Since I am free at the moment,
Let's detract a bit with this article from Heluo of which I am a member of their Yahoo Chat group since 2003 which might helps some of you in your studies of Flying Stars.
The Function of Central Stars in a Flying Star chart.
Several question arise where it concerns central Stars in a Flying Star chart, so we will cover this issue here.
What is the function of central Stars in a Flying Star chart?
What is the message revealed by the central Stars?
After we took the Sitting Star and Facing Star to the center of a floorplan, can we install physical ‘Mountain’ or ‘Water’ adjustments to the then found Mountain Dragon and Water Dragon in the center of the floorplan?
Do we manipulate the Flying Star chart by interior or exterior adjustments?
Why do we extend lines in the Flying Star chart to the exterior?
How does Qi flow inside or outside buildings?
From Qi influence to Qi effect
Besides using the square boxes, and projecting certain Stars at the center of a house, it became common practice also to superimpose the Flying Star onto the floorplan so that it would appear as if the Stars governed from within a built structure.
We find no basis to this in any of the ancient Feng Shui Classics. This is fine for class communications, but we do not practically use nine square or rectangular sectors, as we understand that Feng Shui is about directional influences. Square sectors cannot show directions and it furthermore cannot show flow of directional Qi. In fact, using square boxes would imply that the house had invisible interior Mountains, blocking Qi, restricting Qi and forcing Qi to remain within certain limited areas.
Usually we will take the Period Star, the Facing Star and the Sitting Star to the center of our floorplan, but you may just as well take these Stars to the palm of your hand, because they are just for reference sake. Central Stars will tell you something about the overall governing spirit of the house, they may tell you what opportunities or events lie ahead for certain individuals in the house.
Influence and effect
We can extend the Trigram demarcation lines of the Chinese compass (Luo Pan) to reach outside the built structure and we saw how we may project the Stars outside the structure.
Through Feng Shui, we study environmental Qi.
Qi as directional – environmental - influence will approach a built structure outside-in and will render effect only after it had been allowed to enter the building.
The center is Tai Ji and Tai Ji cannot be physically defined, it cannot be quantified. Yet everything is - and depends on - Tai Ji.
For a built structure – a built structure in Feng Shui terms is defined as a construction with walls and a roof so that it can contain Qi in its Heaven’s Heart – the Qi of 9 Stars will enter the building and reside inside the building into their appointed directions.
We may be able to determine the physical center for any built structure, but this does not imply that we can also define a Qi center or even define the center of Qi in square meters, in other words, it cannot be quantified. Qi center and physical center are not synonymous. We will therefore at best find Tai Ji ‘in or around’ the center of a built structure, as opposed to finding the central Di Pan Star 5 Earth – or any of the other Stars - contained at the physical center.
What lies in Heaven’s Heart is Tai Ji, and what is at the heart of Tai Ji is creation.
Reference point for Qi
Qi will be always in search for a reference point. It tries to cling onto this reference point, mingle with it and it will then seek to be emitted and transported by this reference point. Two reference points can emit energy amongst one another. This reference point for Qi can be your body, or it can be the physical center of a house.
If Qi attaches to your physical body – e.g. the energy of a favorable Star -, this quality will cling to you. You now become a vessel for Qi, in that you can transport this Qi quality to a different location, say within your house, or you will emit this energy to your environment or onto other people.
For an open space, however, Qi cannot find any one specific reference point for Qi for it to be then contained in. An open piece of land will not have a Flying Star chart. If Qi finds a lamp pole as its reference point, the pole would still have the 9 Stars cast their influence from the eight directions, but the lamp pole will not have a Flying Star chart.
Qi will be carried on the back of the directions and it will be blocked by Mountains and Qi will be stopped whenever it encounters Water.
We cannot use a Flying Star chart (Man Chart) for a piece of land, a city or a country. Any construction not having walls or a roof to contain Qi will have the Earth chart (Di Pan) and the Time chart (Tian Pan). For open spaces:
- Qi will be blocked, accumulated and emitted by mountains, elevations, buildings, physical objects.
- Qi will be stopped and activated by water, open space, sloping lands.
- Qi will cling to - and be transported and emitted by - mobile objects, including humans.
Once Qi is contained within built structures:
- Qi will follow the path of least resistance.
- Qi will ascend on warm air, it will descend on cold air.
- Qi (yang) will be attracted to and travel along walls (yin), before it will move freely into a room or towards the physical center.
- Qi will adjust to - and adopt the frequency of - texture, structure, shape, form, color.
What’s in Heaven’s Heart?
Now, let us consider the function and use of central Stars.
Before we further investigate what may happen at the center of a built structure, we can use the analogy of a drop – or a stone, as I prefer – hitting the water surface and producing concentric rings.
The water surface is tranquil, but this serenity is disturbed by the drop or the stone hitting the water surface.
Rings will be formed and be visible, long even after the drop - or the stone - that caused the turbulence has dissapeared.
Of course I use this only as an analogy to help visualize how Heaven Qi imposes its influence on a built structure, but it is only just an analogy. You must therefore visualize the rings on this picture to be moving outside-in, rather than moving inside-out, to have a fair idea on how directional Qi reaches the house from all directions.
Time Star 7, that will be descending vertically down on earth. The drop (7) is a metaphor for an influence from the Heavens as it creates concentric rings, but the drop itself will soon dissapear. This ‘drop’ can create rings that will last twenty years.After the rings were formed, we can work on the rings, but we can no longer work on the initial drop.
