Chapter 15
The Flying Stars, Part 5
In This Chapter
Identifying a Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water house
Identifying a Reversed Mountain and Water house
Identifying a Double Facing star house
Identifying a Double Sitting star house
Identifying a Locked for Prosperity house
Now that you’ve assembled a Flying Star chart appropriate to your home, it’s time to begin interpreting the patterns of numbers that relate to your wealth, health, and relationships. In this chapter, you’ll learn that your home may have special characteristics, a type of personality that can favorably or unfavorably affect the quality of your health and livelihood.
This chapter is especially important if you plan to purchase or build a home. Surely you don’t want to buy or build a home that is locked for money for 20 years ending in 2024!
Yin and Yang, Mountain and Water
As you learned in Chapter 5, yin and yang are two dynamic and opposing forces of nature. The premise of feng shui is to study how these qi forces affect the quality of your health, livelihood, and relations with other people.
In Flying Star methodology, yin qi and everything it represents is expressed as the mountain force, the qi force that oversees a person’s health and relationships. If you think about it, this idea makes perfect sense. Yin qi, associated with the female, is nurturing. Yin qi is quiet, restful, still, and stable—qualities encouraging rejuvenation, a peaceful spirit, and harmonious interaction with other people. Like a mother’s yearning to protect her children, yin qi or mountain qi, shields its inhabitants from strong winds and harsh rains. Without this protective shield, you are prone to sickness and subject to arguments and disagreements.
Although the landscape surrounding your house is certainly an important consideration in a feng shui evaluation, in your home the walls are the mountains that govern your health. The walls not only contain valuable qi, but they also allow yin qi coming from the eight fundamental directions to penetrate through them, infusing the occupants with its essence. We’ll be talking more about this idea in the next chapter.
Conversely, yang qi governs a person’s wealth. Associated with the male, yang qi is equated with the water force. It’s on the move. Like the streams, rivers, and seas, water qi nourishes the soil, bringing life to vegetation. Water is also an effective mode of transport. Indeed, before the advent of airplanes, societies were economically dependent on the flowing substance to help foster the exchange of goods and services. Likewise, although watercourses and streets (virtual watercourses) are important factors in an accurate feng shui assessment, in Flying Star methodology, water qi is that which flows into your dwelling through windows and doors. Again, this idea will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.
For now, understand that the mountain force is embodied in the mountain star, which is identical to the sitting star (the number affiliated with the sitting direction of your home) and all of the other stars (numbers) occupying the top, left side of each cell. On the other hand, the water force is embodied in the water star, which is identical to the facing star (the number affiliated with the facing direction of your home) and all of the other stars occupying the top, right side of each cell. To be perfectly clear, the mountain stars govern your health and relationships; the water stars govern your finances.
Wise Words
Associated with yin, the mountain force administers a person’s health and relationships. Its qi enters a home through the walls, the building’s mountainlike structures protecting the occupants. Associated with yang, the water force governs a person’s wealth. Its qi enters a home through the windows and doors, the building’s free-flowing waterlike edifices. In classical feng shui terminology, the mountain star is synonymous with the sitting star and the stars on the top, left side of each cell. The water star is synonymous with the facing star and the stars on the top, right side of each cell.
Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water
On February 4, 2004, we entered Period 8 with the number 8 ruling until February 3, 2024. You learned in Chapter 13 that the ruling star reigns supreme. It is the king star, the president, and prime minister. It rules over all other stars for a 20-year period. The ruling star is timely, bestowing its auspicious characteristics onto its subjects, the occupants.
When a ruling mountain star is located in the top, left position of the sitting cell and a ruling water star is located in the top, right position of the facing cell (the mountain and water positions respectively), it is most fortunate. This type of house or apartment unit is called Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water, or Wang Shan Wang Shui in Chinese. Basically, it means the occupants have the highest probability of attaining good fortune, good health, and beneficial relationships. They have a leg up, if you will.
To illustrate this idea, look at the following figure of a Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water Gen dwelling constructed in Period 8, sitting NE1 and facing SW1.
However, regardless of the auspicious positions of the mountain and water stars in the sitting and facing cells, the stars must be supported environmentally. A mountain or a manmade “mountain” such as a building, tall hedge, or forest must support the ruling mountain star in the sitting or back side of the house or apartment unit. A watercourse (ocean, river, swimming pool, fountain, for example), or a virtual waterway like a road, must support the water star in the facing or front side of the house or apartment unit. How close should these supporting structures be to the dwelling so that it still qualifies as Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water? The general rule of thumb is that the supporting structure must be in eyesight distance. You must “feel” its essence. For most urban dwellers these factors are easily satisfied. But, what if the converse is true? What if a body of water is located on the sitting or backside and a mountain is located on the facing side or front side of the dwelling? In this case, the house is not considered Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water. It loses its special quality, its leg up.
