Going to go far -- the sooner the better

Tom Bender seems to have some quirky theoretical notions about qi, along with his ideas about sustainable building practices, and a whole lot more. He's been pontificating about feng shui for several years and remains ignorant -- no visible education, no reputable references, no outside corroboration.

Plus he suffers from the New-Age obsession with quantum mechanics.

What He Says	Reality Check
Feng-shui ', as the practice is called, literally means 'wind and water', but is concerned with quite different things than the topographical and ecological considerations that we think important. … it is concerned with the flow of 'chi' or 'prahna' energy of the earth and atmosphere circulating through the veins and vessels of the earth. …The practice of feng-shui differed considerably in northern and southern China, influenced by the quite different nature of their topography.	Bender does not know the definition of feng shui -- that it is shorthand for "The qi that rides the wind stops at the boundary of water." He is not aware there are two types of environments that are optimal: those that catch the wind, and those that retain water. All the blather about what Stephen Field calls qimancy is beside the point here. Bender's Procrustean vision puts feng shui into the shape he wants -- it must work with his unique concepts of qi. When some aspect doesn't fit the vision, it's erased. Bender sidesteps a lot of the facts about feng shui, especially the thousands of years of astronomy at the heart of feng shui. According to the Appended Words Commentary (c. 300 BCE), the ancients used astronomy as the basis for the symbols in the Yijing, including Hetu and Luoshu. Both bagua are ancient star maps. A page in "The Astronomical Phenomena" (Tien Yuan Fa Wei) compiled by Bao Yunlong in the 13th century shows the Luoshu as a star diagram. First Bender says feng shui didn't have anything to do with topography. Then he says feng shui in southern China was influenced by the difference in topography. You can't have it both ways.
North China, with a much more uniform and regular landscape, developed a practice emphasizing the influence of astrological and astronomical considerations, involving the use of a complex geomantic compass to consider the relative direction and influence of various forces. In the south, with a complex and irregular topography, the relative importance of the influence of surrounding land and water forms was much greater, and brought about the development and refinement of practices involving dowsing techniques to locate and map the location of various kinds of energy and consideration of the shapes and position of various kinds of landforms which correspond with certain energy flows and concentrations.	Dowsing -- a western occult tradition -- is the basis for feng shui in southern China? What forms of energy were being assessed, and which methodologies were used? What does Bender mean by "energy"? Excrementous! The dowsing theory doesn't fit the facts: There were many advanced cultures 4,000 to 5,000 years ago in the valleys of several major rivers in China. The civilization in central China was not the most developed, but it apparently absorbed the cultures in the surrounding areas to form Chinese civilization. Just like the far-ranging Longshan cultures before them, the Shang traded heavily with the Dongyi and other tribes far to the south. All capital cities modeled on Erlitou. All capital cities used the same orientation system, which involved some early form of feng shui. The zhinan zhen and Luopan were used throughout China. The first liuren astrolabes were uncovered near Shashi, in Hubei (what used to be the kingdom of Chu). Fujian is considered the area from where navigators first sailed with navigational compasses, which were built from a Luopan. Extraordinary claims require extraordnary evidence. Let's see some of the extraordinary evidence for this "dowsing" theory.
The influence of the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars, are also considered important, and bring into consideration the 'pseudo-sciences' of astrology and the I-Ching.	This is an ignorant oversimplification to fit the Procrustean vision. Ask Bender which stars are considered important. Ask him how the moon is considered important. And which sort of astrology does he believe is involved? Are we talking about calendrical (hemerological) computations or building orientations?
The view of the cosmos upon which city location was based spoke symbolically in terms of four Gods -- one dwelling in a stream to the east, one in a plain to the south, one in a highway to the west and the fourth in a mountain to the north. A site with these surroundings was felt suitable. A rectangular plan was made in the symbol of the cosmos, reflecting the rhythms of the sun and the seasons which most strongly affected the land. The Emperor was placed in the north, as he always faced the holy south in alignment with the growth-granting forces of the earth. Temples were built in the northeast to a guardian deity, as that direction was felt to be unlucky - devils dwell in the mountains (as well as enemy troops). Buddhist temples often were placed in the west, as it was felt that Buddhism had a tendency to proceed eastward. The entire geometry and detailed layout of the city reflected symbolically their understanding of the cosmos.	Sounds nice, doesn't it? Too bad this is a fairy tale. It ignores tianyuan difang, archaeology and everything else. Consider the divination rite of puchan (crack-making) during the Shang. David Keightley's1 version begins at dawn, with the king in the "center of the four quarters" (the center of the temple, palace, or wherever the rite is being held). A taotie (the greedy, lustful beast associated with the Shang) is illuminated by the rising sun; evidently it faces east. Five prepared scapulae or plastrons are used for the divination (divination to the four quarters and Dao -- here -- the axis mundi where the king stands). As the Shang's world was ya-shaped (a cruciform symbol), not square, this fivefold division is the ancestor of wuxing and much else we know from feng shui.2 Early city sites are typically found on the banks of a river, and villages were often located on the terrace of the river or at river crossings. Some cities had rivers running right through them (Dongzhou culture, for example). Moats are also found around early Chinese cities and towns. At Xinglongwa (6200-5400 BCE) the gate was in the northwest. Wangchenggang had only one gate -- at the southeast. Bianxianwang had four, at the cardinal directions. At Banpo (4800-3600 BCE) there were ditches at the north, south, and east; at the southwest was a river. Xishan (5300-4800 bp) was round and surrounded by moats. Chengtoushan (part of the Yangzi River civilization), was also round, with four gates at the four directions (and there were human sacrifices under some of the walls). These cities illustrate tianyuan difang just as the Temple of Heaven in Beijing does today. Yanshi Erlitou (Xibo, c. 1900 BCE) has four intercrossing roads surrounding it. All later capitals were built on the Erlitou ideal. The Shang city at Zhengzhou (the city of Ao, c. 1600 BCE) also meets the criteria for a capital. Yinxu. The cemetery Xiebeigang is to the north of the Shang capital. (Cemeteries are usually found north of settlements and cities, from the Neolithic to more recent times.) Shang palaces at Xiaotun lie ten degrees east of due north. Yin (Shang) graves are typically shaped like the character ya and aligned to the cardinal directions. The coffin is always placed at the center (for the dead can only lie quiet at the center of a ya). The head is typically placed toward the north (which is the direction of down as well as the land of the Dark Turtle-Warrior and death). Grave goods and retainers surround the dead. This isn't that much different from the tomb at Puyang which was built 2,000 years earlier -- except there the tianyuan difang was more pronounced. The Zhouli stipulates a capital city is square, surrounded by suburbs, and the palace is located in the middle. The ancestors' temple is to the left (the yang side), the market is in the north, and the altar of Earth (Soil) is to the right (the yin side). There are nine gates, and nine streets east and west. (Quoting the Zhouli, the Shenzong emperor had a new city wall built for Kaifeng.) A lot of the hocus-pocus Bender mentions here is Buddhist. Buddhism provided spells and incantations (dharani) much like traditional Chinese sorcery (wushu or wugu). For example, when some of the royal family was threatened in the past, they relied on the dharani of the Eleven-faced Guanyin. Northeast as the home of devils, and unlucky? Don't believe Bender. According to the Huainanzi, the circumference of the celestial circle was divided into the eight cardinal and intercardinal directions. The Earthly Branches called "the four seasons" (called by scholars "the four hooks") are Zhou (northeast), Zhen (southeast), Wei (southwest), and Xu (northwest). Northeast is associated with branch Yin and the first month of the Xia calendar, along with increasing yang. Northwest is Penetrating Cleft (what some call Hamlet's Mill), where the Torch Dragon lives. This "dragon" is actually the Aurora Borealis, as shown in Tianwen: "What land does the sun not reach to? How does the Torch Dragon light it?" In Huainanzi, and throughout Chinese cosmology, it is agreed that where Daiyin (Great Yin) is located, yin sits at its maximum and the omens are therefore of winter and quiescence. Moreover, the directional gods are the four primary asterisms (the Bird, the Dragon, the Turtle, and the Tiger). It is no accident that the four hooks (seasons) identify the tilt of the ecliptic. This is based on the ancient tradition that the sun's extreme risings and settings mark out a square. That is one reason why the earth plate on a Luopan is square, just as the liuren astrolabes are square. And the square symbolizes Earth, just as a circle symbolizes heaven. Together the Heaven and Earth plates of a liuren, shipan, and Luopan symbolize tianyuan difang. Experts tend to agree that our ancestors first mapped the sky, then mapped the sky onto the ground. That is what the Chinese Classics say. From the research at Banpo it seems the Classics were not exaggerating.
Upon these considerations is based the elaborate and now time-encrusted practices of calculating the specific astrological influences on a place through the aid of a geomantic compass on which is diagramed the action of those forces.	A Luopan has the 24 jieqi categorized by wuxing. On a San He, the "three harmonies" use wuxing with three seasons. There's no "action of those forces" allegedly "diagrammed." It's a calculation of time as an angle. The 24 mountain ring uses five elements. The "universal five elements" uses 365.25 du (degrees) and tracks the xiu (lunar mansions) --another measurement of time as an angle. That's not "action of those forces," and it's astronomy, not astrology! You have been treated to more of Bender's "time-encrusted" extrementizing.
Subtle bodies, energy bodies, the chakras or places in the body where these are joined to the physical body are all combined into an integral view of the nature of life and of our universe which pervades their sciences and culture. …Various western investigators including Wilhelm Reich and Rudolph Steiner have formulated medical, agricultural, spiritual, educational, and other processes based on similar concepts of energy and organism which could well stand reinvestigation today.	Ah, "subtle bodies" -- that bau-biology and aura nonsense.

