One student complained that there are those who, using mere calculations, pass off their Feng Shui and astrology as scientific. Another student said that there should be the kind of causes and effects seen in scientific disciplines like physics, chemistry, biology or medicine - this kind of criterion is hardly seen in some Feng Shui and astrology articles which claim to be "scientific".

Yes, mere calculations may be "scientific" only in the sense like in gambling, where there are mathematical odds what numbers or cards would come up. But when it is asked if Feng Shui or astrology is scientific, the questioner is thinking of causes and effects sciences like physics, chemistry, biology or medicine - then the claims of a number of practitioners that their Feng Shui or astrology are scientific are not wrong but misleading. The approach of these practitioners can never unravel what are the scientific nature of qi and sha and how geography or astronomy effect Feng Shui and astrology.

Let us start off the search for a scientific basis for Feng Shui and astrology by looking at their most basis common principle - that of the Tao evolving into the Yin Yang, Four Cardinal Directions and the 8 trigrams of the Early Heaven Bagua. Too many see this as a magical thing and some would wave the Bagua as a device to magically ward off evil spirits.

The remarkable thing is that there is a scientific reason why the ancients came up with this evolution of the Tao into the Yin Yang, Four Cardinal Directions and the 8 trigrams of the Early Heaven Bagua. There is nothing magical about it.

That scientific reason lies in the daily measurements of the solar shadow with the 8 feet gnomon stick. Since the Chou dynasty, 1126 to 220 BC, the ancient astronomers measured the daily variations of the solar shadow with the 8 feet gnomon stick.

They even divided the year's cycle into 24 Segments… They used six concentric circles, marked the 24-Segment points, divided the circles into 24 sectors and recorded the length of shadow every day. The shortest shadow is found on the day of Summer Solstice. The longest shadow is found on the day of Winter Solstice. After connecting each lines and dimming Yin Part from Summer Solstice to Winter Solstice, the Sun chart looks like [Figure below]. (Allen Tsai, 1999) Figure: The Tai Chi, Yin Yang and Bagua are packages of solar radiation through the seasons of the year.

Recognise this very important scientific finding:

• The seasonal variation in the solar shadow will actually form the symbol of the Yin Yang. The Yin Yang is a scientific measurement of the solar based variation of qi throughout the year!

• This is also a secret of the mysterious megaliths scattered throughout Europe, the Middle East and the parts of the world. They tried to track the time fluctuations of energy flows through measuring the movements of the Sun and the stars. Some of these megaliths tried to focus the energies to spots used for sacred rituals. Areas where energies are focused are actually equivalent to the Ming Tang (Bright Hall) of Feng Shui.

• The 24 segments are the "24 Mountains" common in San Yuan Feng Shui. The ancient Confucius' documents only describe evolution of the Tao into the 8 trigrams. The evolution of the 64 hexagrams from the 8 trigrams came later.

Once you recognise the above you will realise that the annual variations in qi are actually the annual variations in solar energy! The major natural component of qi composes of the negative ions in the sunlight!

• There may be some other components of qi, but its major natural component is negative ions. Negative ions are known in medical science to have a wide range of beneficial effects on human biology.

• In contrast, positive ions have several medical adverse effects on human health. Yes, you should guess right, positive ions are the major component of sha! As about two thirds of the positive ions are radioactive (called radon), they can cause the feared disease of cancer.
  • There are some people who have studied the medical evidence and do not understand the danger of radon and try to pass radon off as beneficial. You may get some so-called stimulated "good effects" by carriers of radon, but in the long term radon will cause genetic damages.

There is nothing magical about the evolution of the Tao into the Yin Yang, Four Cardinal Directions and the 8 trigrams of the Early Heaven Bagua. They all form a perfect scientific flow chart of the way solar radiation fluctuates through the year. This is what was meant by Huang Shih Kung in his Qing Nang Jing:

• From Wu Ji forms the Tai Chi
  Principle is from qi. Qi is limited by the pattern. Qing Nang Jing 1.75-77

Wu Chi is the Sun, the Tai Chi reflects the dark and bright phases of the year. The production of qi is affected by the solar pattern.

The production and distribution of qi and sha, or negative and positive ions, will be affected by a wide range of physical factors present in both geography and astronomy.

It used to be said that the stars are too far away to affect Earth. This may sound true and cloud the mind of people when they are searching for some scientific basis to astrology.

The real astronomical bodies affecting astrology are the planets and the Sun and Moon. The timing of the movements of the solar bodies is tracked with the help of the backdrop of the stars patterns. When astrologers talk about stars they are in reality referring to time movements and positions of the solar bodies. Planetary positions at solstices, equinoxes and conjunctions are particular important - as demonstrated in our courses ( www.guiculture.com/fscourseziwei.htm), many of the stars in Zi Wei Dou Shu and Ba Zi Eight Characters are actually special planetary patterns. Yes, it can be true that the distant stars cannot affect Earth - but in Truth they are only Time markers of the movements of the solar bodies which exert the real scientific Feng Shui and astrology effects.

