feng shui

by peacefulpete 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  skyman

  What the Hell is feng shui. I'll do google.
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  tall penguin

  Actually there was an article (awake I think) on feng shui and also one on yoga a few years ago. I remember the feng shui article because my mom had a bunch of books on the subject and was really excited about exploring it as a new hobby. Then the article came out and she threw out all her books and went back to her hobby-less existence. *sigh*
  tall penguin
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  4JWY

  I believe the AW article would have been around 2001 or 2002.

  Something like,"Feng Shui, is it for Christians?"
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  blondie

  Couldn't find it on WT-CD because of diacritical mark over the "e" in Feng.

  ***

  g01 12/8 pp. 22-23 The Bible’s Viewpoint Fêng Shui—Is It for Christians?

  IN ASIA, grave sites are chosen according to it. Buildings are designed and decorated according to it. Property is bought and sold based on it. In Chinese it is known as fêng shui, a form of geomancy or augury. Although fêng shui has been popular in Asia for centuries, in recent years it has spread to Western lands. Some architects are using it in designing skyscrapers, offices, and homes. Some housewives are using it in decorating their homes. Dozens of books and Internet Web sites promote and teach it.

  The reason for this growing popularity? According to one advocate, fêng shui can bring "improved living, health, better marriages or partnerships, greater wealth, and personal peace of mind." While that all sounds appealing, just what is this practice, and how should Christians view it?

  What

  Is It?

  The Chinese words fêng shui literally mean "wind-water." The roots of fêng shui go back thousands of years to the time when many Oriental philosophies were developed. Included among these was belief in the so-called balance of yin and yang (darkness and light, hot and cold, negative and positive). The concept of yin and yang was joined with the idea of ch´i, which literally means "air" or "breath." Yin, yang, and ch´i, along with the so-called five elements of wood, earth, water, fire, and metal, form integral parts of fêng shui theory. Devotees of fêng shui believe that powerful lines of energy run through every landscape. The goal is to pinpoint locations where the energies, or ch´i, of the land and sky are brought into balance. This is accomplished by altering the landscape itself or by making alterations within a building on a particular site. Bringing about this balance is supposed to bring good fortune to those working or living there.

  Usually, fêng shui masters consult a geomantic compass. This is a small magnetic compass set in the middle of what is basically an astrological chart. The compass contains concentric circles, which are divided by lines. A geomantic compass contains data on such things as constellations, seasons, and periods of the solar cycles. When analyzing a site or building, a number of compass readings are taken. The fêng shui master observes where the compass needle intersects with points on the outer lines and circles, and from this he determines what is needed to "cure" a site.

  Nearby topography, watercourses, sewer drains, and even the placement of windows and doors in a building may all be taken into consideration in deciding how to bring a site into balance. For example, in Canada a shopkeeper hung a mirror over the back door of her store to "correct" the positioning of its doors. A geomancy practitioner might similarly recommend moving plants or furniture, replacing a picture, adding wind chimes, or setting up an aquarium so as to bring a building or a room into balance.

  The

  Christian View

  Significantly, most libraries catalog books on fêng shui with writings on astrology and fortune-telling. In fact, Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary describes geomancy as "divination by means of figures or lines or geographic features." (Italics ours.) Thus, it is widely accepted that fêng shui and other types of geomancy are forms of fortune-telling. They involve divination and spiritistic practices, which are nothing new to mankind.

  When the Israelites left Egypt and finally entered the land of Canaan in the 15th century B.C.E., divination of all sorts was prevalent in both lands. Through Moses, God said, as recorded at Deuteronomy 18:14: "These nations whom you are dispossessing used to listen to those practicing magic and to those who divine; but as for you, Jehovah your God has not given you anything like this." The many forms of divination in Egypt and Canaan originated in ancient Babylon. When Jehovah confused the language of the people of Babylon, they spread to other places, taking with them the practices connected with Babylonish divination and spiritism.—Genesis 11:1-9.

  Jehovah God sternly and repeatedly warned Israel not to take up the divination practices of other nations, saying: "There should not be found in you anyone who . . . employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens . . . For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah, and on account of these detestable things Jehovah your God is driving them away from before you." (Deuteronomy 18:9-12; Leviticus 19:26, 31) Practitioners of divination were to be put to death without fail.—Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27.

  Why was divination so roundly condemned? Acts 16:16-19 tells of a woman who had "a demon of divination." Yes, divination is inextricably linked with demonism. Practicing any form of divination can thus put one in contact with Satan and his demons! That could result in spiritual ruin.—2 Corinthians 4:4.

