Richard Wilhelm (the sinologist and translator of I Ching) was once in a remote Chinese village that was suffering from severe drought. The villagers had invoiced every kind of prayer for rain, but nothing worked. In desperation they sent for a well-known rainmaker who lived in a distant area. Wilhelm was on hand when the rainmaker, a wizened old man, arrived in a covered cart. He alighted, sniffed the air with disdain, then asked for a cottage on the village outskirts. He gave instructions not to be disturbed, and that his food was to be left outside his door. Nobody saw or heard anything of him for three days. Then the villagers awake to a downpour of rain mixed with snow, which was unheard of for that time of year.

Wilhelm was greatly impressed. He approached the old man, who was no longer in seclusion. “So you can make it rain?” he probed. Of course he could not, the old man scoffed. “But there was the most persistent drought until you came, “Wilhelm objected, “and then – within three days – it rains?”

“Oh,” the old man responded, “that was something quite different. You I came from a region where everything is in order, it rains when it should and is fine when that is needed, and the people also are in order and in themselves. But that was not the case with people here, they were all out of Tao (the perfect way of nature) and out of themselves. I was at once infected when I arrived, so I had to be quite alone until I was once more in Tao and then naturally it rained!”

The villagers, the rainmaker explained, were trying to beat the climate into submission when they should have been looking inside themselves. “Just being”, as the rainmaker realized, can outperform muscular, aggressive action. The reward of inner quite may be rain.

And another way to make it rain is to do something about it following the feng shui formula i.e. feng shui = intention + energy + ritual. Read this short story…

The Drought
Once, in a faraway country there was a drought. There had been no rain for days. No rain for weeks. No rain for months. And the land was dry, dry, dry. And hard and cracked and brown and dusty. And the sun beat down relentlessly. And the heat was unbearable. Like living in an oven. Impossible to breathe. And everywhere the dust. On the ground. In the air. On your skin. In your eyes. In your throat. Suffocating dust.

And the plants were dying. Changing from green through yellow to brown, they withered and died. And the animals were starving: the cattle, the sheep, the pigs, the goats – getting thinner and thinner and thinner … and dying. And the people were starving too, for there was nothing to eat.

And the drought went on and on and on.

So one day, all the men went into the temple to pray for rain. In the sweltering heat, they got down on their knees on the hard, dusty ground and they prayed and they prayed and they prayed for rain. But still there was no rain.

And so another day, all the women went into the temple to pray for rain. In the sweltering heat, they got down on their knees on the hard, dusty ground and they prayed and they prayed and they prayed for rain. But still there was no rain.

And then one day, a little girl went up the steps to the temple. She was about nine and she was wearing a dirty yellow dress that was torn. Her feet were bare and her legs and arms were dusty. Her long hair was tangled and in a mess. There was dirt on her face. And up she went, up the steps of the temple, to pray for rain. But do you know what she had with her? She had with her an umbrella. Not a posh umbrella. A scruffy old broken umbrella. But an umbrella just the same. And she skipped into the temple and got down on her knees and put her umbrella on the ground beside her and she prayed and she prayed and she prayed for rain.

And do you know what? When she came out of the temple, it was raining.

Story from ‘In Your Hands: NLP for teaching and learning’ by Jane Revell and Susan Norman, pub Saffire Press 1997

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1. What does ‘feng shui’ literally mean?
a. The art of placement
b. Energy movement
c. Wind-water

2. Where did feng shui originate?
a. China
b. Thailand
c. Nepal

3. How many years have people been using feng shui?
a. 4000
b. 400
c. 40

4. How often do people usually consult a feng shui expert?
a. Once in a lifetime
b. Every time they make a significant life change
c. Every year

5. For which of the following do people consult feng shui specialists?
a. Starting a new business
b. Having a baby
c. Buying property
d. Selling property
e. Getting more business customers/profit
f. Attracting a mate or improving relationship
g. Improving health and well-being

6. What is the most important room in your home?
a. Kitchen
b. Bedroom
c. Living room

7. What kind of things can drain your energy in your home?
a. Geopathic stress
b. Electromagnetic pollution and dirty electricity
c. Sleeping with your back to the bedroom door
d. Clutter and broken and unfinished things
e. Metal spring mattresses or metal beds
f. Microwave ovens
g. Unfiltered water

Answers: 1. c, 2a, 3a, 4c, 5 all, 6b, 7 all.

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At its simplest, and the most fundamental leve,l feng shui works like this:

FENG SHUI = INTENTION + ENERGY (relationship/connection) + RITUAL

Feng shui rituals

Percentage-wise, the importance of your intention (what you want) is 30%, your energy and connection is another 50%, and the ritual is only 20%. The ritual is the servant of your intention. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you do but HOW you do it. For example, if you want to improve your relationship or find a new partner, you could hang a chewing gum in the relationship corner of your bedroom, and it will work. Of course, it’s better to place something nice and beautiful and thematic, such as a heart prismatic crystal or a romantic picture. Be very clearabout what you want. You need to be specific enough and open at the same time about your goal and purpose.

INTENTION: Goals and purposes

Please note the difference between your goals and your purposes. For example, your goal might be to run a successful online business. But your purpose will be to 1) set up a website 2) optimise with SEO 3) build a brand 4) build a strong community online around your brand, etc, etc. So the goal is the final result, and the purpose is the steps you’ll take to get there. Another example: your goal is to win/finish the London Marathon, and your purpose is to run 30 minutes every morning for the next three months to prepare.

SMART criteria
Learn how to set up a SMART purpose (Specific + Measurable + Achievable + Real + Timed) and write it down (which is always the first step in manifesting your intentions, from the virtual reality of your mind to your immediate physical reality) and then do some feng shui to optimise your environment to help you with that purpose. Knowing what you want and how is half of the success.

ENERGY Your energy (chi) and your relationship and connection to the life force

“I understand that it (feng shui) works whether you believe in it or not.” Niels Bohr, Danish Nobel Prize winner in Physics

The way to hang the horseshoe is up like the letter U, so it works like a container for your luck.

RITUAL Feng shui rituals

Some feng shui rituals work better than others because they have a stronger morphic field, i.e., a lot of people believe in and use them. For example, hanging a horseshoe above the door has been practised for centuries, and it works. “I understand that it (feng shui) works whether you believe in it or not.” said Niels Bohr, Danish Nobel Prize winner in Physics, when asked why he has a horseshoe above his door. Beliefs are perceptions about how things work, and the science behind how beliefs work is called the placebo effect.

To sum up

1) Decide what you want and how.
2) Write it down as a SMART purpose.
3) Anchor the intention in your environment with a feng shui ritual that is representative in some way of your intention. Read some feng shui tips for ideas.
4) Do some first steps in order to manifest it (using your SMART purpose) and follow through until you realise your goal. Never give up. Determination, persistence and patience will get you there.

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Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.

Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.

Therefore profit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there.”

(Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching)

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