it may inadvertently extinguish the person's weak fire. For a strong water person, too much "water" is no good. 6. In Asia, it is common to use the Ba Gua mirror hanged above the main entrance door to ward of poision arrows. 7. Other more offensive cures include the use of a "toy" cannon placed at the window and aimed at an `offending' sha. This is only used if the poison arrow is `huge' e.g. the corner of a building at a angle aimed at e.g. the window. My advise is not to use this especially if the building is of "reflective" glass as it can bounce back the sha. This is a lose-lose situation. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Ang, If one is using the Eight House theory, you should also consider what is the intangible force at the bedroom location. If the bedroom is an auspcious location, at least, this can in some ways `compensate' to a certain extend the death or disaster falling at the main entrance. If the death or disaster is at the main entrance, this implies that the house is not considered suitable for you. In general, you should not let the door open all the time. Only when you need to use the door, then you open it else, preferrably it should be closed. Do keep the location bright e.g. using neutral wall colours like `white'. These are the two things which you could do. Otherwise, there is nothing much you can do under the Eight House Theory. It is really meant to pinpoint whether the house is suitable for you or where is your best facing direction. Normally, other Feng Shui theories are used inconjunction with the Eight House. Such as the Flying Star theory is used to assess the birth chart of the house. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Shawn, The first priority under the Eight House Theory is to try to sleep close to an auspicious intangible force if you can. For example if the intangible force in the sector of the bed for the Husband is his Prosperity sector and for the wife, her Irritation sector, in such a situation, the Husband sleeps closer to the intangible force location. He therefore, sleeps closer to this intangible line. While the wife sleeps further away i.e. using him as a `shield'. Only after the considering the above and if you have the luxury, sleep with the head facing a good direction (if you can). If this cannot be done, than priority should be given to the above. Sleeping with the head facing a good direction is thus considered `nice' to have but not a real necessity. I hope u know what I mean. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, There are a few `variables' with regards to the placement of the `White Tiger picture". 1. Some Feng Shui practioners say that it is generally auspicious to place a White Tiger picture at the West Wall if this is your inauspicious location e.g. under the Eight House. 2. In most books, the Chinese are " afraid " or scared to see a real White Tiger is they believe that it will bring them bad luck. This has correlation to their understanding that it is very unlucky to give birth to a child especially a girl born in the " Tiger " year. For example, under this URL: http://www.geomancy.net/love/amenu1.htm I have this short write up of " The Gate of Hope, Singapore " (Formerly Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus - C.H.IJ.) with a sad tale:- (The url shows the actual picture of the gate which is still standing) At the above (green coloured) gate of the former Convent of The Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ), many babies were abandoned in baskets to be picked up by the Sisters of the Convent. This was the origin of the Home for Abandoned Babies. For over 100 years, the orphanage was home to children from poor or broken homes as well as unwanted babies. The orphanage took in many Chinese baby girls born in the year of the tiger - " tiger girls " because of the strong superstitious belief that they would bring bad luck to their families. In 1963, the Mother Superior noted that this practice was stopped as there was a marked change in this supersitious belief. The Home of Abandoned Babies ceased finally in 1983 when the CHIJ Convent was relocated. 3. In story, in a legend, a tiger at 500 years had its fur turned to `white'. This tiger is said to be the `guardian' at the West or one of the Four Symbolic Animals. 4. In my opinion, it is acceptable to keep the `White tiger' so long as its face does not signify that it is hungry, ferocious or have an opened mouth. This is particularly bad if it faces the main entrance door. Where possible, I don't know if a tiger has a " happy face " erh.. hard to tell but generally, such objects should either be of a happy face or paintings or caligraphy such as auspicious Chinese characters are a much better choice. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear James, There are several factors with regards to a garage above the master bedroom: 1. The height of the garage in relation to the Master bedroom. Higher the better. 2. Nowadays, this is ranked low when compared to a house that meets proper Feng Shui concepts such as the Four Symbolic Animal Theory where the back of the house should have a solid backing and the front - clear space etc... What is also more important is the position of the toilet e.g. it should not be above the main entrace, or next to the main entrance. 