Terminology

Feng Shui is ancient Chinese medical knowledge of human life and of living in harmony with nature and the environment. Its origins lie in the the still older Indian Vastu Shastra. According to those writings, everything is infused with universal energy (Chi) and is related to each other; every thing, every being, every thought, every feeling. Nothing exists in isolation. In harmony one can create peace and strength; in harmony health, happiness and success may grow.

In order to express that beyond everything that surrounds us there is a source of energy which is vital to life, and to demonstrate how much we are formed by the influences in our environment, those who named this ancient medical knowledge symbolically chose the two blending „elements“ wind (Feng –chin. character-) and water (Shui –chin. character-).

Feng Shui is alive in the spirit of the I Ging, the book of transformations, as well as in Chinese medicine, astrology, landscaping, and architecture. The Chinese calendar plays a central role in the transmission of energy flows, in determining the right time for activities, and it advises us on what to do and what to avoid.

Feng Shui is an art and the expression of the social, cultural and scientific achievements of the Chinese civilization. It is part of the traditional Chinese way of being and perceiving, it stretches back more than 5000 (or even 7000) years and is still present today. It was strictly prohibited during the „cultural revolution“. Knowing about the meaning of harmony and the willingness to strive for it leads many Asian people to perform Qui Gong or Tai Chi, „shadow boxing“ (as it is called in Western languages), yoga, or ZEN, the journey that is the destination. More and more people influenced by the Western way of life have long since recognised this culture.

When Feng Shui became known in Europe in the 19th century, people associated it with geomancy. While geomancy puts the earth at the centre, Feng Shui focuses on people and is more comprehensive than geomancy. In recent decades, Feng Shui has developed rapidly in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia, not least thanks to the masters who fled from China. It has been adapted to the Western lifestyle and habits without giving up on the essential Asian wisdom. In Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines there are special Feng Shui movements.

Feng Shui provides information about:

•    the energy flow of the all-pervasive Chi,
•    the interplay of Yin and Yang,
•    the five transformation phases (five elements) in relation to each other and to the energies, the organs, the directions in the room, the seasons, the colours, forms, emotions, figures,
•    the five animals turtle, dragon, tiger, snake and phoenix with their symbolic meaning and their effect in relation to the various elements of a landscape,
•    the nine life-fields in Bagua (the „body of the dragon“) as a helpful tool for structuring a house, an apartment, an office, a work space, a theatre, a school.

Just as our environment has an important influence on us, our inner and outer state also influence our environment. It is even possible that the environment may be an expression of our state of being.

Feng Shui begins with the individual, with his or her specific project (e.g. building a house, the renovation or redesigning of an apartment) and the needs, objectives, possibilities related to it. Feng Shui includes the garden, the vicinity, the surrounding landscape. In Asia, the perfect time for starting the construction and moving into the new house would also play an important role.

The uniqueness of each individual should have its place in his or her personal environment, and it should be space which encourages that person and his or her potential for development. Harmony is not imposed by rules and design regulations, it is created on a very personal level through empathy and creativity.

In the following, you find examples of some design options in the context of building a new house which could play an important role from a Feng Shui perspective (legal and official requirements form a framework):

•    Should the architecture of the house be adapted to the architecture of the landscape, or should it stand out, and what would be the consequences?
•    Which defining energy is provided by the natural environment and how does this affect the premises (situated near a body of water, a mountain)?
•    After examining the premises, what would be the best location for the house, and which influences are to be expected from the direct neighbourhood?
•    Which room dimensions are ideal?
•    What would be the best floor plan (Bagua) considering the cardinal points, the arrangement of the windows and doors, the corridors and stairways (Chi-flow)?

Furthermore the usual criteria need to be clarified (all have the same significance in Feng Shui). These are e.g. harmony achieved through furniture, colours, illumination, the influence of daylight, plants, art and craftwork, layout of the entrance of the house, landscaping considering the views from the windows, etc. And last but not least, the use of organically cultivated materials, insulation material and all sorts of installations must be considered including protection against electric smog and, possibly, remaining geopathic burdens.

The objective is to achieve a harmonious environment and a good indoor climate with good vibrations furthering well-being, the absence of stress, a concentration boost for studying and working as well as for relaxing and regenerating. In every environment, the best Chi-flow should be guaranteed.