No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.-  -P. J. O'Rourke

Reference

1. David Keightley. Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. pp. 1-2
2. Allan, Sarah. The Shape of the Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1991

What's wrong?! I'll tell you what's wrong.

One way to tell real experts from people who look like experts is to ask them about the last mistake that they made. The expert is still chewing over that last mistake and asking "What should I have been watching for?" The nonexpert will dismiss a mistake as due to bad luck or say that it wasn't a mistake at all, but due to uncontrollable circumstances.
-- Gary Klein, a psychologist and chief scientist at Applied Research Associates in Fairborn, Ohio

Karen Rauch Carter wonders how people came to the conclusion that she is a quack. Carter says she wants to be of service to humanity, and claims she wants to be enlightened about how others view her work. This article has been provided to help her understand. We'll see whether she means what she says, or whether she is just another lunatic on the fringe.

A questionable business model

The conflict of interest at the heart of Carter's business indicates there is a problem.


Fraud occurs when someone has motivation, opportunity, and a rationalization. Feng shui fraud occurs when

1. Someone intentionally makes an untrue representation about an important fact or event. In feng shui this regularly occurs in the marketing of a feng shui consultant's techniques and abilities. Fraud also extends to tools and how someone markets their knowledge of their craft (including its documented history).
2. The untrue representation is believed by the victim (the client).
3. The victim relies upon and acts upon the untrue representation.
4. The victim suffers loss of money and/or property because they relied on and acted on the untrue representation. 

Karen Rauch Carter endorses and sells "tried and true feng shui solutions" that "offer a wide range of chi enhancements." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to speculate why Carter's clients suffer a lot from problems that can be fixed by one of her "solutions."You cannot verify the truth of her statements (testimonials do not count).

• You do not know whether you actually need these items in your home or business -- unless you believe Carter's marketing.
• You have no way of knowing (beyond Carter's marketing) whether any of these objects for sale are indeed traditional cures -- or whether they enhance anything beyond Carter's bottom line.

Has anyone tried returning one of her "solutions" because it did not work as advertised?

Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.-- Sophocles

Food for thought

Giovanni Maciocia made some interesting points that apply to feng shui just as surely as they apply to Chinese medicine. To paraphrase Dr Maciocia, the most important issue facing practitioners is not how to transmit the language of feng shui (an impossible task given the differences between Chinese and other languages) but how to transmit the clinical skills. The critical issue is not what words we use to identify something -- the issue is whether feng shui students are able to master the ability to identify and diagnose environments accurately.

Unfortunately, the public is still at the mercy of the feng shui fraudsters and their marketing. People still must weigh the marketer's language to determine whether their clinical skills are adequate. Learning how to read what the marketers are really selling is critical if you want to avoid being the victim of fraud.

Language helps us identify quacks and frauds

There is some interesting language in Carter's definitions.

What She Says	Reality Check
The five elements … are used to describe the five ways energy moves. Water describes a downward movement of energy, wood is an expansive movement, fire illustrates upward movement, earth describes a horizontal movement, and metal is a compressing movement. Organizing the motion and patterns of chi (energy) is the goal of feng shui. The bagua is considered "the map of feng shui," and is one of the most essential tools for evaluating a site, space or environment. The word bagua is roughly translated as "eight sides," which describes its octagonal shape.	Academics correlate wuxing with systems theory. That would be difficult to do if we used Carter's definition of the five elements. The five elements are used to describe interactions and relationships between phenomena. Wuxing literally translates to "five goings," and the word "energy" is not synonymous with phenomena. Carter's philosophy is not Chinese -- and it doesn't make sense in terms of systems theory. Based on her definition, Carter would have difficulty identifying forms by wuxing (wood = tall rectangle, fire = triangle, metal = round or elliptical, water = wavy, earth = flat or horizontal square). This skill is essential for conducting a feng shui analysis. How does Carter manage an analysis if her clinical skills are lacking in this important area? I suppose Carter would also have trouble understanding the fengshui of Wenzhou, although this is a terrific explanation! Carter further claims the goal of feng shui is to organize qi. To quote the Book of Burial (Zangshu): The Classic says, "The Qi that rides the wind stops at the boundary of water." The ancients collected qi to prevent its dissipation, and guided it to ensure its retention. Thus it was called fengshui. According to the laws of fengshui, the site that attracts water is optimum, followed by the site that catches wind. Where is the part about "organizing" qi? You won't find it because it isn't Chinese. It's New Age Good Housekeeping. Keep that qi in order, little lady -- just like your closets and the email Inbox -- or else the clutter monsters will get you. Carter thinks there is only one -- the McBagua of McFengshui. Actually Hetu and Luoshu are "essential tools" for evaluation. But these are nothing like the New Age stop sign that Carter uses. Neither bagua was originally an octagon. The literal translation of bagua is "eight diagrams." That is where the term Eight Diagram Theory originated.
Chi is the word used most often to describe the invisible energetic forces that are being changed or manipulated when using feng shui. The American description most closely aligned with this concept is "life force". More scientifically, it is the intelligence-holding vibration of sub-atomic particles, which make up all matter.	"Invisible energetic forces" are a dead giveaway that we are in the mental theme park of McFengshui. If these "forces" exist, they can be measured. If they cannot be measured then they exist because of a belief system.  Carter is promoting a belief system: life force, sometimes known as the aura -- a New Age concept borrowed from 19th century Vitalism and now found in Intelligent Design (Creationism). (Shows how modern "new age" really is.) Carter has also embraced the fraud of bau-biologie. "More scientifically" is a joke -- there is nothing scientific about Carter's statement. It's New Age word salad of the Deepak Chopra Anthropic Principle. If Carter is going to claim some scientific backing for her excrementizing, then she needs to follow the rules and provide provenance. Because her ideas are found in history books, not modern science. Feng shui works in the world of classical physics, not below the Planck length! Carter has actually explained our universe the way that the ancient Greeks understood matter. For example, if we continue to divide matter we get to atoms, try to divide atoms and you get quantum fields. What does spacetime look like at the quantum level? Probably a quantum chaos. -- Astronomy 123: Galaxies and the Expanding Universe from the U of Oregon Rather than explaining the quantum foam (the chaos), Carter's universe consists of nice, orderly particles -- the "music of the spheres" of the ancient Greeks -- an affinity she shares with William Spear. Quantum physics refers to a tightly defined branch of science. In the realm of bad science however, quantum is used as a blanket term to explain almost any phenomenon, no matter how absurd. -- Frank Swain, biologist Carter's word salad suggests her ideas were obtained from other McFengshui adherents. After all, "intelligence building" isn't Santiago Cognition Theory. The fabric of space can tear and reform in new ways, and it exhibits mirror symmetry that is violated in some cases. The nonconservation of parity, which is vitally important to understand if you are a feng shui consultant, is a typical stumbling block for McFengshui.
Feng shui is a system, or way of purposefully arranging an environment so that it positively affects those who live there. Although many cultures used various methods of feng shui to help themselves live life more harmoniously, it was first logged and documented by the Chinese culture - thus the popularity of their name for it. The words feng shui are translated as "wind and water," which describe the two forces that shape the environment. One visible and the other invisible, they both impact our lives constantly.	In the mental theme park of McFengshui all of this is true. After all, it sounds vaguely reminiscent of the greenwash that emanates from the Pyramid School created by Nancilee Wydra. McFengshui is a late 20th-century belief system that works off the Placebo Effect. Let's look again at the definition in the Book of Burial (Zangshu): The Classic says, "The Qi that rides the wind stops at the boundary of water." The ancients collected qi to prevent its dissipation, and guided it to ensure its retention. Thus it was called fengshui. According to the laws of fengshui, the site that attracts water is optimum, followed by the site that catches wind. The environment of Wenzhou was not "purposefully arranged." Wenzhou was arranged to fit into the environment. That is the critical difference between McFengshui and real feng shui. In authentic feng shui, cities, suburbs, houses -- even horse barns and dog houses -- are sited to fit into the environment. The article on Wenzhou illustrates the point that the city was sited for astronomy and its environment. The same thing is true of every capital city constructed by Chinese, including the original construction of Beijing. The objective of real feng shui is to play by the planet's rules. Feng shui provides the rules that have enabled the longest continuous civilization in human history to survive. When we ignore the rules we invariably make more trouble for ourselves -- think Katrina and the missing wetlands. Think of the missing mangrove forests that would have prevented so much devastation from the 2005 Asian tsunami. Think global warming. It is no coincidence that McFengshui does not acknowledge global warming or have a response beyond "buy more stuff" -- in this case "chi enhancers." McFengshui is stuck in the 19th century, talking about life force and auras and reeking of colonialism. Real feng shui does not exist to arrange the environment for our personal gain. It exists to fit us within the environment. By doing that feng shui keeps us safe and healthy. That is why feng shui can be used to combat global warming and environmental disaster. The First Peoples nearly succeeded in terraforming the entire Western Hemisphere before Europeans arrived, and they did it by the planet's rules. That's why it has taken us until the last 20 years to realize the hemisphere was terraformed. The McFengshui crowd would rather believe fairy tales about "universal feng shui" than give credit where it's due. They keep repeating this outrageous lie because it suits their financial goals, not because there's any truth in it.

If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and makes the same sounds as a duck, it is probably a duck.

The Ancient Art of BOGUS

Pam Kai Tollefson sounds like she knows what she is doing — if you don't know anything.

