Four Pillars Feng Shui Network

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,

That's some feng shui...

Forgotten knowledge from the past: In the Northern hemisphere, you can find your geographic latitude by measuring the North Star’s height from the horizon. At the equator, Polaris is right on the horizon, and you are at latitude 0. At the north pole, Polaris is directly overhead, which is latitude 90. To estimate your latitude, you can hold a fist out in front of you, each fist being equal to 10 degrees of latitude.

The picture shows Jerusalem’s latitude method, published by Bishop Nicolas of Iceland in 1150 to help the pilgrims find Jerusalem. Bishop Nicholas’ method: lie on your back, with your feet pointing north. Bend your right knee up to a 45-degree angle and rest your right hand, thumb pointing up, on your knee. When you reach a spot where the North Star seems to be resting on the tip of your thumb, you’re at the same latitude as Jerusalem.

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

Hi,

Online calculators typically offer a simplified calculation.

If you want to know your accurate chart then you are welcome to download our professional program, there is a free 30 day trial: http://fourpillars.net/fpfs.php

We don't offer personal readings or advice. If you are new to four pillars then you can try some of the beginner's books we list here: http://fourpillars.net/reading.php

If you are a looking for a teacher or astrologer in your neighborhood, then check out this page: http://fourpillars.net/links.php

Mail me if you have further questions.

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.

Hi. I am not into Zi Wei, so there is not much I can recommend.

There are not many English books available on the subject:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=zi%20wei%20dou%20shu&sprefix=zi+wei+dou%2Cstripbooks%2C426&rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Azi%20wei%20dou%20shu

Joseph Yu offers a Zi Wei course, but that’s more pricey than a book of course.

Maybe other readers have something else to recommend.

Hi,

The "Life" and "Conception" pillars are of minor importance in the chart.

You can find them explained in good books about 4P (http://fourpillars.net/reading.php)

Basically the "Conception pillar" represents our earliest origin/roots, while the "Life pillar" is just the opposite: it symbolizes the furthest destination/goal or our deepest life purpose/lesson.

It makes for a natural sequence, you go from "Conception" to "Life" by passing through the 4 pillars, year to hour, which represent childhood to old age.

So, if Conception is before life, then "Life pillar" signifies the after life flowing from the total lesson taken from this life.

Hope this helps.

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