Master Class
Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water dwellings built in Period 8 (February 4, 2004–February 3, 2024) include the Gen dwelling sitting NE1; the Xun dwellings sitting SE2 and SE3; the Kun dwelling sitting SW1; and the Qian dwellings sitting NW2 and NW3.
When Period 9 arrives on February 4, 2024, and the ruling star 8 leaves office, star charts with the Fortunate Mountain Fortunate Water configuration are rendered invalid. The house or apartment unit no longer possesses that extra edge, that something special because the ruling mountain star 8 is not at the sitting, and the ruling water star 8 is not at the facing.
Reversed Mountain and Water
When the ruling mountain and ruling water star in question (the number 8 for Period 8) are improperly placed, the star chart is called Reversed Mountain and Water, or Shang Shan Xia Shui in Chinese. It is most unfortunate. Stated another way, if the ruling water star (governing wealth) is located on the water (top, right) side of the sitting cell and the ruling mountain star (governing health and relationships) is located on the mountain (top, left) side of the facing cell, the house or apartment unit is potentially less fortunate in wealth and health for the 20-year period.
Simply, the stars are misaligned. Mountain’s yin force is preventing your finances from growing, and water’s yang force is causing a whirlwind of heightened activity resulting in anxiety, sleeplessness, and illness. Like living in close proximity to a freeway, the overabundance of yang qi embodied by the heavy traffic can wear you out.
Here is an example of a Reversed Mountain and Water dwelling built in Period 8. It sits SE1 and faces NW1.
Master Class
Reversed Mountain and Water dwellings built in Period 8 (February 4, 2004–February 3, 2024) include the Gen dwellings sitting NE2 and NE3; the Xun dwelling sitting SE1; the Kun dwellings sitting SW2 and SW3; and the Qian dwelling sitting NW1.
Can anything be done to remedy the dire prospects? Yes! In this case, a mountain or mountainlike structure (tall hedge, forest, building) must support the misaligned mountain star on the facing or front side of the house or apartment unit. Likewise, a body of water or a roadway must support the misaligned water star on the sitting or back side of the house or apartment unit.
When Period 9 arrives on February 4, 2024, and the ruling star 8 leaves office, star-crossed charts will be relieved from their hazardous duties. The havoc they wreaked will be thwarted.
The Double Facing Star Chart
When both the ruling mountain and the ruling water stars are located in the facing cell, the chart is called Double Ruling Star at Facing, or Shuang Ling Xing Dou Xiang in Chinese. In this case, the ruling water star (governing wealth) situated in the top, right side of the facing cell is in its proper place. Because of this, the house or apartment unit inspires financial gain. However, the ruling mountain star (governing health and relationships) is improperly placed. Here, it is located in the yang or facing side of the dwelling. Because of the misalignment, the house or apartment unit brings the likelihood of poor health and difficult relationships.
Here is an example of a Double Facing star chart that shows a dwelling built in Period 8, sitting W1 and facing E1.
To remedy a Double Facing situation, a body of water or virtual waterlike a roadway must support the facing or front side of the house or apartment unit. The facing side must also contain a mountain or a manmade mountain structure such as a tall hedge or building to support the misaligned mountain star. That which exists at the sitting or backside of the dwelling is not considered.
When Period 9 arrives on February 4, 2024, and the ruling star 8 leaves office, the charts of houses or apartment units conforming to a Double Facing configuration are rendered invalid.
The Double Sitting Star Chart
When both the ruling mountain and the ruling water stars are located in the sitting cell, the star chart is called Double Ruling Star at Sitting or Shuang Ling Xing Dou Zuo, in Chinese. In this case, the ruling mountain star (governing health and relationships) situated in the top, left side of the sitting cell is in its proper place. Because of this auspicious orientation, the house or apartment unit inspires robust health and productive relations with other people. However, the ruling water star (governing wealth) is improperly placed. Here, it is located in the yin or sitting side of the dwelling. Because of the misalignment, the house or apartment unit brings the probability of money loss.
Here is an example of a Double Sitting star chart that shows a dwelling built in Period 8, sitting E1 and facing W1.