What She Says	Reality Check
feng shui literally means wind and water.	+sigh+ Let's repeat the mantra: The term feng shui is shorthand for "The energy that rides by the wind stops at the boundary of water."
feng shui began with Buddhism in India and came across Tibet, picking up folklore, Yin-Yang philosophy, Confucianism, and Taoism, of course.	This is the dogma of the Black Sect Buddhist Church. Buddha lived in Nepal in the sixth century BCE. Buddhism came to China around the first century CE (that's 700 years later). Moreover, Buddha considered the practice of finding lucky sites for buildings a low art. He forbade his disciples to practice it. Feng shui is a Chinese practice that does not seem to have been influenced by Vastu Shastra (the "low art" Buddha, as a Saka, was most familiar with). Feng shui was used at Banpo c. 4000 BCE, which is a lot earlier than anything remotely resembling Vastu. (And while south is the best direction in feng shui, it is the worst direction in Vastu.) Feng shui was ancient history in China before Buddhism -- Tibetan or otherwise -- arrived. Tibet has never been a hotbed of Confucianism! What has she been smoking?
Feng shui is very eclectic, based on thousands of years of Chinese observation by the ancient feng shui masters who saw certain things reappearing in everyday life.	Maybe Tollefson is actually a feng shui version of Dilbert's Mission Statement Generator -- otherwise, chicanery can explain why Tollefson gets things so very wrong.
Statistics tell us [feng shui dates] anywhere from three to five thousand years [ago]. It began so gradually, that there is no specific time frame.	Statistics? ! Wrong word choice!You never know what will be invented by the lunatic fringe.
It is only been within the last 30 or so years that we, in the west, have heard about feng shui.	Feng shui has been a part of the Chinese-American community beginning with the first Chinese immigrants. White New Agers started selling McFengshui to white pop culture in the 1980s -- nearly two centuries later.
In answer to the question Is feng shui basically a Chinese art, Pam claims that feng shui originated in India.	Back away from the crack pipe, Pam! Extraordinary claims like this require that you furnish a lot of good evidence! But she can't -- because there isn't any evidence to back up her outlandish comments.
Nancy asks whether the typical American home (usually a square or rectangle) is a good design for qi flow. Tollefson replies Actually, these are not bad shapes. In fact, there is a lot to be said for the basic box, because it's a regular shape.	"Regular shape," is weird -- what makes it "regular"? Actually the square has been proven to be more ecologically efficient!
The octagon shape is so powerful that to use it consistently in our homes is not too good a thing. An octagon is usually saved for sacred spaces. If you look at pagodas, the places where ancestors are honored, to put that shape in your home is a lot to deal with. It takes a very special person to live in an octagon-shaped house.	A Pagoda is defined as a cone-shaped mountain built in honor of Buddha and it is derived from Indian stupas. Pagodas came to China with Buddhism in the first century CE, several thousand years after feng shui was firmly in place. Pagodas are square, circular, or polygonal. Traditional Chinese altars and sacred sites have always been combinations of squares, rectangles, and circles, because of tianyuan difang.
The circle is an ideal shape, unfortunately it's not an easy thing to build. It would cut out the corners, as far as energy flow, but I can't say it would be that much better than our squares and rectangles.	Circular dwellings are traditionally considered more "intuitive" than the "rational" rectangle. Neolithic circular pithouses (like those of Yangshao culture at Banpo) and beehive huts often predate rectangular structures. Circular structures preclude the expansion of interior space like a rectangular form. The way to expand the circle is to build additional structures that link to existing ones (this reduces exposed area and maximizes space). Construction like this provides an efficient, large thermal mass to protect against external heat or cold.
… to have a southern exposure [of a house] so that the crops would grow was also desirable.	The siting of traditional Chinese farmhouses has nothing to do with how the crops grow -- the crops aren't grown indoors! Some farmhouses are built into mountains or underground, which would seem to preclude anything to do with the location of the fields.
A regular lot is ideal. Many things can be said about the shape of the lot, whether it resembles a money bag (collecting good qi) or a dust bin (where your money is filtering through), the shape of the lot can impact the wealth acquiring abilities. Frank Lloyd Wright said, Find the best place on your lot and then build your house so you can see that spot.	Many things can be said about these silly pontifications. Frank Lloyd Wright was not some feng shui savant. There's an old feng shui saying that one does not build facing the best place, one builds upon the best place. Most feng shui teachers talk about pie shapes, because not every country has "money bags" of whatever idea shape Tollefson is imagining. Pie shapes we know from Powerpoint slides.
There used to be a saying When the feng shui master comes, be prepared to move.	Lin Yun's followers enjoy repeating this, but unfortunately none of them know what it implied at the time: that the master would have you make so many expensive changes that you couldn't afford to live in your house anymore. How ironic: Tollefson sells a car crystal ("to provide protection for you as you drive" with "directions to empower the crystal for safety").
If you are walking into a wall as you enter the front door, then it is good to hang a piece of artwork with some depth to it so that you won't feel as though you are running into a wall. You want to feel as if you could walk in further if you wanted to. Or you could possibly use a mirror. Mirrors are excellent cures; they help you see behind you. They double your space and expand your horizons. In general, mirrors are considered the aspirin cure of feng shui.	Traditional Chinese courtyard homes open to the spirit wall you are forced to turn sharply left or right to avoid. Because evil (as sha qi) cannot negotiate sharp turns it runs into the wall and is repelled from the compound. Here, however, Tollefson seems to be subtly equating her clients with evil spirits. What an interesting twist! Traditional, three-room (above-ground) farmhouses still use favorable orientations (that is, they site for solar gain, just as was done at Banpo). Typically the door opens into the middle or largest room where a small shrine is arranged for the ancestors. Farm implements are on one wall, laundry on another. The traditional homes of the Hakka in southern China contain one door on the first floor, which has no windows. The single-room cave dwellings in the north of China are considered to have auspicious feng shui, as do the subterranean farm dwellings -- and yet, no one indiscriminately hangs mirrors in any of these traditional home sites. Probably because they are using authentic feng shui, not McFengshui.
Crystal is powerful. It runs computers. … We also use them as acupuncture needles.	Maybe on her planet things do work this way. On Earth, we know she's excrementalizing.
Bamboo flutes are also used in feng shui. Just hanging them represents the sound element and they are a good cure if you have oppressive beams hanging over you.	Bamboo flutes are merchandise sold by BTB practitioners to the credulous. There is no "sound element" in Chinese culture or science. And flutes have absolutely no effect on beams — oppressive or otherwise.
Wind chimes or bells also serve as primitive burglar alarms.	On my planet — Earth — wind chimes and bells don't have this peculiar ability.
You have to watch out for electromagnetic fields. It is true that our electrical appliances have a lot of energy but sometimes they can be over-stimulating. For instance, we don't want too many electric appliances on at night when we are sleeping.	Why, Pam? Will they steal our souls, as some people think cameras do?It would be difficult to "watch out for" electromagnetic fields, because you cannot see them. You need precise instrumentation to find them. You don't want too many electromagnetic fields near your bed, especially if you use a metal bed frame or have a bed with metal coils in the box springs. The steel in the bed is forged with its own magnetic fields. Beyond that, Pam is just another talking head from the Lunatic Fringe.
For example, wealth is represented by the color purple, partnership is pink, helpful people is gray. We want to have adequate color to bring in support and balance.	Pam is quoting Lin Yun color theory. That doesn't make it real.
Everything in our space means something.	Utter nonsense — but it's a good way to get the credulous to buy into this steaming bovine byproduct.
I often suggest to clients to move 27 objects that haven't been moved in a year. …Cleaning out the closet is an ideal thing to do. Remember, in order to support us, our house needs to be orderly.	Why 27 objects?What dimwit would believe this nonsense? After all, the concept of clutter is cultural and personal bias.
I'll ask them how long they have lived in the house, what is the history of the house, who did they buy it from and why did those people move?	BEWARE! If someone asks you all these questions, don't answer -- unless you want to give them everything they need to pull a fraud. You should not have to answer all the questions that you are paying the feng shui practitioner to answer for you! To learn more about this kind of chicanery, I suggest Chapter 14, "Memes of the New Age" in Susan Blackmore's The Meme Machine. An authentic feng shui practitioner should ask only for your birthdate, the year the house was constructed and years of any substantial remodels, and possibly also the date you moved in. With this information they can tell you fairly intimate details that, as strangers, they should not otherwise be able to know. This is what constitutes a double-blind experiment. If you answer questions like Pam asks, you are giving the practitioner permission to cheat you.

"Electrosensitivity" and the Placebo Effect

Sounding like an anthropologist studying victims of voudou, the lead scientist of a three-year study of people who claim "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" (EHS), summed up her research:

Belief is a very powerful thing. If you really believe something is going to do you some harm, it will.    -- Professor Elaine Fox, Univ. of Essex¹

No one argues that the "electrosensitivity" people are not suffering. But Professor Fox's robust study² joins a long line of other studies suggesting the illnesses are psychological.

I admit it: I'm a hypochondriac. But I manage to control it with a placebo.   -- Dennis Miller

Alleged "electrosensitives" cannot detect when signals are on or off. The few who could detect signals during the study were within the proportion you would expect based on chance alone, the researchers say.

The statistical power was thrown a bit when a dozen of the study participants had to drop out because they were (by their own admission) too ill to continue. Professor Fox estimates a 30 percent chance that the experiment missed a real effect.⁴ A one-in-three chance of missing something? Those are terrible odds! There's not much of a glimmer of hope for believers, because this major study joins two other big double-blind studies that point to electrosensitivity not being caused by technology.