An environment created in this way has a positive effect on the residents of the house, the family, friends, visitors, clients and, last but not least, the pets and plants. In turn, the residents now have the opportunity to make sure that through their health, lifestyle, emotions and aura they have a positive effect on this environment and shape it.

Geomancy (also called geomantics) means earth-prophesy / earth-divination, and it is derived from  Ancient Greek „geomanteia“ („gaia“ or „ge“ = earth and manteia = prophecy).

According to prof. Eike Hensch, geomancy has to do with the energetic, “biocybernetic influences that are related to the interior of the earth and the earth’s surface”. Marko Pogacnik defines it thus: “Telling the truth about the hidden powers of the earth” and writes about the “holistic access to the subtle, invisible dimensions of landscape, earth and nature.”

This also includes the connection and the interaction between earth and the cosmos and our experience and decryption of the energetic processes and the information therein. Prerequisites for the practice of this art are experience with radiesthesia and bioresonance combined with the ability to be emphatic, to imagine, to be intuitive, to have inner vision and to feel.

Johannes Heimrath (HagiaChora) defines geomancy thus: „Geomancy is about the relationship between people and earth, between people and spaces, between people, places and landscapes – and everything has an ethnic-spiritual component.“ These qualities of relationships cannot be conveyed in the language of geomancers alone, they can also be conveyed in the language of architects, gardeners, philosophers, scientists, and therapists.

Marko Pogacnik writes something like this: “We, on the other hand, have narrowed our perception down to five senses and thus to the material surfaces the mind can access - the world in its energetic, mental-spiritual, material wholeness. Our thought patterns filter our perception. They are a creation of culture, formed over a period of thousands of years, which has nothing to do with the true image of landscape, earth and nature.”

Several institutes offer geomancy trainings. One important part consists in training our  awareness in order to attain a refined perception on the physical, emotional and mental level, e.g. by observing a tree or a landscape, by perceiving the “ghost of a place”, the genius loci or by recognizing the qualities of a landscape. Part of the training involves learning how the geomancer approaches a place, how he or she “breathes it in”.

“Mother earth” is considered to be a living organism. Different qualities of sensation are perceived, depending on the chakras that resonate with a chosen place. Points of breathing in and of breathing out are detected as well as irradiation and outpouring points, centres of vital energy and heart centres.

It is not just one individual place such as Stonehenge, for example, that is contemplated; rather, it is the interconnectedness and the significance of the entire surrounding landscape covering many kilometres and encompassing all earthworks and holy sites, which is taken into consideration, everything which is connected with each other through the historical activities and common myths. The memory of places provides information about this.

Much wider contexts are also considered: The entire European landscape with Crete as the root chakra of Europe, for example. Which supra-regional lines of force (ley lines) connect which important places? Why is there a ley line from Delphi via Wallhall to the Externsteine?

Any place where we interfere with nature on a massive scale, e.g. where brown coal is being mined in open-pits going down to a depth of 500 m, where villages disappear and wounds of many square kilometres are created on the surface of the earth and where eventually spoil dumps are are brought into cultivation once more, geomancers support the “earth healing”. They offer consultations concerning landscaping and help through active involvement, placement of stones and energetic work. Ecological perspectives and approaches are derived from this kind of work as a consequence.

On the history of geomancy:

The art of consulting an oracle is referred to as divinatory geomancy (e.g. the Oracle of Delphic, the Arabian Sand Oracle, medieval „dotting“). The form of geomancy described above is referred to as telluric geomancy. Studies exist which perceive geomantic practices already in megalithic constructions and in the alignment of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman structures.

In England, publications about geomancy go back to the 16th century. When Chinese Feng Shui became known in Europe in the 19th century, it was associated with geomancy. In the 1960s, there was inspiration and motivation for a new geomantic movement originating in England in the youth culture of the hippie era. In those days, the discussion about ley lines started. In the seventies, the heyday of pop music and the newly discovered Eastern religions, the „earth-mysteries“-movement formed itself. The researchers and authors John Mitchell, Marco Bischof, Paul Devereux and Nigel Pennik, whose publications include an inexhaustible wealth of knowledge about geomancy, are closely related to this.

