1: What is Feng Shui?
In August 2018, I was invited by the lineage holder of the Taoist Quan Zhen School to participate in a forum, the first one of its kind ever held in China. During the meeting, there were many Taoist scholars, practitioners, and historians.
All successful companies have a good logo. And logos often evolve along with the changing and development of the company. Recently, Instagram has changed its logo.
The reasoning of changing its logo was said to accommodate the evolving of the Instagram community over the past five years, from a place to share filtered photos to so much more —a global community of interests sharing more than 80 million photos every day.
That form defines energy and energy manifests information is the central concept of Form School feng shui. Every existing thing in the universe has three components: matter, chi energy, and information. What is visible to us is the matter aspect – but that contains the chi energy aspect, and the information aspect, even though they are not directly visible to us.
We often think of Feng Shui in terms of the environment, what is outside and around us. Even though we may be aware that Feng Shui applies to every level of manifestation, from the smallest to the largest, it is still easy to miss a very important application that is very close to home, each and every person.
Mirrors are common household items. They are used for dressing, for reflecting more light and for creating the feeling of a larger space. But mirrors also have negative aspects.
Mirrors can create false images and incite chaos and conflict. For example, a bedroom with mirrored closets often creates insomnia. Also, have you ever noticed that if you talk with a friend while sitting next to a full mirrored wall, the discussion often turns into an argument?
“Is it better to have a round or square dining table?” In feng shui consultations, this is a frequently asked question. Naturally, which is better has a lot to do with the space; the surrounding furniture, the family structure, and the setting one is trying to create.
In consideration of any work, we always begin with the fundamental principles of yin and yang. What is dynamic and mobile is yang, while what is static and stable is yin. Hence, round shapes are yang and square or rectangular shapes are yin.
The recent unrest in Ukraine over its president Viktor Yanukovish backing out of a trade deal with the European Union, prompted one of my students in Kiev, to ask me about the national flag of Ukraine. How does the flag of Ukraine reflect the fate of the country? The flag is composed two equal sized blue and yellow bands. Originally, yellow on the top, now it is reversed and blue sits on top. Does this make any difference?
There is a country with a land size of 35,900 Km square, 0.37 % of USA. It has a population of 23 million (7.35% USA). This country has no oil, iron, coal, gold, or mineral deposit, nor does it have any other noticeable natural resources.
Yet this country has accomplished:
GDP per capita: $37,000 (USA $49.800)
Foreign Reserve: 408 billion. It ranks No. 6 in the world, next to China, Japan, European Union, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.
A logo is a graphical element, together with its logotype, forms a trade mark or commercial brand for recognition. One of the most important parts of a company’s branding strategy is choosing the right logo. From a feng shui point of view, a logo is beyond just a trademark or brand. It encapsulates the energy of the company in the image. It represents the very essence, the totality of the company.
Ten years in the making, the National September 11 Memorial was completed and opened to the public on September 12, 2011. The eight-acre park was designed by Israeli- American, Michael Arad of Handle Architects, a New York and San Francisco firm.
The Memorial is composed of a forest of swamp white oak trees with two square pools, one on each of the original foot prints of the North and South Towers. The core of the design is a 30-foot man-made wall of water that hugs the sides of the one-acre reflecting pools. The downward-streaming water is meant to symbolize falling tears.