If people are convinced that they are suffering because of mobile phone masts they don't investigate other causes.-- Professor Elaine Fox2

There has to be a mechanism in the human body to cause the illness of electrosensitivity. Moreover, the body must be able to differentiate between background radiation, the types of radiation that our bodies need to be healthy, and these extraordinarily narrow frequencies that people claim are making them sick. So far, research consistently indicates the common mechanism is the brain.

It would be fascinating to see what parts of an "electrosensitive" brain start firing when sufferers feel they are awash in a toxic soup of electricity and magnetic fields!

A needle in a haystack -- or a pea between mattresses

I wonder whether the sufferers of "electrosensitivity" aren't just manifesting their agitation about the technological and cultural changes they have witnessed in their lives. You read about these people and talk to them, and their mindset resembles a tribal belief system.

Consider the analogy of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale of the princess and the pea. The swooning delicacy of the "electrosensitive" types stands apart from the rest us coarse, boorish techno-louts. A greater sensitivity to distress, indeed.

Or consider how, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you could spot King Arthur from far away because he was the only person who wasn't covered in dung (to put it delicately).

Whether people can detect electromagnetic fields is a scientifically interesting question because as far as we know humans don't have any receptors to do that.--Professor Elaine Fox⁵

References

1. BBC News. Phone mast allergy 'in the mind'. 25 July 2007.
2. Stacy Eltiti, Denise Wallace, Anna Ridgewell, Konstantina Zougkou, Riccardo Russo, Francisco Sepulveda, Dariush Mirshekar-Syahkal, Paul Rasor, Roger Deeble, and Elaine Fox. Environmental Health Perspectives. 115:7. July 2007.
3. BBC News.
4. James Randerson. Research fails to detect short-term harm from mobile phone masts. The Guardian. July 26, 2007.
5. Caroline Williams. No evidence for cellphone mast illness. New Scientist. 25 July 2007.

Dazzle with Brilliance or Baffle with ...

You should carry your intellect the way James Dean carried a cigarette. — Penn Jillette

Feng Shui and the Tango in 12 Easy Lessons by the DeAmicis duo contains a variety of odd theories in which the authors take great pride. However, facts fail to agree with their theories.

"Facts don't agree?" you can imagine the authors saying, shrugging their shoulders. "Then, so much the worse for the facts."

The book is nothing more than another heavy-handed sales pitch that supports faulty conclusions.

This analysis covers only a few of the many egregious errors in this book; it would go on for pages, but you'll get the idea from these samples.

