Altars

The Chinese believe that to be fruitful in life one must have the right combination of three factors, i.e.. Heaven, Earth and Man. For man to be able to achieve his goals he must have the blessing or help and support from Heaven (right timing), from the people around him(Man) and the advantage of the right setting(Earth) that will enable him to make full use of his talents and potential.

The Earth factor which is Feng Shui is the subject of this book, the Man factor is also affected by Feng Shui, and in this chapter we shall discuss the Heaven factor which is how to place the altar in the house.

The altar is the place where people pray and communicate with the spiritual world, it is considered yin in Feng Shui. This is where the hopes, plans and aspirations of the occupants are repeated daily in the yin sphere of existence and in due course this will set into motion the fruition of their intentions in the yang or actual world of existence. This is comparable to the modern trend of affirmations and positive thinking to achieve one's goal.

As the altar is yin , it should be rightly placed in the house to assure that there will be no adverse effect on the health, fortune and efficiency of the occupants.

Often the altar is placed inside the master's bedroom. This is not favorable for a place of rest because when one sleeps there is no activity or yang chi generated. The atmosphere already being yin is exacerbated by having the altar inside the bedroom. This is not to mention acts committed inside the bedroom that are disrespectful to the Gods.

An altar placed outside the bedroom in line with the bedroom door is not advisable. Yin chi is sucked into the bedroom everytime the door is opened, this is not conducive to good health. The door being in line with the altar generates a 'chiong' to the altar that disperses the energy built up by the prayers said there. Another case of having a 'chiong' to the altar is placing it on the landing of a staircase. The cure for the above cases is to transfer the altar.

The altar being an important element in Feng Shui should have solid backing, hence, it is imperative to have a wall behind it. We should also consider the adage: "As in front, so behind." Care should be taken that no water closet be placed directly behind the altar as the flushing action undermines the stability of the altar.

The second adage: "As above, so below" is also applicable to the placement of the altar.

The following illustrations depict violations on the first part of the adage:

• A water closet placed on the next higher level directly above the altar will surely disperse the chi of the altar with its flushing action.

• A staircase above the altar is an act of disrespect as the altar is being walked over by everyone who traverses the stairs.

• An exposed beam on top of the altar will subject it to pressure.

• A bed placed above an altar does not accord due respect to the altar especially when it is a marital bed.

The cure for the first three cases is to move the altar. The cure for last case is to either relocate the bed or the altar.

The altar, in order to be stable, should be anchored on a solid foundation or should have no moving lines beneath it. The following illustrations show the violations of the last part of the second adage:

• An altar on top of an aquarium does not provide stability for the altar. The cure is to transfer the aquarium.

• A water closet placed directly beneath an altar on a lower level does not provide 'solid' foundation to the altar due to its flushing action.

• A stove placed directly under an altar on a lower level is not desirable as this will agitate and render the chi of the altar unstable.

• An altar placed on the cantilever section of the house is also not favorable. The cure for the second up to the fourth case is to transfer the altar. There is one insidious effect to the health of a sleeper in the placement of an altar. This is having an altar in line with his/her bed outside his/her bedroom. This connotes sickness or death. The cure is to have the bed relocated.

We have now finished the Feng Shui tour based on the Principles of the Form School. Thank you for making this site useful.