In this context, interference suppression refers to interference fields / zones caused by electrical and magnetic alternating fields, high-frequency radiation and terrestrial radiation. The expressions „interference fields“ and „interference zones“ are often used interchangeably. „Interference zones“ were also understood to be locally limited zones or areas in which disturbances were observed. Their significance increases when they are potentially harmful to our health and if we are unable to avoid them because we want to or have to spend several hours in these areas often or on a regular basis.
 
The harmful radiation in your bedroom or workplace may for instance be much stronger than the body’s own energies. This may change the bioenergetic right spin in our cells into a left spin, which in turn may have an effect on our acid-base-balance and our immune system. The dominant frequencies of the radiation load can interfere with the natural brain oscillations, thus creating stress and even dysfunction. Some of the resulting symptoms may be restlessness, an inability to concentrate, headaches, back problems, immune deficiency, insomnia and worse. Wolfgang Priggen gave us a detailed account during our congress.
 
There are limited possibilities as to what we can do regarding interference suppression. One exception is shielding, which results in no more or hardly any radiation being left on the “other side” of the shield, while otherwise radiation often persists. It can only be dimmed, we may be able to tolerate it better (because of harmonisation), it can be partly neutralised within a limited field or it can be deviated locally (in which case it reappears in another area).

Apart from physical shielding, the following procedures are used:

Interference (erasure effect due to phase shifting by half the wave length in case of interference and same amplitude), inversion (reversal of a radiation spectrum) or suppression (deflection by installations generating an antenna effect in interference suppression mats). Sometimes all that is left is to escape, e.g. move to another house.

Alternating current

Electric fields are generated by the voltage present in electric mains in walls or visible electric cables. One example: As soon as a light is switched on and the current flows, additional magnetic fields are generated.

A strong physical reduction is possible by using twisted pair cabling, by using shielded cables / switches / connector strips / sockets, by using network activators in the fuse box, by using spacers, by avoiding material which can be charged and become an emitter itself (e.g. innerspring mattresses), and also by avoiding electric devices (e.g. an electric motor for adjusting the slatted bed frame).

Interference fields coming from beneath (e.g. from the floor underneath a bed or often from cables installed in the ceiling of the apartment one floor down) can be suppressed with the help of a special mat which hast to be grounded.

In addition, there are neutralisation or harmonisation methods. In case of a successful harmonisation carried out, the rod in front of a socket would not rotate to the left anymore, it would rotate to the right. Physically, though, the voltage is still present.

The magnetic part of a field is difficult to shield off and the procedure is very costly. Mu metal is worth mentioning here, that can be used to sheathe a conducting part. 

High-frequency radiation

High-frequency electromagnetic radiation, pulsed or unpulsed, is often present 24/7, be it in the district where you live, in the direct vicinity of your house, in your house itself or in your own apartment. It is generated by mobile network transmitters, emitted from your own base station, the mobile phone, the WiFi installation or through Bluetooth.

More than 99% of all external radiation can be warded off with the help of special finely meshed copper netting that is placed underneath the external plaster or, if appropriate, underneath the roof or the internal plaster or wallpaper; it then has to be grounded. That is what is called genuine “shielding”. If there is only a weak radiation load, interior painting using a special shielding paint which is also grounded is sufficient. Grounding is necessary not because of the high-frequency radiation, but because of the alternating current that is used for devices within the shielded area.

And please do not forget the windows! Here, it is sufficient to use a finely meshed metal fly screen from the D.I.Y. market which is attached like a roller blind.

Shielding must be carried out very meticulously. When radiation enters through an unshielded wall and hits a shielded wall opposite, the radiation is reflected and is doubled in strength.

For anyone who cannot or does not want to give up WiFi, there is the possibility to use systems where the performance can be reduced to a level where functionality is still just about given. This protects the neighbours at the same time. In return, the neighbour may be motivated to curb his or her system as well. At night, the system hast to be switched off completely (if no other possibility exists, you need to pull the plug).

More and more low-radiation DECT telephones are available. Alternatively, telephones are available where the base station only transmits when a call is made. Depending on the distance between the handset and the base station, more or less power is used for transmitting, which results in the radiation intensity decreasing.