What They Say	Reality Check
" [Feng Shui] is a deep field with an ancient history rooted in the mystery traditions of many cultures. "(Note) Or maybe the term is "modern mystical schools" to reflect learning that came from China during the Cultural Revolution. (page 189)	Sounds reasonable enough, until you reach "mystery traditions." This term appears regularly in the book but there's no definition. That's because a definition would deprive them of wiggle room — and they definitely need plenty. Turn to any unabridged dictionary, look up mystery, and you ask: do the DeAmicis mean "mystery traditions" as a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand? Yet daily people learn how to use a compass (Luopan) and master the calculations; it's knowledge imparted by teachers, not by mystical revelation. Does their meaning of "mystery traditions" refer to any of the 15 events (as the Nativity, the Crucifixion, or the Assumption) serving as a subject for meditation during the saying of the rosary? After all, "mystery plays" with these very religious themes constitute a "mystery tradition." Or perhaps they're using "mystery traditions" to mean a secret religious rite believed (as in Eleusinian and Mithraic cults) to impart enduring bliss to an initiate? Could "mystery traditions" mean the specialized practices or ritual peculiar to an occupation (as in the craft techniques of medieval guilds, which were called mysteries)? I assume they use "mystery traditions" in the sense of one of the minor meanings of the word: a work of fiction. Feng shui, like astronomy, was considered proprietary information of the Chinese government. Proprietary government information — like the list of corporations that crafted the energy policies of the Bush administration — is hardly a religious viewpoint or a mystical revelation. To quote Arthur C. Clarke, Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. (Profiles of the Future, 1961) As Ole Bruun documents in Fengshui in China, no "modern mystery schools" (or "old mystery schools" for that matter) left China during the Cultural Revolution. A few people with feng shui knowledge were able to escape the turmoil, but most could not, and some simply would not leave — and most who stayed behind paid a terrible price.
feng shui is known by many names around the world; any culture not using it fails to prosper or possibly survive (page 6)	Feng shui is an ethnoscience that began in China. Documentary evidence and archeological remains prove that the history of feng shui spans several thousand years (the earliest writings related to feng shui are dated to the Shang era and appear on jiaguwen or oracle bones). Archeologically its use can be implied more than 2,000 years earlier than its first written mention. Feng shui works only for settled cultures. It has similar names throughout Asia in the cultures that adapted it for their use (Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, for example). No cultures outside those influenced by the original Chinese science have been documented as having and using feng shui or anything remotely similar. Cultures outside the range of influence of the science cannot provide evidence of any connection. Vastu Shastra, although younger than feng shui by a few thousand years, is entirely an Indian creation. It is noticeably different from feng shui. Cultures and empires wax and wane, just like yin and yang (for a modern view of this cycle see Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers). China is the one human culture that has withstood the ravages of time — and even it has experienced its waxing and waning. To say that cultures either "use it or lose it" when it comes to feng shui is ridiculous. The majority of cultures at any time in history did not know anything about feng shui. In more recent times, powerful cultures (Europe and the US in the 19th and most of the 20th century) knew about it and largely shunned it. The authors reject traditional feng shui and ignore the opportunity to use their bald assertions to uphold principles of authentic practice. They would rather invent inferior products, embrace questionable ideas and practices, and attempt to pass off unsavory and outdated Western ideas as the "wisdom of the East." If we took the DeAmicis' statement at face value, and we know anything about the history of the world, we would have to say that it's obvious feng shui is native to China because it's the only culture still thriving relatively intact thousands of years after its beginnings.
"...the role our bodies play as vehicles for our spirit." (page 6) "...secret language that your body speaks to your environment in [sic]..." (page 10) "Our bodies are much more in touch with our feelings than our minds." (page 11) "Your animal body doesn't care about...your conscious mind." (Page 12) "Your mind will lie to you....but your body won't." (Page 12) "The body's design is much older than the logical mind, and its criteria are much simpler." (page 107) "When your conscious, logical mind overrides...the sequential part of intellect..." (page 177) We are affected by our lives and "react to things we don't consciously see, based upon [our body's] ancient programming" (page 190) "survival systems" in the subconscious "override the conscious mind" (page 190)	The DeAmicis' thinking is infected with the Cartesian cut, a Western dualistic worldview. Daniel Dennett wrote …our 'intuitive' ways of thinking about consciousness are infected with leftover Cartesian images, an underestimated legacy of the dualist past. Thanks to cognitive neuroscience, consciousness studies, efforts in AI, and the works of outstanding scientists like Maturana and Varela, Antonio Damasio, Candace Pert, and researchers in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, we know how much of Descartes' thinking was built on the folk wisdom of his day (he was born in 1596 and died in 1650). And most of that folk wisdom was Platonic philosophy, picked up again by Romantics and spiritualist movements. Plato taught that humans must live in their mind because that's where the true life is. The human body, he said, is "common with that of brute beasts." The DeAmicis substitute animal body for "brute beasts" but otherwise the philosophy is unchanged. Basing a feng shui book on ancient Western philosophy is fairly typical in New Age circles (New-Agers are an extremely conservative and reactionary crowd, no matter what their marketing says). What's intriguing is the DeAmicis' dogged insistence on the relevance of outmoded Western duality to a science from a culture that never conceived the world as a duality. Your mind is part of your body As Antonio Damasio explains, Within our brain, we have a virtual body. This is proven by studies on people who can sense limbs that have been amputated, and on people undergoing brain surgery. He adds Emotions are collections of chemical and neural responses, forming a pattern. In this line of reasoning you can find evidence of emotion in a fruit fly. Your mind is as animal as your body Like it or not, 98 percent of chimpanzee genes are identical to humans'. Only people uncomfortable with the fact that our close relatives are apes and we share genetic material with a banana have difficulty acknowledging our complete animality. Studies on culture in bees, parrots, primates, prairie dogs, and other creatures show that we're not the only species to apply so-called "higher" forms of reasoning. We're not even the sole "tool-using animal," because chimps, parrots, dolphins, and crows are well documented as tool-users. Where is the logic area? Next to the fame corner There's no evidence that your body is older than your "logical mind," whatever that may mean. There isn't a so-called "logical" area of the brain, although certain sections process kinds of information that some people would characterize as "logical." Cognitive scientists caution against self-deception: people are rarely as "logical" and "rational" and "sequential" as they believe themselves to be. According to a brain imaging study presented in Science, even if an ethical problem is posed in strictly rational terms, people's emotional responses guide their solutions. Studies prove that people in fact do not react to things they do not consciously see — probably because we're not conscious more than 90 percent of our waking lives. (How do you know you aren't conscious in a particular situation? If you're not self-conscious you're actually unconscious — one of the weirder facts of cognitive science.) Humans are generally not aware of environmental details. We perceive and remember only what we concentrate on (this is a function of the human brain called inattentional blindness). In one famous study titled "Gorillas in Our Midst," which documents change blindness, scientists learned that when a gorilla was standing in plain sight in front of test subjects they could not see it. All the mindless chatter the DeAmicis provide about the subconscious ignores the fact that, as Candace Pert says in Molecules of Emotion, "the body is the subconscious mind."
The DeAmicis believe that humans carry terrifying "genetic memories" of saber-toothed tigers (pages 12, 119, 178 and 190) "predator-tigers" (115 and 117) and "genetic memories" of claws (177, 178, 180)	There's no such thing as "genetic memory" — it's a typical misunderstanding of genetics, bordering on pseudoscience — but it is a common component of racist propaganda. Why racist ideas in a book on feng shui? Because the DeAmicis believe it. Conventional genealogies conceal how rapidly genes get diluted down the generations. You inherit directly only half of your father's genes, a quarter of each grandfather's, an eighth of any great-grandfather's. And with ancestors much further back, you may share no more genes than you do with a random stranger met in Times Square.  -- Nicholas Wade: "Cheney and Obama: It's Not Genetic." New York Times, October 21, 2007) And what about the crackpot concept of "ancient programming" of our bodies—who did this "programming" and when? How? Why? You can't help but think of the aliens who sent our monkey forebears the monoliths in 2001: A Space Odyssey—cue the music! The wonderful book Monster of God mentions sabertooths (feline and marsupial) in addressing humanity's relationship with predators. It explains all predators' hold on the human psyche as cultural transmission—we are, after all, prey animals. We were a yummy feast for eagles before and after we walked out of Africa, just as monkeys still are today. Professor Cavalli-Sforza reminds us in The Great Human Diasporas that culture tends to remain unaltered and change occurs only with difficulty. (page 214)
Geomancy, they say, is a "Western art used for thousands of years to place and design buildings" (page 7). Geomancy dates "back to the Great Pyramid" which "has defied dating." (page 184)	According to the Oxford English Dictionary, geomancy appeared in vernacular English in 1362 (vernacular English at this time was the language of the lowest classes and middle classes; Latin and French were spoken by the upper middle class, gentry, and nobles). Geomancy's first mention is from Langland's Piers Plowman where it is unfavorably compared to the level of expertise a person needs for astronomy ("gemensye [geomesye] is gynful of speche"). In 1386 Chaucer used the Parson's Tale to poke fun at geomancy in Canterbury Tales: What say we of them that believe in divynailes as … geomancie … Geomancy has always been a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or how handfuls of dirt land when you toss them. It was explained as divination (in the same sentence with pyromancy and hydromancy) in the best-selling Travels of Sir John Mandeville (1400); as "geomantie that superstitious arte" in a book of alchemy (1477); and defined in a book of Agrippa's magic (1569) as a form of divination "which doth divine by certaine conjectures taken of similitudes of the cracking of the Earthe." Can you take the DeAmicis seriously about the Great Pyramid? They prefer the mental masturbation of cranks and ignore the reality of people like Ny Swt Wsrt. And saddest of all is the classic flaw in their logic of claiming geomancy dates from the time of a structure that they believe cannot be accurately dated.
something called horizon-based astrology allegedly shares the same foundations as "the Asian Compass School of Feng Shui" (page 8)	There's no clear definition of this horizon-thing in Tango because the DeAmicis require ambiguity to spin their tales. One or two sentences to promote a falsity is much less demanding than explaining in depth. It takes quite a bit of work to explain why this claim is false, but consider it unlikely that the DeAmicis can provide as detailed an explanation for why it should be considered to be true. That's because you are expected to accept their ideas without questioning and without any corroborating evidence. Their horizon-thing apparently refers to the circular diagrams used by modern Western astrologers to plot charts. The circular diagram shows planets' positions with respect to the horizon. Three Zodiacs, Not One The Western zodiac favored by the DeAmicis differs appreciably from the Vedic (Indian subcontinent) and the Chinese. The 1997 symposium honoring the Ancient Beijing Observatory featured speakers that explained the differences between Western, Vedic, and Chinese astronomy and astrology. Dr. Ramatosh Sarkar emphasized that the Vedic system absorbed more Greek influence (thanks to the conquests of Alexander of Macedon and the formation of the Seleucid Empire) and it's based on the ecliptic, like the Greek version. However, ancient Chinese astronomy (like modern Western astronomy) focused on the celestial equator. Ancient Greeks and Chinese lived in the same latitude and saw the same stars but few of their astronomical myths share common themes. Ancient Chinese organized the sky like the terrestrial community and society, centered on Beidou (the celestial clock and season-marker) and the pole star (the emperor). Greek astronomical myths show no systematic organization and focus on individuals. What few mythical themes the cultures share aren't ones that most people know. For example, both cultures used conflict to explain the antipodal positions of what Westerners call Orion and Scorpius. How on Earth did the DeAmicis decide that artifacts of modern Western astrology share the same "foundations" as the primary tool of feng shui? They made it up! They didn't check their ideas against the facts — or if they did, the facts got in the way. Remember, so-called Form School and so-called Compass School both use compasses, though different models. The drawing used in Tango to illustrate this odd belief looks like a crude imitation of one in Dr Edwin Krupp's Echoes of the Ancient Skies, which shows an ancient astronomer (not an astrologer!) making a precise observation. However, Western astrologers haven't studied the sky for nearly 3,000 years. The Problem with Western Astrology Western astrology stopped skywatching sometime around 500 BCE. As NASA says, "the 'sign' assigned to each month in horoscopes is not the constellation where the Sun is in that month, but where it would have been in ancient times." The sun used to enter Cancer at the moment of the summer solstice but as of 1990 the sun enters Taurus at the summer solstice — that's two constellations away from the position that astrologers assign to people born on June 21. John Mosley of Griffith Observatory chides If you were born during the first two weeks of May 2600 years ago, you were born when the sun was in both the sign and constellation of Taurus. Now during those weeks the sun is in Aries. Astrologically speaking, you are still a Taurus; astronomically speaking you are an Aries. Likewise, most Libras are really Virgos, and so on. (And to add insult to injury, most Sagittarians are really Ophiuchi.) Of the 366 possible birthdates, the signs astrologers use correspond to the astronomical constellation 14 percent of the time. The astrological sign is off by one constellation for 84 percent and by two constellations for the other 2 percent. Consider how precession affects the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn: they need to be updated to the Tropics of Gemini and Sagittarius. Now you know why astrology doesn't get any respect. Read on to learn why a feng shui compass has absolutely nothing in common with Western astrology. Western Zodiac The Western zodiac is a Greek invention based on the drifting of the sun ("tropical time"). Ancient Greeks created it from the constellations used by Babylonian astronomers. In fact, the Greeks owed nearly everything they knew about astronomy to the skywatchers of the Fertile Crescent, who started making horoscopes around 500 BCE. (Notice the connection between the fossilization of skywatching and the origins of horoscopes.) The Greeks invented what we know as "Western astrology" — that is, astrology for the individual. They transmitted to history their belief that the planets actually influenced life on Earth. Ancient Chinese and Babylonians thought only that celestial phenomena were messages -- instant-messenger postings from the gods. The postings were commentary, not a physical influence. The constellations used in Western astrology range within 8 or so degrees either side of the ecliptic (the apparent path of the sun). The sun's path was known as Pidnu sha Shane (Furrow of Heaven) to the Babylonians. They kept track of heliacal risings of the Directing Bull (Taurus, but especially Aldebaran) to mark the beginning of their year. But before Aldebaran/Taurus assumed this key function the marker-star of the year was Orion—the constellation of Osiris. Ancient Chinese knew the belt of Orion as the constellation Shen. Not all constellations that fall within the Western zodiac are used by astrologers. The sun actually passes through 13 constellations. Serpent Holder, Ophiucus, is conveniently omitted — possibly a superstitious hangover from medieval Christianity (Christians have longstanding problems with the number 13). There are more constellations to consider if you step away from medieval Christian ideas of the heavens: Jane Sellers notes that Al Jauzah was considered by the Arabs (the inheritors of Greek science) to be part of the zodiac. Al Jauzah is composed of the stars of the constellations Gemini and Orion. Depending on your criteria there are at least 21, possibly 24 constellations in the Western zodiac. Keep in mind that the ancient astronomers of the Mediterranean and Near East looked to the east for their observations—that's why we use the term "orienting" (which is really "easting"). While modern astronomy advises that you face south for the best observations, the ancient skywatchers of the West "easted" themselves. For westerners east and west were up and down. That's why the equinoxes assumed importance in Western calendars (beginning with Babylonians, who celebrated their New Year near the spring equinox). Vedic Zodiac The so-called Vedic zodiac (Nirayana) is based on sidereal or "star time." The Vedic calendar is based on astronomical observations at the equinoxes and solstices. Vedic astronomy and the Vedic calendar originated in Neolithic cities in the Indus Valley but they contain influences from further west (probably because, at one time, the language spoken in the Indus Valley was spoken as far west as modern Iran). Even the numbering structure of yugas in Indian astronomy was borrowed from Babylonian astronomers. You can see the cultural connections in the constellations. Subhash Kak notes that constellations in the Rigveda and the Brahmanas, such as the Rikshas (the Great Bear and the Little Bear), the two divine dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor), the twin Asses (in Cancer), the Goat (Capricornus) and the Heavenly Boat (Argo Navis), are the same as in Europe. The original diagram used to create Western horoscopes matches the diagram used by Vedic astrologers in North India. This occurred because of the cultural exchange between Mesopotamia, Greece, and the Indus Valley. According to Subhash Kak, "We don't know who the authors of the Vedas were," but Western science dates the Vedas to 1500 to 1200 BCE — a time that matches the archeological record for Indian trade colonies in Mesopotamia. (In Egypt this is the era of the New Kingdom; in China this was the era of the Shang.) The diagram used in Southern Indian Vedic astrology matches the diagram used for Ziwei Doushu (Purple Glow North Star Calculations). No doubt this influence also occurred in cultural exchange along trade routes — likely during the Song era (960 to 1279 CE) — because tradition holds that Ziwei Doushu originated with Master Chen Duan, a Daoist from tenth-century Huashan in Shaanxi. Chinese Zodiac Chinese astrology is like Babylonian astrology only in the original use and the number of signs, not the actual signs or the cycles of time charted in them. Babylonian astrology calculated the future of a country, not individuals. It shares this focus with Chinese astrology, which originally calculated horoscopes only for rulers and nations. The Greeks created the need for individual horoscopes. Ancient Chinese "astrology" has always encompassed a great deal more than Western astrology. Consider the job of the astrology official known as the Bao Zhang Shi who observed the effects of space weather to provide predictions for flood, drought, good harvests, famine, and other portents. Modern scholarship has determined that the "vapors" watched by these court officials were what we call the auroras. Neolithic Chinese discovered sunspots and carefully observed them through safety lenses. At least by the 14th century BCE (during the Shang era) the Bureau of Astronomy established the solar year at 365.25 days (still found as degrees on a Luopan, thus measuring time as an angle), and lunation at 295 days. Shang-era astronomers recognized the two cycles (Metonic and Calyppic) Westerners mistakenly believe these were discoveries of Greek astronomers who lived nearly 1,000 years later. Shang astronomers also recognized the saros cycle. The sexagenary (ganzhi) cycle of time probably did not begin with the Shang, but oracle bones record its common use. All these cycles are found in feng shui computations. The so-called Chinese zodiac is based on "Jupiter time" and the cycles it tracks are shorter and longer than those in Western astrology. The "signs" of the Chinese "zodiac" are animals associated with the 12 directions and 12 double-hours (the Earthly Branches) and largely function as mnemonics. Ancient Chinese, like modern astronomers, used equatorial astronomy; Western astrology follows the ecliptic. The Branches derive from the 12-year orbit of Jupiter (Sui) — actually the orbit takes 11.86 Earth-years, but the Chinese rounded it off to 12. In Chinese science, a "month" in the Jupiter cycle indicates an Earth year. Five multiples of 12 branches indicate the Jupiter cycle of grand conjunctions with Saturn (5 x 12 = 60). A more precise version of the Branches consists of 24 points within the meteorological cycle used by Chinese (and found on a Luopan as the 24 Mountains). These points coincide with other points 15º apart on the ecliptic. It takes about 15.2 days for the sun to traverse a point, creating a cycle of 365.25 days (and thus each degree on a Luopan ticks off a day). See page 48 in my book for the relationships between the jieqi and zhongqi, Gregorian dates, and solar longitude. The Heaven Center Cross Line, also known as the Red Cross Grid (the red cords on a Luopan) are the warp and woof of heaven. The Cross Line indicates the axle of the universe — in other words it marks Hamlet's Mill, because some old Shipans featured a drawing of Beidou where the needle housing (the Central Pool of Heaven) now sits. The red strings or cross markings are used on Luopans to read direction and meaning, but they also indicate the equinoctial and solstitial colures. Do you see any connections between Western horizon-based astrology and the Luopan?

