#33, 2004

This is the second complete book I've read on the subject (I started one other, but abandoned it when I discovered the approach was not classical feng shui, which is what I've decided to learn).

I feel like this book gave me an excellent foundation in many of the principles of feng shui, and walked me through a detailed analysis of my home, in terms of the elements (phases) that rule each area of my home. Trouble is, I don't feel like the book gave much guidance at ALL in helping me figure out what to do with this analysis after I'd created it. Some of this stuff is very complex - working out how the phases combine and interact with one another, and the examples in the book were not really enough to give me the confidence to figure this stuff out for my own home. Sure, I was given enough to take a stab at it, but really I'd just be guessing, and since there is no way to "check my work," I feel like I need more guidance before I really get working. ::sigh:: I also felt like there was almost nothing offered in terms of specific "cures." Some are mentioned in the examples, but there is no listing of cures or specific suggestions for placing furniture (other than beds and desks) or working with colors, etc.

There are also a lot of little "technical" questions I have - things that can go, IMO, one of two ways, and the book hasn't given me enough information to know which way. Several times during the book, I felt like I was "stuck" - unable to move forward without getting answers to some specific questions; questions which aren't answered in the book. I've managed to go outside the text for some of these answers, but not for all of them. Not only is it complex, but there are parts I'm finding very confusing. And I'm no idiot. ::grin:: There is also a section at the end on Chinese astrology, which is interesting, but I had the same problems here - some questions about figuring dates and things which simply weren't answered clearly enough for me to proceed past a certain point. And, frankly, I'd have rather seen more examples of the things earlier in the book, and had the authors leave off the astrology bits altogether.

Still, I feel like this book gave me something very solid on which to build. Yesterday, I got two more books, and I'm hoping that as I go through those, some of my questions will be answered, and I'll be able to move forward . . . something that I still don't feel I can do with the information I have now. The two new books are K.I.S.S. Guide to Feng Shui, and Flying Star Feng Shui, both by Stephen Skinner. I'm starting to see that perhaps this is a more complex subject than any single book should be expected to cover. Trouble is, so many of them claim to do just that, and are, in my opinion, failing. I would recommend this book to someone who seriously wants to study feng shui, but be warned that it's probably just a starting place. It didn't provide enough information for *me* to feel satisfied, anyway. ( )