This month I attended the International Feng Shui Association (Australia Chapter) conference in Melbourne. The theme of the conference was; “Unlocking the Secrets of Feng Shui”. I was honoured to be a guest speaker and my presentation was a summary of many of my learnings over the last 14 years of study with various Colleges, Masters and Grand Masters. I received positive feedback from many of the attendees and was thanked for sharing my gems of knowledge with them that they in turn could use in their consultations.

I would now like to share some of the gems I received from attending this conference. The Keynote speaker was Howard Choy, esteemed Feng Shui architect residing in Berlin, Germany but a frequent visitor to Australia and someone I have studied with on numerous occasions. I’ve heard his talks on Causal vs correlative thinking a few times and the importance of this cannot be underestimated. We need to remember that correlation is not causation. We don’t want to turn Feng Shui into a superstition. Howard stresses the importance of getting a balance and harmony between the yin and yang of areas. A good consultation uses information from both of the 2 major schools of Feng Shui – the Form school and Compass school (Flying star, 8 Mansions etc). One of the things that really resonated with me was the comment, “Where the heart and mind go, the Chi will follow”. When you can’t change the body or form of a space then try and change the mind of the occupant. The point that we as consultants are only as good as our clients is another important one. We can advise our clients to do x, y and z but if they only choose to do one of these (or none in some cases) then the lack of results rest on them not us as consultants. The buck really does stop with them following as many of the recommendations they are given as possible.

I really enjoyed Master Jancy Lew’s presentation on “What Happens if Feng Shui does not work?”.

She reiterated that to be given an A+ as a consultant, you need to ensure you incorporate a combination of 4 aspects including Landscape & Form, 8 Mansions, Flying Star and Date Selection. You need to layer all the schools to get the best results. Feng Shui is a live tool. Master Lew uses the grid method rather than the more common pie method to divide buildings into different sectors. The more I learn about this method, the more I feel there is benefit in dividing a building using the grid method rather than the pie. Grand Master Stephen Skinner also uses this method as he insists it is the method used in the classic teaching of Feng Shui. I usually look at both when doing a consultation to see if I can get any further information from either method.

Master Salwa Abboud spoke on the Trigrams and looked at the trigram in the centre in 2018 and how it impacts the year. In 2018, it is the Li Fire Trigram which puts women in the centre and the treatment of women has definitely been a topic of discussion this year. There is a changing consciousness occurring around us. Fertility is also a focus this year. Salwa used an interesting method of placing the trigram associated with each month on top of the yearly trigram of Fire/Li to form a Hexagram which she then extrapolated information from on what is likely to occur each month. For example August relates to Hexagram 22 Grace – good for collecting information. October relates to Hexagram 13 – Fellowship, especially with men. New friendships are likely and solutions around money can be found at this time.

Dr Anna Zarasyan did a comparative study examining the Chinese Astrology and Qi Men Dun Jia charts of 5 key females in politics; Gladys Berejiklian, Jacynda Ardern, Pauline Hanson, Julia Bishop and Penny Wong. Her premise was that inauspicious marriage luck translates into success in politics. All of them had elements within their charts indicating being excellent speakers and having the power element present.

Master Tyler Rowe presented on Dragon Veins and Real Estate and the best places to invest and live accordingly. His focus was on the landform around various suburbs where Chi would settle and therefore support occupants living here. He correlated these suburbs with real estate prices to show that although there are many variables in terms of what makes a suburb expensive, one aspect that can and should be considered is whether there is a dragon vein supporting the area or not.

The final speaker was Master Janene Laird who is also the President of the IFSA (Australia chapter). She presented on “Using Chinese Astrology as part of a Feng Shui consultation”. I definitely agree that to be a good Feng Shui consultant you also need to have a good level of understanding around the Chinese Astrology of your clients as well. Although our Chinese Astrology is our destiny to an extent, by understanding it we can identify potential periods of success and trouble and therefore modify our destiny accordingly. Before I go to a consultation I always look at my clients Chinese Astrology as it gives me a great insight into what may be affecting them. Potential clashes in relationships are quite evident as are times when wealth will flow to a person. It is a great tool to advise clients of their potential, forewarned is forearmed. Some great information about using favourable colours and directions for clients based on their favourable Chinese Astrology elements were provided as well as ways to activate better luck, romance and academic success by looking at activating symbolic stars within various sectors of the building.

Another enjoyable weekend discussing Chinese Metaphysics with like minded people. Really looking forward to attending the International Conference being held in Japan at the end of the Year.