Your "ancient roots" are showing

Books that talk about "Taoist feng shui" are full of errors, and use feng shui concepts that are not Asian and are less than 30 years old.

The Potemkin Village People

Jessica Eckstein (Lighting the Eye of the Dragon, April 2000) and Susan Levitt (Taoist Feng Shui, 2000) evidently work at the same mental theme park — or they attended the same class to learn Black Sect Buddhist feng shui. Both seem to think the Dao de jing is the sole Daoist (Taoist) book, and that Black Sect feng shui = Taoist feng shui.

With rare exceptions, Americans, fed on generations of exoticism and sensationalism, know only the fictitious Chinatown.
— Arthur Bonner

Lighting the Eye of the Dragon

Although Dr. Baolin Wu is given copyright authority, it's obvious that this is Eckstein's book. So much information is genuinely incorrect — and so many other items have been "gilded with a fine coat of fraud" (to quote Morris Berman) — that it cannot be the work of someone trained as carefully as the book's jacket would have us believe.

Perhaps this is a cheap shot, but the Daoist classics are twice rendered as "the complete cannon of Taoist arts" — once inside and once on the back cover!

The book also switches indiscriminately between Pinyin and Wade-Giles, as if nobody knew the difference (or could translate one into another for consistency's sake).

Such haste to get product to market and start the money machine! And so much truly bogus information! To paraphrase Laozi,

If the larger culture makes it popular, it's not the real thing.

What She Says	Reality Check
Wu Baolin is of the Orthodox School of Taoist Feng Shui, Mi Zong Feng Shui (pages 2, 4)	This Mi Zong is Guang Huan Mi Zong (Buddhism, not Daoism; best known as the Yogacara School). The Yogacara School was brought to China by Vajrabodhi (in 619 CE) and spread by Amogha (d. 774) and Yi-xing (672 to 717). The Da Xing Shan Temple (Yanta District, Xi'an) is the home of Mi Zong Buddhism. Mi Zong is also a Tibetan practice of unaggressive exercise and a type of Gongfu (also known as Yan Qing Quan) from nothern China. Meanwhile, back at the Dao … The Covenant of Orthodox Unity with the Powers (Zhengyi, "Orthodox One," based on texts belonging to the tradition of the same name known as Tianshi dao, Way of the Celestial Masters) was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 CE. This branch of Daoism involves a contract with the directional generals of Taisui. Its main rituals involve exorcism (Zheng Daoling was primarily an exorcist). Orthodox Unity Daoism is mentioned in "The Standard Rituals for Offerings and Fasts of the Celestial Religion of the Great Ming," dated 1374. Their register (lu) contains 24 segments. Their sacred mountain, Lunghushan, is in Jiangxi. It is one of two traditions recognized by the Chinese government. The other recognized branch of Daoism, Quanzhen (All-True) Daoism was founded during the Song. Its headquarters is at Beiyun guan (White Cloud Monastery) in Beijing. Beiyun guan is the headquarters of the China Daoist Association.
In the Tao, it is said the sky is a circle and the earth is a square — tian yuan di fang. (page 162)	This is the most basic cosmological principle of Huang-Lao. But she's wrong attributing this comment to "the Tao" — it first appeared in the Zhoubi suanjing. The Huainanzi says: The Dao of Heaven is called the Circular. The Dao of Earth is called the Square.
"Ming Ta principle" meaning "light, high, wide, spacious" (pages 149, 150, 162)	Is this referring to the Mingtang? Is it a weird reference to Daming xuanjiao lizheng ("The Standard Rituals" of 1374)? Your only clue is her statement The ancient Book of Lu speaks of Ming Ta. (page 149) Is this ancient book the Lushi chunqiu (preface dated 239 BCE), the Lu (register) of Dr. Wu's monastery, or what? Does Eckstein know? If she does, why is this statement deliberately vague?
The "Four Phases" as "traditionally known in China" (pages 20 and 25)	The rest of us know these as si shen (four spiritual animals), si wei (four cardinal points), si xiang (four images), or by extension, the ya-xing.
"the four phases and eight directions (page 25) become the "eight phases" (page 26)	There is just no reasonable explanation for this comment. It's pathetic and funny all at once.
Build a house with the grain of all wood running in one direction. "Scientific research in China has proven that this can balance the energy in the finished house." (pages 16 and 17)	Where was this research conducted, by whom, and when? On what kind of house? (Obviously not a traditional Chinese house — most of those are made of pounded earth!) This was written to appeal to Americans, but please don't try this. She needs to prove this to her fellow practitioners before anyone uses it!
"birth colors" (pages 24 and 25)	Eckstein displays a dismal understanding of the ming gua, and of how color applies to them. Then (to add insult to injury) she adds Lin Yun's system which applies pink to lure sexual and marriage partners!
The Trigrams (pages 27 and 28) Xun: fortune, prosperity Li: fame Kun: marriage, life partner Dui: children Qian: health, important people Kan: career, ancestor's tombs Gen: knowledge, intellectual accomplishment Zhen: family harmony	Obviously this is the Black Sect bagua not the regular one (from the Yijing).
In the controlling cycle, fire produces metal. (Page 16)	Comments like this separate the poseurs from proficient practitioners. With seven words Eckstein betrays her ignorance, and reveals herself as a poseur. Giovanni Maciocia says it plainly: Each element controls another and is controlled by one. Earth generates Metal which controls Wood. Wood controls Earth which generates Fire, which generates Earth. The controlling sequence ensures that a balance is maintained among the 5 Elements. —Foundations of Chinese Medicine, page 19
Orthodox Taoism was "held apart from the influx of Buddhist thought"	Then why does the Buddha (and Buddhism) saturate the book, instead of Daoist immortals and worthies? Why are we told nothing about Daoism? Here's a list: "dharma gates" Sakyamuni Buddha — page 84 reading sutras — 87 Tibetan Buddhist lamas — 104 a client who is a Buddhist (and no Daoist clients!) — 121 a Zen [Buddhist] garden — 133 a Buddha statue used as a feng shui remedy — 152 a Buddhist temple — 153 a Tibetan Buddhist devotional painting — 164 a Buddha statue in a nightclub — 191 advice to readers to "take on the heart of Buddha" (not Laozi!) — 195
Humans are the highest order of creation. Our essence is superior to all others in nature. In the Six Realms, humans are on the top. (Page 85)	There are nine Daoist heavens (Jiu Zhong). The "six realms" are demonic and represented by tiger-demons in Daoist ritual. It looks as if she confused Asian philosophy with the Great Chain of Being, which still influences Westerners in their thinking of how the world is ordered. Notice in the woodcut that the (male) Christian God is the only thing above a (male) human.
Ming Men, in line with the navel on the spine	Again from Giovanni Maciocia: The Gate of Vitality is the Ming Men, found in the "Classic of Difficulties," chapters 36 and 39: "The Gate of Vitality is the residence of the Mind and is related to the Original Qi: in men it stores Essence, in women it is connected to the uterus, … The right kidney is the Gate of Vitality." — Foundations of Chinese Medicine, page 98
Golden Gate (Dui)	Sheng-xuan says this gate is actually beyond the three realms, in the heavens. It is the "place of ultimate safety" (known as Yujingshan).
Gui Men (Ghost Gates)	The Gate of Demons is at the northeast on a Daoist altar.
The Jewish Kabbalah mentions the dangers of keeping cats and their strong ties to the realm of the dead. (Page 118)	I am amazed that it is still necessary to single out the Jewish Kabbalah (is there a Kabbalah that is not Jewish?). She should have mentioned which book of Kabbalah contains her assertion about cats. There's no question that Eckstein has strong feelings about cats as sneaky and tricky (page 50) beings from hell (page 118) negative beings that catch rats (page 118 ) It begins to sound vaguely familiar, in not a nice way. A Caucasian reporter's safari to a restaurant in New York's Chinatown was recorded in Once A Week magazine for July, 1893, including the observation that "A greedy cat munches away under one of the tables." The Asian clientele appeared blithely unconcerned that a negative, sneaky being from hell sat mere inches away from them. It was the reporter who grumbled about the cat — just one more reason for him to comment that the restaurant was as inviting as a pig sty. If you look at old Chinese woodcuts and paintings, you'll see a great many cats sitting underneath tables eating or cleaning themselves, or engaged in other typical cat behaviors. Either ancient Chinese were happy living with demons, or there is something amiss with this information. Contemporary Asian feng shui masters don't agree with this hell-cat theory: Master Larry Sang says cats are very sensitive creatures who can determine whether a house contains ghosts. (If your pet cat refuses to enter your new home, consider yourself warned.) And they are also useful as sentinel species.
The actual direction for looking out is west, but for this method of feng shui, we still consider it south. (pages 146 and 147)	To take this absurdity to its logical conclusion: west = south so east = north, which means that west (which is yin) = south (which is yang) and east (which is yang) = north (which is yin), which means yin = yang
I Ching calculations are made using latitude and longitude, time of the day, and observations of natural phenomena.	Read Dava Sobel's delightful book Longitude (if you have not already) to learn that longitude was determined in the 18th century. (So much for Eckstein's Plum Blossom.) Something is amiss and you don't know what it is, do you, Ms Eckstein?

