 |
||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
No matter how small an area we have to work with, we can use grasses and bamboos to create a space for solitude, a sacred space, or just a space to sit and relax ,listening to the gentle movement and music of ten thousand leaves murmuring a lullaby in the gentlest of breezes."
"By doing this we hope to make our surrounding environment so supportive of our attitudes, aspirations and opportunities as to make real changes for the better."
Psychologist Carl Jung wrote,
"The Chinese mind, as I see it at work in the I Ching, seems to be exclusively preoccupied with the chance aspect of events. What we call coincidence seems to be the chief concern of this peculiar mind, and what we worship as causality passes almost unnoticed...While the Western mind carefully sifts, weighs, selects, classifies, isolates, the Chinese picture of the moment encompasses everything down to the minutest nonsensical detail, because all of the ingredients make up the observed moment."
What is the meaning of Feng Shui:
Feng Shui pronounced “foong shway” means Wind and Water. This is more of a literal translation than explanation. "Wind is what cannot be seen, but can be felt and water is what cannot be grasped.” This is a good description of Qi, the subtle, illusive all pervasive stuff of life. Whether we can read much more into the meaning than that I think is a matter for the individual to reflect on. Certainly, wind and water both exist as the two most abundant and powerful substances on the face of the earth. Both their individual mass and energy is astonishing and when combined quite awesome. Without wind in our lungs and water in our bodies, we would last a very short time. In fact, no forms of life, animal, vegetable, bacteria or fungus could exist at all.
Tai Chi. The Yin and Yang
The Yin and Yang, the balance of opposites and the duality of life. Represented by the symbolic Tai Qi. Yin and Yang are the negative and positive energies governing all human life and all things in the universe. Yin the black segment in the Tai Qi is the heavy, passive, feminine, receptive or contracting quality of nature and life. Yang the white segment in the Tai Qi is the rising, forceful, masculine expansive side of nature and life.
Neither the qualities of Yin and Yang are better than each other, they are equally attracted, repelled, dependent and stimulated by each other, hence the small spot of the opposite colour in each segment. They are constantly in flux flowing back and forth, expanding, contracting, and maintaining a balance within the universe.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Above:The Chinese characters for Feng (top) meaning wind and Shui (bottom) meaning water.
Festuca 'Golden toupee'
Phyllostachys nigra
Uncinia New Zealand Hook Sedge
Carex 'Ice Dance'
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Feng Shui is a vast and complex subject and to cover the broader subject in depth is beyond the scope of this site so the subject matter is limited to Form School practice which covers the basic principles to be applied in our gardens. For further reference there are many good books available including "Qi Concepts" from which most of this text has been reproduced. What is Feng Shui? The principles of Feng Shui are based on philosophy, natural science, Chinese metaphysics and the art of encouraging positive and beneficial influences. It is the ancient Chinese practice of channeling these positive and invisible influences and energies by a variety of different avenues or means through mediums such as attraction, alignment, direction, association and location in order to promote and enhance the harmony and well-being of our surrounding environment. By doing this we hope to make our surrounding environment so supportive of our attitudes, aspirations and opportunities as to make real changes for the better. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Feng Shui aims to improve our lives by unblocking the flow of these energies and encouraging the passage of good and useful energy or Sheng Qi as known in Chinese. By allowing Sheng Qi free flow through our spaces and our immediate environment, it is encouraged to accumulate gently around and in our homes, gardens and workspaces improving our lives and that of those around us in general. "Where Sheng Qi gathers life is richer and much fuller of opportunities". Qi is a concept unfamiliar to a Western mind or way of thinking however, it’is a concept that is easily grasped. As we will discover as we explore further, particularly when we discuss energies and their cycles and phases and how they interact strengthening, weakening or destroying and nourishing each other. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Today in the modern West land is in short supply, it is expensive, it is in many cases tired or has been overworked or polluted in some way. Town and country planning, and building regulations, roads, utilities as well as the need for services, schools, education, medical care and employment opportunities all dictate where and how we should live. All these factors and more are adding daily to the growing number of problems and restrictions that people in the modern West are faced with; impinging on any effort by an individual to apply the principles of Feng Shui and improve their surrounding environment and their lot in general. However no matter how small an area we have to work with we can use ornamental grasses and bamboos to create a space for solitude a sacred space or just a space to sit and relax listening to the gentle movement and music of ten thousand leaves murmuring a lullaby in the gentlest of breezes. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Join our mail list |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Feng
Shui Garden Bamboo and Ornamental Grasses.
