School of shapes in Feng Shui and celestial animals - how constellations influence our lives
From ancient times, the Chinese tribes have worshiped gods which managed to be known as The Four Celestial Palaces. These are the red phoenix, blue dragon, turtle and white tiger. However these are macro-constelations which contain 7 independent constellations each.
The four constellations were actually announcing the coming of equinoxes and solstices each of them representing a quarter of the visible sky during the night, each of them entirely appearing on the sky only during the season it is associated with.
The way this constellations got to be represented on earth by a relief form is still a mystery which was not revealed even in the ancient Feng Shui books. However the four macro-constellations “transformed” into relief forms associated to each cardinal point: the red phoenix associated to the south, the white tiger to the west, the black turtle to the north and the azure dragon to the east.
The school of shapes (Xingfa) we discussed about in the previous articles, is based on the analysis of the forms of these four celestial animals in order to describe the way the energy (qi) affects certain buildings and thus people living in them.
The masters of this school were showing people coming to them, which was the better place to build a house, trying to find an area where the four celestial animals were in an optimal configuration. When such an arrangement was found, that place was a reflection of the heaven on earth, the energies being in a perfect harmony.
“Searching for the dragon’s nest” is a metaphorical expression used by the adepts of this traditional school. The house of the dragon was the very intersection of the four relief forms which was generating sheng qi, the positive energy; people living in those places were benefitting of good health and wealth.
The four animals
The four animals are associated to a direction, a season, a colour and a polarity of the energy.
The azure dragon represents East, spring, colour green and yang energy. The relief form corresponding to the dragon is higher than the one associated to the tiger and is located on the right side of the building (when we look towards it).
The white tiger represents West, autumn, colour white and yin energy. The relief form associated to the tiger is usually longer and smaller in height than the dragon’s one and protects the left side of the bulding.
The black turtle corresponds to the North, winter, colour black and yin energy. The relief form associated to the turtle is the highest one, being located at the back of the building, protecting it against the rough North winds.
The red phoenix represents the South, summer, colour red and yang energy. It is the lowest relief form and is located in front of the building; can be represented by a water as well.
The four animals together form the house of the dragon, generating positive energy – sheng qi. This formation is also called the “armchair formation”. Imagine that this nest of the dragon is an armchair in which the tiger and dragon are the arms, the the turtle is the back of the armchair and the phoenix the small chair to support your legs. The center of the armchair is the best place. To realize the importance of the four relief forms, imagine you sit in an armchair missing an arm (or even both) or which has no back. Such a place, for a building, does not offer protection and physical or psychical comfort. As far as the phoenix is concerned it helps to stop the energies which come too fast towards that building and help to store the energy.
As we could see, the orientation in space of the four celestial animals traditionally corresponds to the four cardinal points. However we shouldn’t be very strict with this. Imagine yourself looking at your house from the front side; it is good for it to be protected by the four animals like this: the turtle at the back side, the dragon at the left, the tiger at the right and the phoenix in front.
In the next article we will see how to recognize these four animals in the city we live in.