Follow them, but only out of morbid curiosity

Many Westerners who have never been outside a modern, materialistic environment find Taoism of the popular paperback book variety to be appealing. They perceive Taoism as allowing for freedom from form and ritual, release from rule and restriction, and development of the self to its fullest potential. … Taoists in China … often do not eat meat, are celibate, and follow strict ascetic practices. Taoists believe in spirits, perform rituals, heal the sick, practice martial arts to expel evil, and bury the dead. … Taoism in China is an oral (singing and dancing) and not a written tradition … there is no Taoist who is not firstly a devout believer in the spirits, the ancestors, and the annual cycle of feasts and customs.  —Michael R. Saso: Taoism and the Rite of Cosmic Renewal

Seann Xenja (the former Thomas Howse) and Susan Levitt created an unintentional laugh-riot with their book Taoist Feng Shui. It includes copious mentions of Lin Yun (here styled as Rinpoche).

Of course they have a website. Let the deconstruction begin!

John Lagerwey says, "To the Buddhists, Daoism was a carbon copy of Buddhism." Levitt acknowledges her information for this book comes from Lin Yun, here an expert on Daoism (no doubt by virtue of Lagerwey's insight).

The problems in the chapter on the compass (Chapter 9) show that Levitt lacks a good education in real feng shui. She asserts on page 118 that "south is always at the top of the Chinese compass." Actually the magnetic needle is decorated to indicate south, not north, but south is not always at the top -- the very idea defies physics! It's painfully obvious Levitt has never had her hands on a Luopan, and she doesn't have a good understanding of geomagnetism.