  Some popular styles of decorating and landscaping, Oriental or Occidental, may have originally been influenced by false religious practices like fêng shui. Oftentimes, though, such styles have entirely lost their religious significance. Still, it would be a clear violation of God’s law to use fêng shui to divine the future or to bring good luck or good health. To do so would be to violate the Bible’s clear-cut command to avoid touching anything "unclean."—2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

  [Footnote]

  In Western lands practitioners have tried to give fêng shui a more scientific appearance, some even using computers to assist them in analyzing geographic sites.
• 

  4JWY

  
  
  
  
  .......S I G H.............is there nothing that is not analyzed to the Nth degree by those guys? All I had wanted to do was put the head of my bed in the North for the benefits I was to derive. (Terry, it was a joke!)
  

  Thanks for the copy Blondie.
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  willowmoon

  Thanks Blondie, that article was also shown to me when the brothers said I should stop selling these items in my store and stop using the elements in my floral and garden designs because it was considered spiritism.

  Of course the discussion took place right after their own wives had bought fountains, wind chimes, and tranquility candles for their homes

  willow
• 

  peacefulpete

  Significantly, most libraries catalog books on fêng shui with writings on astrology and fortune-telling

  I almost busted a gut when I read that! LIBRARIANS know things you know!
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  bavman

  I haven't really heard much on this feng fellow Pete. I guess you are just way ahead of me on all the latest fads. Lol!
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  anewme

  I like to think at times like this of the account in 2Kings 5 of a man named Naaman.
  He was cured of leprosy by the prophet Elisha. He announced at 2Kings 5:15-18 "Here now, I certainly know that there is no God anywhere in the earth but in Israel......In this thing may Jehovah forgive your servant" "When my lord comes into the house of Rimmon (false god) to bow down there, and he is supporting himself upon my hand, and I have to bow down at the house of Rimmon, when I bow down at the house of Rimmon may Jehovah, please, forgive your servant in this respect." At this (Elisha) said to him: "Go in peace."
  
  This shows that Jehovah is very capable of separating the desire to simply decorate beautifully and sensually with creating a center of false worship.
  
  Anything one sells to customers could be used for false worship, sexual orgies, or abuse of some kind.
  How do the brothers who clean offices or sell tools or work on cars know that the people they are aiding are doing upright things in their offices or with the tools or with the cars?
  
  What if you delivered pizzas? But what if it was learned it was to a birthday celebration?
  
  What if someone ordered flowers from you for their wedding? It was to be delivered to a Jewish synagogue?
  
  What if you are working as a courtesly clerk in a store and they tell you to go get some cigarettes for a customer?
  
  What if you are working in a library as an assistant and people want to check our R rated videos and books from you? "Excuse me please but I am looking for a book "How To Give The Perfect %#$@ Job"
  These are examples of how ridiculous it would be to blame the one serving God in this circumstance.
  
  Wind chimes, scented candles, incense, mirrors, are all in themselves innocent things created and designed with the intention to enhance the senses and bring pleasure to life.
  If in ancient times or in other cultures these items were/are being used to call the gods, there is a big difference.
  
  Where does it all end?
  There must be balance.
• 

  Terry

  Let me see if I can express clearly what Feng (or FUNG) Shui is.......

  You take a floating concept like "energy fields" without defining exactly what you mean and you use it to explain another floating (undefined) concept: alignment.

  What is "alignment"?

  Penn & Teller on their Cable Tv show BULLSHIT! paid a householder to hire several Feng Shui experts to "do charts" on their house and make suggestions.

  Naturally, these "experts" were full of patter about energy fields and alignment as they "explained" why they moved furniture around or suggested the purchase of a water fountain or piece of "art" for a rather high price that would set their enviornment in harmony with the energy fields.

  The colors were carefully chosen to match the householder's "aura" and so on.

  Surprise! Surprise! None of these experts had suggestions that matched! In fact, the contradicted each other on almost everything. But, all of them had charged over a thousand dollars for the consultations and even more for the trinkets and art pieces they sold to the householder.

  What does this prove? Maybe something; maybe not.

  Anytime somebody explains a concept without defining their terms they are bullshitting either themselves or you or both.

  Words words words...............

  Mystical ideas are obviously attractive to uninformed people and to informed people alike because you can "read into" words what you will.

  If your bed faces a certain direction it will IMPROVE your life???? Oh come on!

  There is a writer Joe Palaunik (who wrote Fight Club) who did a short story about a Feng Shui hire killer who would sneak into the bedroom of their victims and rearranged their bed j-u-s-t enough to kill them! :)

  Credulity isn't an attractive trait in a grown-up.

  Terry

  p.s. I work in a bookstore and Feng Shui books were very popular for awhile, but, now we can't seem to give them away at any price no matter how discounted.