3. After reading the above, a garage below a bedroom is thus of `low' priority. Why some FS books or authors say that it is inauspicious to have a garage below a bedroom: A. Some practioners or authors feel that a vehicle represents the Metal Element and if your house has a sizable chunk of Metal element especially below the bedroom, they feel that this is " bad ". But currently, under recent developments, if one reasons correctly, it really has no impact on someone staying above it. This is not like a masterbedroom having a toilet above it. (Which is worse!) B. Another argument is that there may be a `remote' situation where the car catches fire. But looking at it this is equally remote. Unless, someone `blows' up the car on purpose and if by any chance the flames can move upwards and let the bedroom catch fire. Again this is very remote and highly unlikely. We can therefore, add the arguement that having a bedroom above the kitchen is still acceptable. For example, if the bedroom is an auspicious location for a family member, I personally do not see the reason why the person should not sleep in the bedroom above the kitchen. In light of the above arguements, in my opinion, the above situations are the `least' of your worries if any. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Fraser, The consensus amongst Feng Shui practioners is that there is no changes to the practise of Feng Shui in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. No one has thus far provided a valid and substantiated arguement to show that Feng Shui is practised differently in the Southern Hemisphere. Many who mentioned this may have a hidden agenda or some choose to "seek fame" in coming up with such an arguement. So far, these are not proven and majority to mentioned, I believe did not do any indept analysis. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, A clock represents activity. If your kitchen is at the centre of the house: 1. Ideally, try to keep the centre-point of the house clear. This is because this is the location where all the intangible force merge or congregate. Best to keep this location neutral e.g no stove, water element etc... 2. Usually a pendulum clock is symbolic of the metal element especially the `metallic ticking sound'. Here a pendulum clock is akin to elements like a wind chime to enhance " the metal element ". 3. For a regular clock, it generally signify activity and the best locations are next to a TV set. A TV set also is considered an `activity'. 4. For a wall clock, avoid hanging it above a door e.g. the door above the kitchen or any other doors in the home. 5. Otherwise, it is acceptable to hang the wall clock above a wall at the dinning room. A location which you `feel' that is `useful' i.e. a practical location where you can check the time easily in the home. No point placing the wall clock at a location that is seldom seen. Here, we have to be practical to our daily needs. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, Thanks for your posting. I glad to be able to share real life information especially my former grandfather's home. Both my grandfather's home and the next door neighbour which also followed suite by knocking off the `head' of the house. I have not sure if you have seen the pictures of an old refurbished bungalow house but this house has distinct Feng Shui features e.g. water position at the north, a study room at the south. (The roof is pointed representing fire)... URL: http://www.geomancy.net/fs/photo1.htm Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, I do aim to write a book of cures for apartments. However, this would have to coincide with a busy schedule. In fact, there is much to do and am now drawing a schedule for the next year listing the priorities and target setting. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, So far there is no evidence to say that a ceiling fan or light bulb is bad. One reason is because most ceiling fan or light bulb do not have `poison arrows'. Therefore in my personal opinion, both are generally ok. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, Thanks Glyn for sending me a private mail to inform me that the Keiloon is similar to a Fu Fu Dog. This morning before going to work, I passed thru the memorial for Lim Bo Seng, a celebrated World War II hero of Singapore. The memorial had the Keiloon facing different `compass' directions guarding it. I have seen the similar Keiloon at my grandfather's grave ie. guarding his grave on both sides. The Keiloon figurine is not Feng Shui but more of Chinese customs. In my personal opinion, it would be better for this `creature' to guard a Yin location e.g. grave , memorial site rather than a home or office. The more common figurines to use at home is the Fu Fu dog on both sides of the pillars on both sides of the gate. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Hi, You can still use your backdoor. However, in Feng Shui, the frontage is equally important in the assessment of the house. The frontage is where this is generally the front of the house. The main door may not be at the front of the house. It can be at the side. The analysis here is to go into the home to see the natural lighting conditions. It would be ideal if natural light filters into the house. The house should thus not be totally dark all the time. (What I mean is that during day light hours, it should have some light going into the house. Many people in Singapore who live in " Government Housing Board Flats " would realise this: Light filters in most of the time from their windows rather than from the main door. Here, some Feng Shui Masters may at times consider the window area/wall e.g. the living room area as the `main entrance' where Qi comes in rather than the main door. Here, it is good to understand the above. This is where, one advise is to have alternat e or diagonal windows opened so that Qi do not flow in and immediately exit out thru the kitchen windows but rather allow it to meander or circulate in the house. For Feng Shui audits, it is normally the tradition to still consider the actual main entrance door when e.g. using the Flying Star analysis. Warmest Regards, Cecil