The same is true for the directional Qi influences. Directional Qi moves towards the house to reach its physical center, but the center is not part of the directions, in fact, we cannot define a ‘Feng Shui center’ for a built structure, we can merely define a physical center for any built structure.
After a while, another drop (8) will hit the water surface, yet creating its own rings, that will then last for another Period of twenty years.
You can extend this idea to many different influences – either Heaven or Earth in origin – which will all create their rings, which may last one year, one month or one day.
This analogy becomes useful in our understanding of the function and influence of the center of buildings, however the comparison only holds to a certain point, as is the case always with concepts that are based in analogy.
We can use the analogy of water rings, up to the point that we need to understand however, that we were using an analogy by which the influence will be inside-out: the rings will move from the center outward. However, for our Feng Shui assessments we need to understand that directional Qi will work outside-in towards the center – or toward any reference point for that matter-, but we can hardly define a Qi center.
Looking at yet another analogy, we can use a radio. Your radio will receive radio signals through its antenna. However, you will not be able to perceive this as sound just yet, or – if you were to open and investigate the antenna – you will not find any music there.
If you then position the radio and you sit yourself down with that radio, surrounding yourself with eight loudspeakers into eight directions, what you will receive is the sound from all these directions, bass tones perhaps from the South, high tones perhaps from the North, but you still cannot 'hear' the original radio signal having come through the antenna.
A radio receives radio signals through its antenna. Suppose we were to install our radio at the center of a room and surround it by eight loudspeakers.
Although eight loudspeakers, one into each direction, give off sound, we cannot say that we can find sound at the center, or in the antenna. You cannot hear or see the radio signal, although the entire set up relies on it.
Still, you can enjoy several programs reaching you through the central antenna. For a house, we need to see how tangible and intangible forces influence our house and the people living in it.
We can see how Qi can take on many faces, all at the same time, and we find its many appearences – and its ever changing properties - codified in the charts we use, like Heaven chart, Earth Chart, annual chart, month chart or day chart.
As Feng Shui practitioners, we need to know how Qi in its different phases will mingle, how the different influences then affect one another, how these patterns behaved in the past and we want to be able to project all this into the future.
Practically it means, we can work with Tian Pan, Di Pan, Ren Pan and so on, all simultaneously, and superimposing one onto the other in a ceaseless journey through past, present and future. Point is, what function do we assign to the center?
Tai Ji
Here is a representation of Tai Ji – the one universal diagram depicting the Infinite Universe -, often referred to also as Yin-Yang emblem.
Tai Ji is a Universal symbol, leading us to explore and understand the vast cosmos, up to our using Tai Ji to study even the smallest particle.
Tai Ji is what lies ahead of Creation, but it lies within Creation.It signifies how One Infinite Universe differentiates itself into two fundamental forces, yin and yang and it is at the cradle of the Nineteen Principles of the Infinite Universe, accredited to Fu Xi and of which neither can be taken away and none could be added.
On a geographical level, Tai Ji shows waxing and waning of earth magnetic forces, as well as on a much smaller scale, it can be used to understand the functions of our bodies.
If we stay with our Feng Shui studies, Tai Ji can represent any topografical or geographical structure, or we can simply superimpose Tai Ji onto our floorplan and make it valid for confined structures in which Qi can be contained.
For our Feng Shui purpose we will mostly project Tai Ji along with the eight directions. Using eight directions, we will automatically arrive to the basic Luo Shu.
Usually we see 5 Earth projected at the center of the Luo Shu.
But why is there no Star in the center?
There is no Star in the center, because the center takes in no direction, and there is no Star in the center for the same reason that we will not find a stone in the center of a set of rings on the water.
Several Heaven and Earth influences can happen at the same time.
For a house, we need to see how tangible and intangible forces influence our house all simultaneously, how they mingle, how they affect one another.
How they ran their influence in the past and how we can project their influence into the future.
Practically it means, we can work with Tian Pan, Di Pan, Ren Pan and so on, superimposing one onto the other in a ceaseless journey through past, present and future.
Always implied in a Flying Star chart – although perhaps not all shown:
- He Tu diagram (River Map)
- Xian Tian Ba Gua (‘Former Heaven’ sequence)
- Hou Tian Ba Gua (‘Later Heaven’ sequence)
- Tian Pan (Heaven chart)
- Annual, monthly, daily Star charts
- Ten Heavenly Stems, Twelve Earthly Branches
- Trigrams, Hexagrams, Five Transformations
Although in a Feng Shui Flying Star chart, we will not show the basic 5 Earth Luo Shu, it is always implied.
Heaven and Earth forces move in a spirallic manner, always changing their dynamic from centrifugal to centripetal and back.
You can allot Time factors (Solstices, Equinoxes) and Space factors (directions, Earthly Branches) into the directions, twelve directions in this specific example.
Note that the 360 degrees compass circumference can be divided into:
- eight 45 degrees sectors to accommodate the Trigrams and the 9 Stars;
- twelve 30 degrees sectors to accommodate the Twelve Earthly Branches – more commonly known as the twelve Chinese animal signs;
- 24 sectors of 15 degrees each, referred to as the 24 Mountain Ring. It is this ring of the Chinese Compass (Luo Pan) that Xuan Kong Feng Shui heavily relies on. It decides whether Mountain and Water Dragons fly in ascending or descending order through the fixed Luo Shu Pattern.
That's all, folks.
Courtesy of Heluo Nine Star Ki Yahoo group.
