Four Pillars

Hi all,

News about Four Pillars Feng Shui software is now available through this facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/FourPillarsFengShui/

Just “like” the page and any news or article we post will show up in your timeline. You can also use the page to send us feedback or ask questions.

Thanks,

Hi,

Thanks for your question.

We do not offer readings. If you want to consult an astrologer to help you with chart calculation or interpretation then you are welcome to check out our links page: http://fourpillars.net/links.php

That's some feng shui...

A new article based on Western astrology but using a method that is inspired by directionology (9 Ki).

Hi Yolanda,

We don't have a Mac version and we also don't plan for one.

It's easy enough to run our program on a Mac by using "Parallels Desktop", see: http://www.parallels.com

Hi Veronica,

You can always download the latest version on our website: http://fourpillars.net/fpfs.php

If you have never upgraded to the new version, then you will need to email me personally to get your license changed and a new product key issued to you.

You can use the contact form on my website.

Hi all,

Because of a technical problem the fourpillars.net website is down today. This means it is currently impossible to download my software or use the online calculators.

I hope the problems can be resolved today.

The blog and the network are normally functional, so you can reach me for comments at network.fourpillars.net and blog.fourpillars.net

Or just email me.

The quick answer is: not very well.

For the long answer, read on..

Every so often I take a look at Google Trends, where you can see whether the interest in a given topic is going up or down. The idea is simple: when more people are searching Google for a certain word, it indicates that interest in it is going up (which can happen for all kind of reasons). If people lose interest in something then there will be less search for it on Google.

So how is it going? This are the worldwide trends for astrology (blue) and feng shui (red) since 2004:

Astrology has always had a bigger audience than feng shui, which is not unexpected as feng shui is fairly new in the West. But we can see that both astrology and feng shui have seen a 60% drop in interest since 2004.

I looked for possible reasons. Is it because people have lost interest in forecasts? This is the search trend for "forecast":

People have actually become more interested in forecasts, and we see high interest during 2009 and 2010, probably because of the economic crisis that struck. But astrology doesn't seem to have taken any advantage of that. It looks like people have given up on finding answers in astrology.

Then I thought this decline is perhaps part of a general decline in everything "new age". But, looking at the trends for topics like yoga, meditation and tarot, I found this:

The interest in yoga has been going up. Tarot gained popularity until 2009 and has since fallen back. And the interest in meditation has been fairly constant for many years.

Fashion can obviously play its role in all this, and it are worldwide trends so in certain countries or regions the picture can differ. But clearly not everything "metaphysics" is seeing a worldwide decline in interest.

Putting it all in perspective in one chart showing the relative popularity:

While things can always enjoy a temporary boost in popularity as a result of fashions and other factors, long term popularity of a service or product usually depends on whether the people experience clear benefits from it. That doesn't seem to be the case with astrology and feng shui services, as evidenced by a steadily declining interest in them.

Some people have suggested that simplified Westernized methods of feng shui are to be blamed for its declining reputation in the West. Sounds plausible, but then why are the trends for feng shui and astrology also down in places like Singapore and Hong Kong, where one would expect "authentic" feng shui to be readily available? Here is the trend for Singapore:

And here we have Hong Kong:

It looks like Chinese people are equally losing trust in feng shui and astrology. In fact in Hong Kong, sometimes called the capital of feng shui, the decline is even more dramatic.

Does anybody have other explanations for this evolution?

PS: here you can play with these google search trends: http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=feng%20shui%2C%20astrology%20%2B%20astrologia%2C%20tarot%2C%20yoga%2C%20meditation&cmpt=q

We recently visited the beautiful region of Chalkidiki in Greece.

On the peninsula of Sithonia, you can run into a kind of labyrinth of 75 km of new roads, bridges and stairs, but no homes at all. On Google Earth it looks like this:

This happens to be an excellent location, with great beaches and the view of the famous Mount Athos on the horizon. These roads have been there for years, and even the locals are rather clueless about this "invisible city", as you can see in this video I found on the net:

Maybe it's all in the names, as this place is right in between villages called "Sikia" and "Kalamitsi", which sound like "sick" and "calamity" in English.

It cannot be good feng shui to have 75 km of "ghost roads" in your neighborhood, so on our next visit we hope the Greeks have found some good use for this place.

Hi Leah,

We respond to every inquiry, usually within 24 to 48 hours.

Possible reasons why you may not get our reply:

*typo in the email address you filled out in the contact form.

*your spam filter may have removed our mail (check your bulk folder and/or whitelist emails from our domain)

Installing our program in Windows 8 is not a problem. Just follow the re-installation instructions that came in the email with your Product Key

Hi Geo,

Check out our software program, it displays the current year, month and day next to the chart... and much more than that:

http://fourpillars.net/fpfs.php

There is a free 30 day trial you can download.