Choosing a Feng Shui Practitioner

Feng Shui practitioners vary in their level of expertise and experience, from those who use nothing more than the PaKua - thankfully now very few, to the majority who practice a mixuture of PaKua with (San Yuen) Flying Star, with a bit of simple Form School thrown in, to a very few of us who know far more feng shui - generally the more your feng shui practitioner knows the better the results that you will get by following their advice.

Master Coxon is proficient in all of the professional styles. It is quite easy for him to judge the level at which a practitioner is operating, so we have created some guidelines to help you in distinguishing the good feng shui practitioners from the not so good.

There are several things to consider when choosing a feng shui practitioner.

Expertise

First and foremost is their level of expertise. The more methods they know and the greater their expertise and experience in using those methods, the more likely they are to be able to find out what’s happening to you now, and find ways to help you that will work and that are practical.

Master Coxon has studied the equivalent of at least two university degrees worth of feng shui over the years (He also holds two real degrees from the University of Nottingham, England - a Bachelors and a Masters - so he’s well positioned to make that comparison) and he’s carried out well over a thousand consultations, so he can usually form a fairly accurate assessment of someone else’s level of feng shui expertise quite easily. But if you don’t know so much about feng shui how do you assess someone’s feng shui expertise?

One way is to see what they say about their teachers. Those who’ve taken the time, trouble and expense to study with experienced practitioners are only too happy to talk about who their teachers are, and give them credit for what they’ve taught - here’s where we tell you who our teachers are. Others “talk the talk” but never actually name their teachers, or give you enough information to allow you to either check that they actually exist or what level of expertise the teacher has. In those cases you have to ask yourself why.

Another way is to see what they say about the methods they use, and indeed do they say anything?

Practitioners of traditional Chinese Feng Shui will usually use at least one (sometimes several) of the following styles: San-Yuan (Three Periods), Sam-Hap (Three Combinations), San He (Three Meetings), Yuen Hom (Mysterious Subtleties), and Ba-Chap (Eight Mansions). These styles have stood the test of time, with hundreds of years of theory, research, and application.

The more advanced practitioners such as Master Coxon are also likely to combine these methods with horoscope analysis such as Ba Zi (Four Pillars) to examine how the person, the building and the surroundings interact over time.

Again those who’ve put in the time and effort to learn these methods are only too happy to talk about it - here’s where we tell you what we know. So if someone doesn’t tell you what methods they use, it’s wise to begin to wonder why.

Not all practitioners know each area in the same depth though, so it’s also worth doing a bit of “delving” to find out, and particularly what their clients think of them.

Testimonials

Testimonials are a useful confirmation of a practitioners abilities, but do check that they are real.

Equipment

What people say about the equipment used can also give you some clues about the competencies of the practitioner who uses it.

Whilst any good quality compass can be used, once practitioners progress beyond the “divide the circle into eight” stage of their feng shui learning, most rapidly discover that the feng shui analyses are a whole lot quicker and easier if a Chinese LoPan is used.

The exact design of the LoPan will depend on the feng shui being practised (the one shown here is the actual Yuen Hom LoPan which Master Coxon uses on consultations and contains additional information about the hexagrams and lunar mansions as well as the more usual Ba Chap and 24 mountain rings), but they all follow the same principle - a very sensitive compass needle in the centre with a lot of calculation rings (including a regular degree ring) around it (35 of them in the case of Master Coxon’s LoPan). Your practitioner should also be able to describe how they use the information in those rings - in detail!

Contrary to the claims made on some web sites Chinese made LoPan’s work just fine over here in Europe and in the USA too - if you’re in any doubt, please email us and we’ll tell you how we know.

Occasionally practitioners will have additional equipment - like the laser tripod (shown opposite) which Master Coxon uses to help find and mark out compass alignments when surveying outdoors, and range finders used to measure how far away things are in the landscape.

Understanding

Whilst you don't need to be Chinese to practice feng shui, the best practitioners have undergone formal training and/or apprenticeship stretching over many years (decades sometimes) with Chinese teachers or Chinese trained teachers and can tell you the origins and history of the school in which they trained.

A good feng shui practitioner will be able to explain the rationale behind every recommendation they make. Good advice is based on understanding principles rather than following set recipes. Just as a good doctor can explain the causes of illnesses as well as the rationale behind the prescribed remedy, a competent feng shui practitioner can explain why certain building sites are desirable or undesirable, why some houses are conducive to the development of positive energy while others carry destructive energy, why they are recommending certain improvements and what the effect of implementing each recommendation will be.

When interviewing practitioners, ask questions, request their brochures and inquire about their web sites. Professional consultants will be pleased to provide their credentials, and will be able to tell you about their teachers, lineage, education, and experience.

Information

Before making your decision, obtain information about the following points:

Credentials:

What Feng Shui method(s) do they practice?
Who was/were their teacher(s)?
What are the teacher’s credentials?
Did they have to pass any examinations of their competency ?
Are they affiliated with any professional associations ? Be wary of relying too much on this one though if you need a more advanced practitioner. The requirements of many societies are quite low (Flying Star combined with simple Form School is often more that sufficient to enter). Although there are some excellent practitioners who are members of societies, there are also excellent practitioners who choose not to join.
Can they supply testimonials?

Practice:

Do they use a traditional Luopan?
Do they request your date of birth?
Do they work with floor plans?
What services do they offer?
What type of follow-up do they provide and is it chargeable?
Do they maintain client confidentiality?
Do they give examples of their work ?

Another useful yardstick is the quality of life the consultant personally enjoys. A good Feng Shui practitioner will have a reasonable quality of life, though don't expect displays of great wealth; many renowned masters throughout history chose to live modestly; so too do many modern ones. Many also stay active to a ripe old age (a modern master passed away recently at the age of 100). As we’ve said several times in this site, feng shui can be used for many purposes, and so long as you have enough money to be comfortable, what use is killing yourself to accumulate a huge surplus ?

Fees

Fees vary quite a lot from one practitioner to another, and whilst very low fees are usually indicative of limited abilities, very high fees are unfortunately not necessarily indicative of very great ability. So it’s best to judge the abilities of each feng shui practitioner by the above methods and value for money by how much they charge for those abilities.

With us you get experienced in-depth, and therefore very effective feng shui at a reasonable price, so please feel free to contact us for a quotation.