What They Say	Reality Check
Everywhere on our planet — from the pyramids in Egypt, to the monoliths of Stonehenge in England	Dictionaries show monolith means an obelisk or a column formed of a single block of stone used in architecture or sculpture. For example, the Washington Monument is a monolith. Frank Lloyd Wright built a monolith at the entrance to Taliesin West. The word the authors really needed to describe two phases of Stonehenge was megaliths (large stones used to build monuments and other structures).
Mountains, rivers, hills, and groves, or places where natural phenomenon occurred, indicated a sacred place.	"Natural phenomenon" is another editorial gaffé that should have been caught by the publisher. What they really wanted to say was phenomena, meaning more than one. The choice of words is interesting, because natural phenomena consist of weather, earthquakes, range fires, floods, hurricanes, drought and the like. According to their logic, the path of devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a sacred place. Julian Jaynes said the ancients determined a sacred place for an oracle by what he called a "specific awesomeness": natural formations of mountain or gorge, of hallucinogenic wind or waves, of symbolic gleamings and vistas … These were, he said, suggestive to right hemisphere activity. Consider Delphi, Ptoa, Branchidae, Patara, Claros, Acacesium, Ephesus, Dodona, Lebadea, and what made them famous. In the case of the Oracle at Delphi, the temple was built over a fissure in a rock that leaked natural gas. David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce convincingly argue that the striate cortex sets the criteria. Brain function has determined why most humans worldwide embrace a three-tiered cosmology. For Palaeolithic people the sacred space was the cave (entoptic experience formulated by neurology). In the Neolithic (when feng shui was apparently developed), the caves were moved above the ground. People built temples, and the temples replicated some of the features of caves that the human brain required for ecstatic experiences. Religious buildings today still display the features that our brain identifies as "sacred."
Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art and science of locating a sacred place on earth.	This is not the definition used in any Chinese text. This is not the function and purpose of feng shui as currently practiced in Asia. This is the opinion of the authors. According to archaeology the first use of feng shui was for dwellings. Unless the authors can prove that every house at Banpo was some kind of a sacred space, this is an opinion.
They understood the harmony of life by observing nature and being expert intuitives.	What on Earth is an "expert intuitive" besides junk English invented by the authors? There are no facts to support this opinion. Huainanzi, the definitive early Daoist text, says nothing about "intuitives," expert or otherwise. It is a book about science and philosophy written in the early Han for the education of rulers. The information on feng shui basics is found in the chapter on astronomy. This makes sense, because as archaeology shows Feng Shui began as astronomy manifested in the landscape.
The ancient ones recognized chi in a landscape to . . . align harmoniously with the geomagnetism of the earth.	Qi was recognized long before geomagnetism or it would not have been mentioned in Chinese documents that predate the earliest magnetic compasses. "Geomagnetism of the earth" = earth-magnetism of the earth. ("Geo" is Latin for earth.) This is yet another editorial gaffé that should have been caught by the publisher.
Through observation of natural forces, the Chinese invented the magnetic compass.	"Natural forces" is a synonym for "natural phenomena" (earthquakes, weather, floods, etc.). It is highly unlikely that floods, volcanic fallout, or a week of unusual weather provided the inspiration for the magnetic compass. Feng shui began as astronomy in the landscape. Markings on early magnetic compasses match the markings on liuren astrolabes. The magnetic compass for feng shui developed from feng shui devices for astronomy.
Feng Shui is also based on compass directions and astronomical patterns.	The authors can't tell you the history of feng shui because they don't know. They did not bother to look it up. They wrote this vague text to cover their ignorance. If they knew the history of feng shui, there would be more than one sentence in the book. They would not use the odd phrase "astronomical patterns," which implies the software used for deep-space identification of stars, not the astronomy at the heart of feng shui.
Priests of Daoism . . . developed feng shui geomancy	There weren't any Daoists at Banpo at 4000 BCE. Laozi was born in the sixth century BCE. The oldest versions of the Daodejing (Laozi) date to the Warring States period (fifth century BCE to 221 BCE). The feng shui used at Banpo is at least 2,000 years earlier than the life of Laozi, the originator of Daoism. There's no such thing as "feng shui geomancy" except in the minds of the authors. Geomancy in Asia involves female trance mediums. Young boys interpret the trances for querents.
Certain land formations were named after animals, such as azure dragon, white tiger, red phoenix, and black tortoise. These vivid animal metaphors describe different types of chi.	The Four Celestial Animals were first used as constellations. That is how feng shui worked at Banpo. That is how Yao explained the four animals in Yaodian — as marker-stars for the seasons. That is how the concept of seasonal qi was developed.
…"Later Heaven Sequence" as designed by the Chinese scholar and royal King Wen.	Almost 100 years before Wen Wang (the legendary King Wen of the Zhou, who began his reign around 1099 BCE), the Later Heaven Sequence was being used at the court of King Wuding of the Shang (d. 1189 BCE) at Anyang. Along with being the oldest-known copy of the Yijing, the version on silk from Mawangdui is very different from the version supposedly authored by King Wen.
a "pre-Shang dynasty culture" at "An-yang in northern China." (Page 9)	A deliberately vague statement. At Anyang you will find the remains of Yinxu, the last capital of the Shang (Yin), which consists of Xiaotun (the administrative and residential part of the city) and Xibeigang (the tombs, which are fairly well aligned to the north of their time period).
a discussion of the agrarian calendar of quarter days involves Old Irish referents, not Chinese, incorrect dates, and "eight solar cycles" (page 119)
Lunar phases marked on the Luoshu, including "disseminating" and balsamic" (page 120)	These are western occult terms, not Chinese and not feng shui. What are they doing in a book that is supposed to be about Chinese lore?
Li is full moon, Kan is dark moon (page 120)	Li is the sun and Kan is the moon. Kun is the dark moon. Qian is the full moon. Reference: Cheng Jian Jun
Levitt's version of the Nine Stars (page 121): Avaricious Wolf Military Star Wide Door or Chief Gate Left-Hand Assistant Right-Hand Assistant Official Salary or Rank Preservation Literary Star of Cultural Activities Star of Purity and Truth Breaker of Armies	The Nine Stars are based on astronomy, which was later mythologized. Since the fourth century CE, Daoists have recognized the stars of Beidou (the Dipper) as gods. They claim the constellation consists of nine stars, but only seven stars are visible to ordinary people. When the Zhou observed the heavens Beidou was much nearer the north pole, just as four thousand years ago the xiu were much nearer to the equator than they are now. Ancient astronomers could extend the handle of Beidou through the constellation of Bootes as long as it remained above the horizon. It is believed that gamma Bootes ("Far-Flight" or Zhaoyao), which was lost to visibility around 1500 BCE, was once part of Beidou. (The ninth star is still unknown.) Draw a line through the "handle" of Beidou to find Zhaoyao. In the Star Manual of Master Shi (third century BCE), Beidou was eight stars plus Fu, the operator of Kaiyang (Mizar), the sixth star of Beidou. Yuheng (Alioth) was the fifth star (the Jade Observation Tube). By the time of Hanlong jing the nine stars indicated earthly counterparts of the stars in Beidou and of mountain shapes. During the Qing dynasty, when ba zhai was a popular feng shui technique, the Nine Stars provided only names for eight auspices associated with trigrams. And that's still true today. References: Field, Xun and Kistemaker, Joseph Yu, Lagerwey, Kalinowski (Early China), Staal
Star	Name	Auspice
Tan Lang (Dubhe; alpha Canis Minor in the Shi shi)	Celestial Jackal* Greedy Wolf**	Life breath, great fortune***
Wu Qu (Mizar)	The Military	Extended years, great fortune
Jue Men (Merak)	Gate Guard, Celestial Orrery	Celestial doctor, lesser fortune
Zuo (Zai) Fu (tau Draconis)	Dragon (yang) Left Guardian/Assistant; Support; Prostrate Position	Legendary assistant of Shangdi. The star was thought to regulate growth in nature.
You Bi (alpha Draconis)	Tiger (yin) Right Guardian/Assistant	Neutral, small fortune
Lu Cun (Phecda)	Preserver of Rank, the Mandarinate	Lesser misfortune, accident and injury
Wen Qu (Megrez)	Literary Pursuits, the Scholars	Lesser Msfortune, Six Curses
Lian Zhen (Alioth)	Virtue, Purity and Truth	Five Ghosts, great misfortune
Po Jun (Benetnash)	Destroyer of Armies (hill formation with three rounded heads)	Shortened life, great misfortune
* This was the first house of the Red Bird in prehistory, and part of the xiu Well. ** Lycian Apollo (Apollo the Wolf) is an Asian god. *** The "seven luminaries" or Qiyao came to China in 230 CE, with the translation of the Matanga-sutra. The auspices are as follows: Planets: lesser misfortune Fixed stars: lesser fortune Sun: greater fortune Moon: greater misfortune
One ring of the compass shows branches, terms and western astrology (page 121)	In Levitt's hands, the jie qi (tropic year) is the agricultural calendar, with Daoist astrologers connecting the jie qi to the Branches and "patterns of changes in chi [sic]." The 24 jie qi (later 12 jie qi and 12 zhong qi) were both ancient folk calendars and integral parts of Chinese calendrical science. What you used depended on the reference points. If you go by the first civil month in the Xia calendar and count 15 days to a jie, then this system worked like the folk calendar of 360 days (found in Yueling texts and the Lushi chunqiu). But if you started at one winter solstice and counted until the next winter solstice, you were using the technician's calendar of 365.25 days (which is what kanyu shia — that is, feng shui practitioners — use). There's no western astrology on a Luopan! Cheng Jian Jun (page 142) kindly notes that the Jupiter stations approximate western astrological houses; they aren't equivalent. Chinese used the orbit of Jupiter (rounded to 12 years) in feng shui, but the earliest they could have known about the western zodiac was from Arab traders in the sixth century CE. Anyway, ancient Chinese used equatorial astronomy, not tropical astronomy like Westerners. The correlates Levitt supplies are inaccurate. Western Astrology Levitt's Correlates Sagittarius 1st branch, 11th month Current astronomical date: Scorpio, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius Chinese season >> Lesser Snow, Great Snow, Winter Solstice Actual Chinese Correlates>> Stem Ren (yang water), Branch Zi (water) Capricorn 2nd branch, 12th month Current astronomical date: Sagittarius Chinese season >> Lesser Cold Actual Chinese Correlates>> Stem Gui (yin water), Branch Chou (earth) Aquarius, Pisces 2nd branch, 12th month Current astronomical date: Capricorn, Aquarius Chinese season >> Greater Cold, Beginning of Spring, Rain Actual Chinese Correlates>> Stem Jia (yang wood), Branch Yin (wood) Pisces 1st month, 3rd branch Current astronomical date: Aquarius Chinese season >> Waking of Insects Actual Chinese Correlates>> Stem Yi (yin wood), Branch Mao (wood) — and so forth. Levitt uses the first astronomical month, and calls everything "branches" when the components are ganzhi (stems and branches). For Chinese, spring occurs midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.The first of the jieqi occurs when the ecliptic longitude is 330°, which occurs at Rain (approx. February 19). Ecliptic longitude is 270° at the winter solstice and 300° at the twelfth Chinese month (Greater Cold). For 2007 (which is reflected in the "actual Chinese" items), Levitt is still in the previous year. Her new year (in jieqi terms) is in the second month of the year. For Chinese, a new moon occurs in conjunction with the sun (it is "black"). Precession has not been taken into consideration. Western astrologers say the spring equinox is in Aries, but it is the stars of the constellation Pisces that are rising helically. Western astrology stopped following the sky around 500 BCE, and the "signs of the zodiac" no longer match the constellations -- they match the seasons.
Another band combines each one of the … branches with one of the five elements, which creates a 60-character cycle. This cycle designates successive days and years … (page 123)	By "60-character cycle" Levitt probably means ganzhi (stems and branches). 24 jieqi categorized by elements is on the Luopan. On a San He, the "three harmonies" uses five elements — with three seasons. No, she doesn't seem to be talking about that. The 24 mountain ring uses five elements. The "universal five elements" uses 365.25 du and tracks the xiu — no, she's not referring to that, either. Does she mean wuxing in ganzhi for neiyin calculations? Or is this just a really bad explanation of wuxing?
Song innovations, Levitt claims, included adding "ruling planets of the five elements in three of their cycles to the compass" (page 123)	Yet planets have been associated with days, cardinal directions, and wuxing since the fourth century BCE, according to scholars. And it is hard to know what she means by "five elements in three of their cycles" unless this is a vague explanation of wuxing, the Controlling Cycle, etc. Joseph Needham said these were added to the compass during the Song: Human plate with 20 characters and 4 gua as azimuthal direction signs arranged in middle needle positions (7.5° west of north) to reconcile with declination as of the twelfth century Equatorial extensions of the xiu according to the Kaixi reign period (1206 CE) Cheng Jian Jun says these are Song additions: 24 heaven star ring (on a San Yuan compass) Universal Five Elements (uses 365.25 du and tracks the xiu — but xiu are lunar markers). This may be what Levitt was trying to explain. 28 xiu Limit Ring
Many bands of the large … compass deal specifically with burial protocol (page 124)	Which large compass (you get three choices)? And how "large" are we talking about? "Many" is overstated. Cheng Jian Jun says there are two specifically Yin House rings: Earth Plate Correct Needle through 60 Dragon Sitting Dragon Evil Spirit
The compass ring depicting the "twelve palaces" … also play [sic] a significant part in astrology and in burial protocol. These "palaces" are similar to the "houses" of a Western horoscope. (Page 124) For Levitt these are Ming palace Brothers and sisters Marital Man and woman Wealth Fortune and virtue Parents	These are the twelve palaces of Ziwei Dou Shu, which is astrology not feng shui! Levitt is lost. We've already discussed the bit about the purported link with Western astrology. We've also discussed the rings that are used only for Yin House calculations. The "twelve palaces" might be the Jupiter stations (suixing jinian), which indicate the sidereal rotation of Jupiter. Jupiter takes approximately 12 years to finish an orbit. Each palace can also indicate, approximately, a year. This is the "twelve palaces" and Dayin according to the Huainanzi. Position of Dayin Heliacal rising of Jupiter at dawn in xiu Shi Sidereal position Yin Shetige Dou Niu Mao Ming'e Nu Xu Wei Chen Zhixu Shi Bi Si Dahuangluo Kui Lou Wu Dunzang Wei Mao Bi Wei Xiexia Zi Shen Shen Tuntan Jing Gui You Zuo'e Liu Xing Zhang Xu Yanmao Yi Zhen Hai Dayuanxian Jiao Kang Zi Kundun Di Fang Xin Chou Chifenruo Wei Ji These are for Yang houses and astronomical events and cycles. The "dividing provinces" (12 Branch Division) are twelve parts of the ecliptic. Cheng says they have "no real practical use" except for "cultural reasons." Perhaps that comforts people like Levitt, who cannot think of 12 divisions as anything but the invention of white folks.