If external shielding is too expensive or not possible to realise (e.g. in rented housing), there is still the possibility to shield the sleeping area with a special net (silver threads/cotton fabric or silver threads/synthetic fibres). The construction looks like a mosquito net or (the more comfortable version) like a canopy bed with fabric all round on 5 or even 6 sides. No grounding is necessary. The bedside lamp and the alarm clock, however, must be on the other side of the shielding. (The electric heating pad and the electrical motor to adjust the bed don’t stand a chance, of course.)

Terrestrial radiation

There are numerous methods to achieve interference suppression:

One of them is field alteration according to Prof. Eike Hensch. Here, purely natural measures are employed (planting boxwood or placing limestone plates (in case of water veins), placing fieldstones indoors, installing an opus spicatum in a brick wall, placing cornerstones in all 4 corners of the house, taking care that the polarities are correctly aligned (the effect is that of a stone circle).

Mats or other products manufactured from natural materials such as cork, wood or granulated rock compound can be used.  Due to charging, their effect wears off after some time, in which case the material needs to be replaced.

It is also possible to use technical products such as the biofield former (neutralisation of the interference fields), interference suppression mats with special installations such as resonant circuits, (displacement of the interference fields), harmonisation products (rod rotation to the right, prior to that to the left), pyramids or differently shaped products based on sacred geometry (these have an added positive effect on chakras) or systems in which various informed components are combined.

Sometimes nature itself practises interference suppression (a birch tree growing not far from a water vein running parallel to the house attracts the water vein and thus draws it away from the house).

In some cases, auto suggestion works: Studies in the area of brain research show that after – ineffective - interference suppression measurements had been taken (measurements carried out with high-frequency measuring devices or Geomagnetometers showed that radiation was still present) , the organism dealt differently with the situation than before. (Maybe science wasn’t able to identify harmonisation, e.g. the fact that in front of a socket, the single hand rod is now oscillating to the right instead of the left although the electrical field is still present.)

Contacts

Because a reduction of interference fields is a basic requirement for far-reaching and successful therapeutic measures, therapists are advised to contact an experienced, reliable dowser and an experienced, reliable building biologist. Quite often it is possible to meet someone who fulfils both conditions. Building biologists Mr. Wolfgang Priggen (not a member of VFS) and Mr. Jürgen Harder (VFS-member) can be contacted via the VFS head office, while Mr. Christian Adomadt can be contacted via Rayonex.

Food for thought

Which kind of interference suppression works in which way, how safe is it, and on which level (of the body) does it have an effect – all these are legitimate questions. While everybody has gained his or her own experience and expresses his or her own view, a completely satisfactory solution does not seem to exist as yet.

Here is an example: A few months ago, I spent the night at the house of a landscape architect and geomancer who is a friend of mine. During the night, I woke up and suffered from heart problems I had never experienced before. I immediately started testing, using a dowsing rod and a single hand rod. I promptly found a strong fault plus a Curry grid-crossing in the area of the bed where the upper part of the body is located. The only option I had in this tiny little room was to lie in bed with my feet at the top end. The problem subsequently relocated to my knee.

The next morning I described my „experience“. The answer was this: „But I suppressed the interference!” And indeed I found a piece of paper under the bedside table which had a lemniscate drawn onto it with a felt-tip pen.

I then started to reason that this measure, or a similar one, results in some kind of mental self-protection on the part of the person carrying out this measure. The same goes for the person to whom this measure is directed and who therefore knows about it. I am also thinking of house or sleeping area harmonisations carried out on a purely mental level. The measure clearly doesn’t show any effect in connection with a person who is not involved. It is a fact that in such a case earth radiation is still present, that it can be detected by any dowser and that it can also be clearly demonstrated by means of the Geomagnetometer.

Depending on how mature a person is, he or she is able to stabilise him/herself mentally to such an extent that in a situation such as the one described above, he or she remains balanced on the spiritual level, no stress is created on the physical level, the nerves and the hormone systems remain „quiet “ and keep functioning „normally“ – some are better able to do this, some are less able. But for how long is that possible? What are the actual effects on the entire organism on the physical level on a medium-term basis, and what are the effects on the other body planes?

We should be careful not to delude ourselves, because there are virtually unlimited influences we are exposed to daily which do us no good, and they surely do not merely influence us additively.

The building biologist „plays it safe“ and physically reduces as many interferences as possible and as well as he or she is able to. Further measures may still improve the harmony present in a particular room, they may improve our well-being, our chakras and our mental balance.