Book Review by Kartar Diamond
Master Gahle’s book starts out with glowing endorsements by two very influential teachers who traveled the globe in the late 20th century, one being Master Raymond Lo. He gained so much popularity decades ago that in Hong Kong he was referred to as “Mr. Feng Shui.” The other endorsement came from the now late Grand Master Yep Chang Hai, who also noted Atherton’s exceptional diligence as a student, and hence became a renown practitioner in her own right. Keep in mind that even though Feng Shui now appears to be dominated by female personalities, originally it was almost exclusively a man’s profession, and not openly accessible to non-Asians.
In the beginning chapters, Atherton lays out the definition of Feng Shui in both nuance and sophistication that you won’t find in many other books for the general public. It’s refreshing to see how she outlines the five major components that Chinese philosophy espouses as the main influences in our lives (Destiny, Luck, Feng Shui, Virtue, and Knowledge), and even why those influences have a certain order. Atherton highlights several schools and approaches to Feng Shui, and the different uses, such as for existing buildings compared to new construction, and the personal subjective aspect for who is using the space.
With Atherton’s expansive and detailed account of what Feng Shui really is and how it fits into our spiritual existence, we gain a welcome understanding of how complex the subject is in just the first few chapters. What followed after her book was published, was a flurry of other authors trying to capitalize on Feng Shui as a trend, focused more on how to use it just for making money, attracting romance and reduced in many cases to a form of pseudo-spiritual interior decorating. If any of these authors had read Master Gahle’s book first, they may have taken a few extra years to study feng shui more deeply before coming out with their own.
When Master Gahle describes the manifestations of ch’i (Qi) as life force energy, she breaks down three all-encompassing types of Qi which others refer to as components of Heaven Luck, Man Luck, and Earth Luck. In her description of Man Luck as personal life force energy, she distinguishes further between “personal ch’i” (for the physical body) and “atmospheric ch’i” for the soul. Ch’i of different types are all interdependent and further described in Yin or Yang attributes as well as some ratio of the Five “agents” (aka Elements).
With the heavenly qi, earthly qi and personal qi, it dawned on me while reading that each type of qi records and archives its influence. For example, in many esoteric systems, there is a cosmic repository which Eastern paths call the Akashic Records, where all events from our perceived past, present and future are recorded. This is Heavenly qi. Atherton also sites the heavenly qi exposed through weather, climate and other forces of nature.
Earthly qi records, such as land, rock and water harboring positive or negative energy (a memory) from events or circumstances. In many cultures there is an understanding that people who live on land with a negative past, or on a former burial ground, will encounter misfortune. Land can be cursed or blessed. There are so many manifestations of earthly qi keeping a record, including the rings in a tree trunk, the carbon dating of an ancient artifact, and too many other examples to list here.
The personal qi also keeps a record on the cellular level as well as the soul level, including the aura. Atherton explains how the seen and unseen energies work together in a feng shui context. This is actually a big deal because so many feng shui authors only discuss the “seen” energies. The “unseen” energies must be calculated.
Even the most skeptical person would agree that our five senses are limited (or presently under-developed) in their scope. A growing plant makes a sound we can’t hear, but insects can. We can’t see radiation, but other animals can see and feel it. Each participant in life, the five kingdoms of living things, is equipped with what they need physically or intellectually to survive. Atherton illustrates for us, as we venture through life, there are times when we become more yang or more yin, to meet the environment or what stage of life we are in.
When the words “Feng Shui” are translated as “wind water,” this is an abbreviation of Master Guo Po’s full quote that “energy dissipated by the wind, stops at the boundary of water.” Atherton then gives many examples of this in both our natural and man-made environment. When Feng Shui knowledge shows us “the perfect arrangement,” the surroundings will be conducive to the right amount of Qi flow. The essence of the Form School or Landscape School is to utilize or manipulate the environment so that the right amount of Qi is dissipated (not too much or too little) and so that the right amount of Qi is collected or “stopped.” (Not too much, nor too little). We don’t want the environment to be too yin or too yang, for its intended purpose.
Master Gahle demonstrates eloquently how Feng Shui knowledge can open our eyes and all our senses, literally heightening our consciousness. And just when you start to think the principles may be too “woo woo,” she quotes molecular biologist Harvey Bialy, who wrote: “The mathematical structure of the human DNA molecule was strictly analogous to the structure of the most revered text of ancient Chinese wisdom- The I-Ching.”
Most instructors will teach the Four Celestial Animals in the context of ideal natural (mountain) or man-made formations to protect a property. Atherton introduces the 5th Celestial “Guadian” in the center, the Snake, whose official duties are to dictate to the other animals, so they can communicate with each other. This is similar to the 5 Yellow Emperor in the center of the Luo Shu, over-seeing all the directions. As I write this, I’m having images of the Merkabah holographically laid over the Luo Shu. It is helpful to imagine certain feng shui concepts as multi-dimensional.
With the principle of a mountain for “backing” and protection, we can better understand the modern-day structure and the environmental impact on it, especially since so relatively few people get to enjoy living nestled in a mountain range. Here Atherton offers practical landscape solutions for what may be lacking.