The tidal influence of the Moon is well known. Modern astronomy shows that the planets exert both gravitational and electromagnetic influence on the Sun and will cause variations in solar radiation reaching Earth. The solar sunspot cycles can be tracked to the position of Jupiter, whose magnetic field is so large that if visible could be seen as large as the Moon in the sky. Jupiter has the most powerful effects and is rightly known as the "Nien" or Year Star in Chinese astrology.

As the planetary patterns have cycles, they cause cyclic changes in the atmosphere and weather on Earth. Modern astronomy also shows that the surface of the Sun is not homogeneous - as the Earth makes its annual orbit around the Sun, there will be different monthly solar radiation on Earth - hence the monthly Zodiac signs.

Figure at left: The surface of the Sun is heterogenous. As Earth orbits around the Sun the Earth will receive different dosages of solar radiation. This is the scientific basis of the 12 monthly Zodiac signs.

The different planetary movements will cause variations in the balance of negative and positive ions on Earth and these will affect the development of the foetus as well as human behaviour. As there are significant effects on foetal development, their effects will ripple into the future as astrological effects.

So, astrology is a medical science once known to the ancients. Modern scientists are beginning to recognise this in the new science of cosmo-biology but have yet to catch up! Correlations are being found in modern medical research between months of birth and the patterns of a wide range of diseases!

Hence, it is possible to tell from the birth date a number of things which will affect the person in the future. As there are cycles in the planetary effects, they can be predicted from mathematical formulas.

• In our Zi Wei Dou Shu course ( www.guiculture.com/fscourseziwei.htm), a number of correlations between birth time and human biology are presented. The real planetary identities of the various stars of ZWDS are also revealed. Special case studies involving the unfortunate fate of Bruce lee and the good fortune of Li Kai Sheng are analysed.

The geographical landform affects the distributions of negative and positive ions (hence qi and sha) in these major ways:

• 1. The solar radiation is especially intercepted by green plants which convert sunlight into food through photosynthesis. What is ill-realised is that the sunlight driven photosynthesis process also causes water transport up the plant and evapotranspiration of the water. What is important in Feng Shui is that the evaporation of water molecules produces negative ions!

  Under dark conditions, like during winter or on the North sides of mountains, there will be less photosynthesis and production of negative ions or qi.

  There will much reduced production of negative ions in barren areas, like deserts, rocky mountains and urban areas of cities.

  
  

• 2. A wide range of winds are carriers of positive ions. Their movements generate friction which strip the air of negative ions, producing air which are positively charged.
  • Hence Guo Po stated, "The classic says, the qi rides on the wind, then it will scatter, when its borders the water it will be retained. Zhang Shu 9".

  • The site must be well watered and free from winds:
    Tai mountain (Tai Shan) the foot hill branches, water criss-cross flowing,
    Kong Ling (Confucius's park or jungle) is most luxuriant.
    Inside dragon tiger mountain the wind is not blowing,
    the immortal garden forever long lasting. Xue Xin Fu 433-434.

  
  

• 3. The Earth's surface is criss-crossed by patterns of faultlines. Radon seeps through faultlines into the air, producing some one third of the radon in air. The ancient recognsied faultlines patterns from the patterns of the mountains or hill ridges. As ridges emerge from the ground, the bases indicate faultlines. The end of the ridge indicates the junction of three faultlines.

• 4. Positive ions climb heights. Hence, mountain tops tend to be charged with positive ions, giving rise to mountain glows.

If you are smart you can guess how landform of mountains and rivers will affect Feng Shui. It will be possible to judge from the landform what kind of biological and behavorial effects there will be on those who stay in the place. Essentially the site must be well watered and protected against winds.

In our Luan Tuo Feng Shui course (www.guiculture.com/fscourseluantuo.htm), scientific explanations are given to the nature of qi and sha, as well as how landform affect human biology. Significant passages of the ancient texts are presented to show how they refer to scientific phenomena. The unfortunate fate of Bruce Lee and the good fortune of Li Kai Sheng are also analysed with respect to the physical features of their residences.

Both Feng Shui and astrology have real scientific basis like in the sciences of physics, chemistry, or biology, not just the mathematical calculations basis. The scientific evidence are out there. Skeptics are out of date and vastly ignorant!

There is nothing superstitious about Feng Shui and astrology and there is no need to believe in magical nonsense about them. They are just like the sciences of physics, chemistry, biology, where their causes and effects can be understood in a scientific way. The Feng Shui and astrology energies are real physical pulsating energies.

One thing sad about modern Feng Shui and astrology is that they tended to be applied separately and independently of each other. You should guess that a total qi effect will be the sum of both Feng Shui and astrology. The ancient emperors would not call just one person but usually a group of experts who would include not only the Feng Shui master and astrologers, but also the rituals priests. That is, there was a holistic science where Feng Shui and astrology are meant to be integrated together.

• That is why in our GUI Management Centre, we teach and show that the Feng Shui and Zi Wei Dou Shu are meant to be used together. The courses teach not only the true scientific explanations but also what the ancient texts really say.

Return to the original highly scientific Feng Shui and astrology! Contact us.