To remedy a Double Sitting situation, a mountain or a manmade mountain such as a tall hedge or building must support the sitting or back side of the dwelling. The sitting side must also contain a body of water or a roadway to support the misaligned water star. That which exists at the facing or front side of the dwelling is irrelevant.
When Period 9 arrives on February 4, 2024, and the ruling star 8 leaves office, charts of houses or apartment units conforming to a Double Sitting configuration will be rendered invalid.
Feng Alert
It’s important to understand that the four types of dwellings described in this chapter are only valid if the period the house or apartment unit was constructed in matches the ruling period. For example, take a house constructed in Period 4 (1924–1944). Even if the number configurations conform to a Fortunate Mountain and Water, Reversed Mountain and Water, Double Facing, or Double Sitting situation, the house wouldn’t qualify as one of the four special cases until Period 4 arrives again in the year 2104.
Locked for Prosperity House
When a dwelling’s facing or water star (on the right side) in the central palace is the same as the period star (the number 8 for Period 8), the chart is called Locked for Prosperity, or Ling Xing Ri Qui in Chinese. The ruling water (wealth) star is imprisoned. It is like a country without a ruler. There is discord; money is stuck; occupants will struggle to make ends meet; career advancement is difficult. However, the locked water star doesn’t only apply to a person’s finances. Anything that brings you good fortune—happiness, romance, and robust health—will be hampered. The dwelling is said to have bad feng shui. The lock will be released when Period 8 ends on February 3, 2024.
Here are two examples of Locked for Prosperity houses. House 1 was built in Period 4, sitting N1 and facing S1. House 2 was built in Period 7, sitting SE1 and facing NW1.
To set the imprisoned money star free and unlock the house, the central part of the house must be open to all directions. If there’s a body of water, virtual water (like a roadway), or a wide-open space at the facing side of the dwelling, the number 8 water star is released. It can flow out of and into the dwelling freely, improving the luck of the occupants. Although central courtyards are common in China, it is not a common feature in Western homes. What to do? We have three suggestions:
Work extra hard to prevent misfortune.
Move. Use Flying Star to find an auspicious dwelling. Remember to consider the forms, too. See Chapters 9 and 10 for a reminder.
Change the period of your house by opening up the roof so that heaven qi and earth qi combine to bring new life. Obviously, this suggestion is radical and expensive, and complex if your house is multilevel. (It is impossible to perform this procedure for an apartment unit.) The opening must be proportional to the space in question, allowing heaven qi to permeate the house for at least one month. If you install a central skylight, the door must be open. For example, a Period 4 N1 Kan house becomes a Period 8 N1 Kan house. Beware! Before you proceed, study the Flying Star maps of the existing house and prospective new house. Are the new number combinations more auspicious than the old combinations? You’ll learn about the meaning of number combinations in the next chapter. Changing the period of a house is the last resort. Seek a classical practitioner for advice.
When Period 9 arrives on February 4, 2024, and the ruling star 8 leaves office, charts of houses and apartment units that are Locked for Prosperity will be rendered invalid. What happens if the ruling mountain star matches the period star? Is the house locked for health and relationships? No, this rule does not exist.
Period 1 houses and apartment units that are Locked for Prosperity in Period 8 include the Dui dwellings sitting W1, W2, and W3. Period 2 dwellings that are locked include the Gen dwellings sitting NE1, NE2, and NE3. Period 3 dwellings that are locked include the Li dwellings sitting S1, S2 and S3. Period 4 houses that are locked include Kan dwellings sitting N1, N2, and N3. Period 5 houses that are locked include Kun dwellings sitting SW1, SW2, and SW3. Period 6 houses that are locked include Zhen dwellings sitting E1, E2, and E3. Period 7 houses that are locked include Xun dwellings sitting SE1, SE2, and SE3. Period 8 dwellings are not Locked for Prosperity.
In the next chapter, you’ll learn how to interpret and remedy the number combinations made manifest in the central palace and the remaining eight cells.
The Least You Need to Know
The numbers located on the top, left side of each cell are called the mountain stars. They govern a person’s health and relationships. The numbers located on the top, right side of each cell are called the water stars. They govern a person’s wealth.
There are four types of star charts that hold special characteristics valid only if the period the house was constructed in matches the ruling period in question.
The auspicious characteristics manifest only when the appropriate forms (mountain, building, water, road) support the stars.
The inauspicious characteristics manifest only when the appropriate forms (mountain, building, water, road) do not exist to thwart the ill affects.
If the top, right number in the central palace matches the period number, your house or apartment unit is Locked for Prosperity.