Where each Feng Shui concept has both “macro” and “micro” applications, the human body also has a “sitting” and “facing” side. This is why we prefer to sit with our back to a solid wall, facing a view, mimicking the ideal house position. Atherton notes from Chinese acupuncture that the main meridian points for personal life force energy are aligned along the spine. This is just one more reason why sitting all day backed up to a window or open space can be so draining, compared to the support provided by a solid wall. So often, what initially appears to be a superstition or folk remedy will be validated by science or some provable theory.
In the middle of the book, chapters for every room in the house and many architectural features are discussed in a comprehensive way. For instance, just the chapter on stairs covers not only the infamous staircase aligned with a front door, but also the influence of multiple staircases in one house and their varying shapes. Most authors focus on how a person may be in a poor alignment with a door, a window or a house aligned with a street. Atherton takes it further with examples of how aspects in our environment compete with each other, forcing one of two nearby influences to become more yin or yang as the stronger feature will usurp most of the qi.
As one example, if a multi-use building has both commercial and residential together, the commercial part of the building will hog the qi and the person living on the premises needs to adjust their space to help harness more qi for themselves. Exterior doors which face each other across a street will also compete for qi traveling down the street if the juxtaposed houses have their front doors directly aligned.
Master Gahle provides many solutions, after describing a feng shui design or landscaping flaw. She also gets into more specifics than other authors, such as noting that a front door can be influenced by anything within a 45-degree range of the door. She also refers frequently to the “unseen” energies. It should be understood that she is alluding to the flying stars. This is a meaningful disclaimer to any advice given because the flying stars are powerful forces and could change the recommendations partially or completely when factored in. The flying star chart for any building is the magnetic field created inside, uniquely based on year of construction and compass orientation.
In the chapter on how to interpret and treat the front door, she also introduces the option to use a mirror, (to draw in or deflect), according to what is needed. She mentions the concave mirror, convex mirror, and the popular octagonal Ba’ gua mirror. This came as a surprise to me, re-reading the book 25 years later. Those familiar with my work know that I had dismissed the Ba’ gua mirror as a Chinese folk remedy and it is not a part of my own professional repertoire.
Master Gahle even mentions the use of statuary for some circumstances, such as protective lions at an entrance. I could ponder, “For whose benefit?” when it comes to images like the lions. Is this to make the homeowner feel safer or is it meant to psychologically disarm the stranger approaching the door? Does the statuary carry its own magical energy or is this a justified placebo?
I will have to ask Master Gahle about her experiences with folk remedies and perhaps I’ll add a postscript to this review. As the years have passed and I have become more open-minded and less judgmental, I’ve also lightened up regarding all the talismanic applications used in Feng Shui, (even dabbling in the crafting of sigils myself).
Atherton leaves no stone unturned in detailing the many exterior influences which produce “sha qi,” as well as chapters dedicated to the interiors, covering each room in the house. One interesting observation is the home where the foot of each family member’s bed points away from the other beds, like a family where each person has their arms folded and back turned away from the others. She concludes this as a signal that family members will not get along.
She also recommends that exposed beams be painted pink as that is a weak form of the fire element. Since the beam is almost always made of wood, it’s a subtle way to drain the oppressive power from the beam, using Five Element Theory. She mentions the influence of loud wallpaper in a teenager’s bedroom and bookshelves over a bed. One of my favorites is her description of a “dragon toilet” in the bathroom chapter.
Another unusual section advises those who have a lot of antiques to have them cleansed with a flower essence potion. This is a space clearing technique, specific to antiques which can harbor the old energies of past owners.
Master Gahle also has a chapter called Heart of the Home, with insight into the influence of what we put in the literal center of our house. She starts with the premise that the center of the home is essentially earth energy. The types of décor and even the shape of a rug in a center hallway can have a permeating effect on the whole house.
Her section on streets and roads not only covers their influence on the house in relation to the street, such as parallel to the house or on a curved “knife’s edge,” she also shows the influence of seven houses on a block and which houses receive the most Qi from the road and which receive the least. She offers landscape suggestions to help capture more of the road qi when needed.
In numerous areas of the book, Master Gahle points out how a door can receive harmful influences, and recommends “tilting the door,” without elaborating on what that really means. In case you were to assume this is just some symbolic modification to the door, you would be wrong. I happen to know that tilting the door is a relatively big commitment that few are willing to pursue. I’ve never suggested it, even though I learned about this in the 1990’s from the late Master Yap Cheng Hai. In fact, Master Yap was also famous for telling people to change the orientation of their stoves.
With regards to an entrance, literally angling the door in another direction can apparently fix many problems, but this is completely impossible for renters to undertake. If one owns their own home, it brings up the awkward and expensive project of angling the door and that might not even be possible without also extending the area of the house where the door exists. In fact, some practitioners believe you can change the Period of your house by tilting the door. An angled door means a new door frame and it would have to be done in such a way to not look weird or contribute to some other “sha qi“ because of this modification.
