Feng Shui Says No Way to Cemetery - Page 1
Author:Tabitha Miller
As a Feng Shui consultant, I am often asked to look at potential homes and sites that my clients are considering buying or building. I use a checklist for exteriors and the surrounding areas. Some of the things to avoid are: One-way streets that flow away from the entrance, taking positive chi out of the house. A street (such as a T-intersection) or a driveway pointed directly at the front door. Lots with irregular shapes. This might be of particular interest? PROXIMITY TO A CEMETERY.
Why is Feng Shui opposed to cemeteries in residential neighborhoods? FENG SHUI (literally “wind water”) is the science of interaction between human beings and their surroundings: It?s also the art of living harmoniously with the environment. As with any science, Feng Shui’s principles have been developed through trial and error. Few sciences enjoy the wealth of data that Feng Shui has collected over the 6,000 years since its inception. Just as acupuncture works on the flow of chi, or energy, in your body, FENG SHUI balances the flow of energy in your home, office and the land. The most important word in Feng Shui is 'balance'. You need to balance the Yin and Yang and balance the five elements. Cemeteries are just too Yin for the living beings to purchase homes or businesses near.
Good Feng Shui is where the balance of Yin and Yang achieve harmony. A flowing river is yang compared to a pool of water that is yin; however a flowing river is yin if compared to the ocean that is yang. In other words yin and yang are relative to whatever you are comparing it to. A consultant would recommend changes for imbalances in yin and yang. For example: A room with no windows, very little light and dark walls (YIN) needs more (YANG) bright pictures, furniture and more lighting to stimulate the CHI. The Chinese invented the word “chi’, however throughout history, other civilizations have also made this discovery. Let's cite among others “ki” for Japan, “prana” in India, “ankh” in Ancient Egypt, “pneuma” and “archeus” for Ancient Greece, “kum nye” in Tibet and, in North America, “orenda” for a native nation.
According to Feng Shui principles, home sites with a close proximity to a cemetery are highly undesirable. To a lesser degree, but still considered as unfavorable, are former hospital and prison sites. A cemetery has strong "yin" or dark energies of death. This imbalance of yin/yang energies can cause instability by lowering the energies around it. Depending on which direction the cemetery is at in relation to home, how large it is, and the nature of the people who are buried in the cemetery, there are different levels of effects. Although residents may not feel oppressed at first, over time, they may find it hard to excel.
Even Wall Street has taken stock of its chi flow. The New York Stock Exchange is said to enjoy more of the benefits of good chi than the Amex because of its location. Unfortunately for the American Stock Exchange, it’s got huge Feng Shui issues. It’s downhill from the Trinity Church cemetery. A graveyard is as yin as they come ? it doesn’t get any more inactive.
More spiritualized schools of Feng Shui say that disembodied spirits can wander in graveyards and sometimes, haunt nearby houses. Even if no spirits are haunting the house, living close to a cemetery can have a debilitating effect on your mood and may cause depression. The very yin (depressing and low) energy of a cemetery continuously impacts the subconscious mind and has a cumulative affect. Funeral homes and mortuaries give off similar vibrations, which continuously feature the energy of death, grieving, and sorrow.
In my opinion as a Feng Shui consultant, locations that are excessive in yin energy are hungry for yang energy and therefore absorb, deprive, and literally rob the surrounding homes of their precious yang energy.
So how far is a safe distance from a cemetery? According to Dr. Jes T. Y. Lim, founder of Qi-Mag Feng Shui & Geobiology Institute, Home should not be built within 500 m (1,650 ft) of a cemetery. Although some real estate agents say that many Chinese will not live within 5 miles of a cemetery. And as you saw in the list of cultures that have discovered chi, it is not just the Chinese. Dr Lim also stated that graveyards for cremated bodies are more acceptable as all the crystals that hold the memories of the persons during their lifetime have been completely destroyed by the fire during the cremation process. “Cremated graveyard tends to be more neutral and have happier atmosphere”. When comparing crematoriums with cemeteries it appears that a crematorium has less negative energy than a cemetery.
Now before you think I’m getting morbid, the Chinese have a long tradition of respect for their ancestors. In fact Feng Shui was invented as a way to ensure that the final resting place of the immediate ancestors had all the qualities of good harmony and balance.
Due to the heightened awareness of Feng Shui worldwide it has become increasingly popular throughout mainstream America. With the principles of Feng Shui being practiced - and even demanded - by the non-Asian home buying public, it is wise for any community to avoid placing cemeteries anywhere near residences of the living.
About the Author
This article is copyright by Tabitha Miller.
Tabitha Miller is the founder of a Space in Time Feng Shui, a Florida based Professional Feng Shui Consultation service. She is certified by Master Joseph Yu (author of the Idiot’s Guide to Feng Shui) and the Feng Shui Research Center and has also been trained by Master Shyan Tseng and Roger Green. Tabitha is a professional member of the International Feng Shui Guild and the Chapter Director for Central Florida.
