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In a recent workshop in Sedona, our group did an exercise while in an 8-sided outdoor gazebo. Looking at the shape of the gazebo, I was spontaneously guided to try something new. In the workshops, I teach how to make direct contact with this Spirit of Nature, or devic realms. In this workshop, I asked each person to go toward one of the sides of the 8-sided gazebo. Then, I asked them to clear their mind of anything previously read or learned about what that side of the trigram they were standing in represented in feng shui. We then did a simple meditation, and after centering ourselves each person in the group invited the Being representing their side of the bagua to make contact with them.

When I tuned into the consciousness of the area of the bagua where I was, the career position, I was quite surprised by what I found! There was a very powerful Being in this face of the gazebo, quite tall and impressive, which I was amazed to see. I was taken aback by this as I had underestimated the power of these Beings, having thought of them all these years as diagrams on a piece of paper telling me where to put my wind chimes or mirrors. Each person then requested the wisdom held by that particular Being in the side of the bagua they were contacting. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but we were just having fun and were very open-minded, which I’ve found to be the key to accessing these inner realms. After about five minutes of this exercise, we came together and shared what we learned. To my astonishment, every person in the group received a “message” totally tailored to their specific situation.

Even those who claimed that they’ve never seen or heard things inwardly received one of their first inner messages. Although the messages were all quite unconventional in terms of what the feng shui books would prescribe, a feng shui practitioner in the group shared how the messages were in fact related to the aspects of the bagua that we were each contacting inwardly. We each received individualized information about how that part of the bagua could help us in our lives instead of what a feng shui book would say about it. Were we in contact with the original “author” or spirit of the various feng shui texts? After all, feng shui means “wind and water” — aligning with the forces of nature and with the Heavens. Sometimes we forget that feng shui is an art of divination. If not from Nature, then from whom does feng shui divine?

This experience made it clear to me that the bagua of feng shui was an “entity” that had a consciousness. As such, It could be accessed for information. Accessing this consciousness directly could take a person beyond the book learning, and rules of feng shui taught today. This is similar to what Machelle Small Wright discovered in her gardens of Perelandra. In her Perelandra Garden Workbook, she relates how she contacted the consciousness of the plants directly to access their wisdom regarding what they needed. While the information obtained defied traditional gardening books, it was very successful nonetheless. In much the same way, Luther Burbank, after which the California town was named, trained cacti and roses to grow without thorns by talking to the consciousness of the plants.

Is this how the Shamans of the Amazon Rainforest say they learned about the “medicine” of a plant, by journeying to the other worlds and contacting the spirit of the plants to learn their wisdom of how they are to be used? And isn’t that what Native American cultures do when they address the Spirit of the Four Directions? They believe the Spirit of the North has a consciousness, as do each of the other directions, and their wisdom and strength can be accessed when invoked. Similarly, could there be a Being that holds the wisdom of Feng Shui itself? If so, then by accessing this “Spirit of Feng Shui” we gain access to that wisdom directly.

If Nature can be compared to a woman, then surely we must realize that She has far too many mysteries to be confined to the static prescriptions, rules and formulas found in any book. While a book may serve as a guide, it cannot ever describe the dynamic forces of nature, which differ in each land and culture. What if we could access our own feng shui consultant in Nature Herself, who could guide us very specifically about how to best align with Her to create for harmony and balance? I’ve found in the countless space clearings I’ve done all over the world, that Nature will inevitable guide us toward the best solution for all concerned. People are often surprised to discover how easy it is to make contact, but after all, She is our true Mother, and She is always available for the asking.

There is a benefit from formal training in feng shui, from the wisdom that has been passed down from the ancestors through the ages. By developing our own co-creative relationship with the Nature Herself, we have direct access to that wisdom which goes beyond the books, beyond what is taught in feng shui schools. We then have a tool to solve any problem, and achieve the harmony with Nature that we are seeking, and from which all things are possible.