The Basics of the Flying Star Feng Shui

One major school of the traditional Chinese Feng Shui is the Flying Star Feng Shui, or "Jiu Gong Fei Xing" ( 九宫飞星, or Nine palaces Flying Stars). Another name is "Xuan Kong Fei Xing" (Fei Xing = flying star). Basically, a house or apartment is divided into a grid of 9, and each grid is occupied by a special star. The star's energy will affect the overlapping area. The stars also move (or fly) to a different section yearly, so the energy of the rooms will be affected by the star of the year in that direction.

Some stars bring positive energy, and some bring negative energy. The purpose of the Flying Star Feng Shui is to know where you stand at the particular period of time and direction. Once you know the strongest and weakest areas and the possible effects of the stars, you can activate the lucky sections and carefully reduce the effect of the unlucky stars on certain sections.

Here is a basic version of how to applying Flying Star Feng Shui. Remember it can be very complicated. The stars also change monthly, daily or even hourly, every room can have its own Flying Stars chart, and everyone's birth chart will interact with the energy differently. We try to keep it simple for now.

How to apply Flying Star chart to your house (step by step)

1. Checking the Facing direction of your house 

To apply the Feng Shui grid on your floor plan, the first thing is to find out the direction of your home. In Feng Shui, there is a sitting direction and facing direction. The front door is typically the facing direction and the back of the house (opposite to the front door) is usually the sitting direction. There are exceptions to that rule. Usually, the front facing direction is the side with the most traffic and brightest light. That is where Qi enter the house. 

Here are 3 ways to find the direction of your house or apartment.

(1). An easy way to find the house facing direction is to look up on Google map (maps.google.com). Type in your address and you can find your house's footprint and the front door location. The top of the screen is north so you can determine the facing and sitting direction of the house this way. It is also convenient to print out a copy. The downside is you can not calculate the exact degree of the direction.

(2). Another way is to use a compass. Traditional compass (either cheap boy scout type or Chinese Lou Pan) points to the Magnetic North and is easily affected by any metal nearby. You might need to calibrate the compass to find the true north. Make sure your compass is held horizontally and check several times by standing in different locations. Always hold it parallel to the front door and front wall, looking outside of the house. Keep away from any electronics or metal objects to find a more accurate reading.

(3). One way I really prefer is to use the compass apps on your smartphone. Does not matter I-phone or Android phone, you can search for "compass" or "Feng Shui Compass" from your app store and find many free apps to install. Just point the phone to the front door directly, it shows the exact degrees and directions quickly. Calibrate the compass first by rotating the phone in different directions a few time or follow the number 8 movement (the app usually tells you how to calibrate it). Check with several different apps if you are not sure the reading is correct. If one app's reading is way off or not working for you, just uninstall it. The free compass apps may come with different qualities but many are reliable and very convenient. They give you the exact degree of the direction.

2. Drawing a grid of 9 sections (nine palaces) on top of your floor plan

Most home floor plans can be found on local building department or government website. Or you can draw it yourself by measuring the dimension of each space. The exact detail is not critical but It should be in the right proportion and scale. If it does not fit your paper, tape more papers instead of shrink down the rooms in the corner. 

Find the center point of the house by connecting the opposite corners. If one corner is missing, extend an imaginary line to complete the house. See below.

The example below has a 200 degree reading of the front door direction.  Now you know the direction of your house, Overlap the compass and draw the line of north-south and east-west intersecting in the center point of your floor plan. Now It is easy to divide your floor plan into 9 equal boxes aligning to the north-south and east-west lines. Each box occupies a different directions. See below. 

3. Overlaying the 9 flying stars chart for the 2018 year of the dog

Every year, the stars fly into different segments of the house. There are 9 numbers calculated from the ancient Luo Shu and Ba Gua. We do not need to learn all the theories and calculations to use Flying Star Feng Shui chart. You can find the yearly Flying star chart on the internet, on your phone app, or from a book or calendar.

Now place this chart over the floor plan you have from the step above, you have a clear view of which star affecting which room. Just align the directions. For example, north of the Flying Star chart to the North of your floor plan. See the 2018 year of dog Flying Star chart below.

4. Meaning of the 9 stars

We are listing the basic meaning for each of the 9 stars and the effect the stars might bring to that space. They are "magic numbers" calculated according to traditional Chinese Luo Shu. The Chinese name of each star also explains the meaning behind. 

Number 1 star: Yi Bai (One White) - Northwest in 2018 - The Victory star - Career and social advancement, recognition, wealth accumulation.

Number 2 star: Er Hei (Two Black) - West in 2018 - The Illness star - Illness, medical complication and health problems. 

Number 3 star: San Bi (Three Jade) - Northeast in 2018 - he Quarrelsome star - Conflict, argument, legal problems.

Number 4 star: Si Bi (Four Green) - South in 2018 - Academic and Relationship star - Academic, scholastic, and artistic achievement. Positive relationship.

Number 5 star: Wu Huang (Five Yellow) - North in 2018 - The Misfortune star - Misfortune and accident.

Number 6 star: Liu Bai (Six White) - Southwest in 2018 - The Hevenly star - Wealth and money luck, career opportunity, improved professional status.

Number 7 star: Qi Chi (Seven Red) - East in 2018 - The Robbery star - Robbery, marital problem, chronic health problems.

Number 8 star: Ba Bai (Eight White) - Southeast in 2018 - The Prosperty Star - Prosperity, wealth, recognition.

Number 9 star: Center - Multiplying star - Future prosperity, fame.

The three inauspicious stars to watch out

1. Tai Shui (Grand Duke Jupiter): The is a Chinese diety associated with misfortune. We want to respect him and keep a safe distance if possible. In 2018, Tai Shui enters the Northwest.

2. San Sha (Three Killing): associated with natural or man-made disaster, or negative energy. In 2018, Three Killing is located in the North.

The above 2 stars, plus the Misfortune star, or Wu Huang (Five Yellow), from the 9 stars above, are the three unlucky stars. They change the locations every year.  Wu Huang, the Misfortune star is located in the North for 2018. You can see both Sha Sha and Wu Huang are in the North in 2018. We have to be extra careful for this location.

What can we do with the areas of the three unlucky stars?

In these low energy areas, we should avoid loud noise and renovation. Try to avoid using these areas for long period of time if possible. Keep a low profile in the related area, and use Feng Shui cures to reduce the negative effect.

In the next article, we will talk about different ways to activate the auspicious areas and protect ourselves in the unlucky areas. Remember Feng Shui is like life cycle, there will always be lucky and unlucky areas just like life will always have up and downs. What we can do is know where we are and plan for the future.

Resource for your Flying Star chart/ almanic/ books (disclosure: affiliate links)

1. Lilian Too's Feng Shui Diary: http://amzn.to/2COKnYC

2. Feng Shui for 2018 by Joey Yap: http://amzn.to/2D1Mhlr

3. Flying Star Feng Shui: http://amzn.to/2mP0kmK

4. Xuan Kong Flying Stars Feng Shui (Joy Yep): http://amzn.to/2Dhr6uU