Feng Shui London and UK Spacessential

What is the Bagua exactly?

The Bagua or Pakua is a term used to refer to two different symbolic “maps” of the Chi. They indicate how the Chi circulates and are heavily used for Feng Shui purposes. Ba Gua means eight symbols – those are the eight trigrams, each of them associated with one major direction. Those trigrams are the Guas; house Gua and personal Gua are derivated from the Bagua system.

The Early heaven Bagua

 

 

 

• Other names for this Bagua are Fu Xi Bagua, or Xiantian Bagua, or Early Heaven sequence Ba Gua/ Pa kua.

• The Early Heaven Ba Gua represents the Universe in a prefect state with the equilibrium of the Yin and the Yang forces. As such, it is linked to the other realm, the afterlife or “Heaven”

• It is therefore used for Yin Feng Shui (burial sites)

• In the Early Heaven Bagua the forces are in opposition : Fire opposed to Water, Wind opposed to Thunder, Mountain opposed to Lake, Heaven/Sky opposed to Lake

• The Gua pairing are: Qian-Kun, Dui-Gen, Li-Kan, Zhen-Xun

• The sequence is: Qian,Dui, Li, Zhen, Kun, Gen, Kan, Xun.

• Based on the He Tu numbers linked to the Trigrams, the sum of two opposed Gua is always ten. Therefore 10 is seen as a number of harmony and used as such in dates selection for example.

 

The Later heaven Bagua

 

 

• This Bagua is also called King Wen Bagua, or Houtian Bagua.

• The later Heaven Ba Gua is the “practical” version used in Yang Feng Shui (house). It shows the dynamic flow of the Chi under the limitations of the physical world.

• Forces are not opposed anymore, they are flowing and transforming into each other. The Fire is still paired to Water, but The Wind is paired with the Sky, Thunder with the Lake, and The Mountain with the Earth.

• The Guas pairing are as follow: Li-Kun, Xun-Qian, Zhen-Dui, Gen-Kun.

• The sequence is: Li, Xun, Zhen, Gen, Kan, Qian, Dui, Kun.

• A whole school of Feng Shui relies on the supposively symbolic association between the Gua and the sectors of the house: it is called Ba Zhai, or eight mansions, also known as eight palaces.

• However if this map of the Chi is accurate, it is a superficial one. It is wrong to assume that the whole north direction are Water, all East is wood etc. The sub directions, called 24 mountains, give a much more refined mapping of the Chi. This is the reason why a superficial approach relying on the general Bagua only gives poor results…

 

Bagua of the eight aspirations

Can I use the Bagua of the eight aspirations to Feng Shui my home?

Well, this is where it starts to get ugly! The Bagua is composed of Trigrams, and those trigrams have meanings. For example Dui means marsh or lake; as a family member it also represents the youngest daughter.

The Guas are also allocated to specific sectors, based on the Later Heaven Ba Gua repartition. So for example Qian is the northwest sector. However the Bagua was not meant to be used as a symbolic tool of its own, detached from physical or timing notions. It is simply meant to be an illustration of the Chi patterns.

Therefore applying a concept like the Bagua of eight aspirations through your house, without understanding where the Chi comes from, how it circulates internally, or without taking into account the landscape or even the time period makes little sense and has no effect whatsoever.

The Bagua is a map, and should be considered as such. Let’s suppose that you are going for a trip to a remote part of China. You buy a map to visualize the area. This map is called Bagua. If you buy a detailed topographic map, this is the Bagua and the 24 mountains, much more detailed. However when you actually visit the physical location, what you see are mountains, roads, rivers, forests…You don’t see, and don’t expect to see, the symbols used in your map in 3D when on location! If a triangle is used to represent a mountain, what you see when visiting is a real mountain, with all the complexity of the natural formations: not a giant triangle!

In Feng Shui we have to rely on the physical reality of a building and its surrounding, and use codes, symbols along the way in the analysis. The symbols should not become the BASIS of the analysis. Likewise, enhancing sectors based on the Bagua, and thinking this is proper Feng Shui, is not logical. Think of the map analogy once more. Putting more symbols into a symbolic sector does not achieve anything!

Have you tried Traditional Chinese medicine? If so, you know that a TCM doctor will not stimulate all your organs to replenish the flow of your internal Chi and cure your ailment! He will assert precisely where the problem lies and transforms this blockage into a harmonious Chi only. The same logic should be applied to Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is about tailoring the energy to suit your chart, and enhance your destiny. By stimulating all areas based on Elemental association, you do not understand the specific cycle of energy in your home, or business, and will not achieve any result. Adding a pinch of salt to the sea does not make any difference…

Symbolic Bagua

What about Black hat Feng Shui?

Some modern school of Feng Shui rely entirely on symbolic or metaphoric attributes associated with the eight sectors of the Pakua, and get rid of the directions. For example, when entering a room, the zone in front of you will be the “fame” zone and so on. This is an extremely watered-down version of some once powerful concepts. The symbolic Bagua has no sense whatsoever and no raison d’etre in classical Feng Shui.

Kanyu techniques, now called Feng Shui, were elaborated to understand the influence of natural surroundings on man-made structures and on our destinies. Deciding that the natural forms are of no importance is illogical, irrational, and has no results. This is a total nonsense and should not be called Feng Shui. To be avoided at all costs.