Going back to Master Yap’s instructions to tilt a stove, he maintained that the cook needs to stand in their good direction and the knobs for the burners need to face a certain direction as well. In some cases, it would dictate that the stove be pulled out of its spot flush within the counter and angled differently. Who is going to do that? (Talk about poison arrows!)
Perhaps a wealthy person who wanted to remodel their kitchen anyway, but certainly not 99% of my clients. This is one reason why I lost interest in studying with Master Yap any further. With Atherton, she provides practical and affordable solutions. She mentions the door tilt, knowing that her readers understand Feng Shui on a wide range of levels.
Just as a postscript regarding the late Master Yap Cheng Hai: He was quite a character, compelling people to take his words and recommendations very seriously, often speaking about one of his areas of expertise, which was in creating “Water Dragons” for his clients. Water Dragons in this regard are the creation of artificial streams around a property. The entrance point, meandering path, pooling location of the water and the exit point can be manipulated in such a way to bring great fortune to the homeowner. Master Yap would say in class that he “turned millionaires into billionaires” using the Water Dragon formulas. Unfortunately, he charged a huge fee for this information (think down payment on a house), making it unavailable to most. In one of his classes, he wanted to demonstrate the power of Qi. I was standing at the back of the room, filled with more than fifty students. He moved his hands like a Tai Chi master and when directed toward the back of the room, I actually felt a big push against my chest. Very memorable!
Coming in for the home stretch, the author continues to get into more detail than most, explaining the type of poison arrow known as a secret arrow, as well as distinguishing different types and situations, such as: “water cutting the feet,” “lonely buildings,” “baby buildings,” and issues with flat top and mirrored buildings.
Atherton gives us a more nuanced description of the BTB “cures” and those measures aiming to balance yin-yang deficiencies with sections on sound, light, color, living objects, moving objects and heavy objects. While probably not her intention, Atherton’s description of the “law of heaven,” implies for me personally that we might very well be living in a simulation, or at least some truth in that “perception is reality.”
So often, the person new to Feng Shui assumes that placing water anywhere will have a good effect, but Master Gahle cautions, “water is such an unknown quantity that the ancient Chinese classics on water placement described water as ‘abysmal,’ the bottomless, the hidden, the underground, that which is hidden beneath the surface. Water has the power to heal, to absorb negative influences, to stimulate and magnify influences, to reflect, to activate, consume and finally, drown.” She offers ways to test for water placement, in lieu of having a professional’s determination, if you are not yet at that place where you can hire an expert.
Master Gahle gives color advice, room by room, based on the function of the space and its inherent yin or yang qualities. This is a departure from what some consultants do; some will advise based on the signature trigram energy (element) for each direction and others will make color recommendations based on the flying stars. There is more than one approach to color and an awareness of all these levels is the best guide. Ultimately, Atherton reminds us that everything is some frequency of light and light manifests as color in this regard.
In the closing chapters, Atherton explains in detail the Predecessor Law, a result of the Predisposition Law. If mentioned at all, other authors may sum up the Predecessor Law as the reality that a house can impose its energy similarly on a series of occupants. In my first book, Feng Shui for Skeptics, I used an example of what I termed “The Divorce House,” to describe the innate energies of a house being capable of creating the same or similar events on various occupants for decades. Master Gahle takes it further with a comparison in family genealogy, where ancestors share personality traits, constitutional health and career choices. She also shares her knowledge of Chinese astrology and how complementary it is in a Feng Shui audit. When we understand a person’s current phase in their life chart and their long-term birth influences, we can better gauge priorities in the feng shui assessment.
The “unseen” influences are the flying stars, a different type of “feng shui astrology,” and the calculations start with the Period in which the structure has been built. This harkens back to the I-Ching which provides a deeper, expanded meaning behind the trigrams.
Atherton mentions that the influence of each Period actually begins a good 20 years before it officially reigns. A complete cycle of the 9 Periods lasts for 180 years. When only 20 years away from taking the throne, the near future Period can be felt. For example, the last Period 6 was from 1964 to 1984, but the energy of Period 6 was running as a background program during Period 5. She sites the global influences of the Period stars, which is really amazing to reflect on with so much historical validation.
With the frequent references to “unseen” influences, it might be assumed that one needs to use their intuition to comprehend such ethereal forces. And yet, that is not necessary or even desirable. There are so many mechanical and teachable theories, that one does not need to rely on intuition to correctly assess a living space. In the final pages, Master Gahle further distinguishes between intuition and instinct. Intuition may evolve from the mind, but instinct is a more primal bodily response, such as when the hair on the back of your neck stands on end, alerting you of danger. Both intuition and instinct complement their usefulness in sensing the good or bad feng shui. With training and wisdom, feng shui allows us to meet or even exceed our goals and aspirations.
Studying with an experienced teacher and practitioner is best; and yet if you have no choice but to learn feng shui only through books, you only need a few of the great ones and Atherton’s book is on that short list. And in case you think you might be having a Mandela Effect Moment, Master Atherton later changed the spelling of her first name to “Gayle,” after her book was published as “Gahle.”
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Feng Shui Book Review Series
