Feng Shui the 'Magic'

Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space which is claimed to achieve harmony with the environment. There is no scientific evidence, however, that it is effective, or anything but superstition or a primitive form of environmental psychology.

Feng shui is a discrete Chinese belief system involving a mix of geographical, religious, philosophical, mathematical, aesthetic, and astrological ideas. It literally means "wind (feng) and water (shui)", and is not simply a decorating style, but a discipline with guidelines compatible with many different decorating styles.

The source of the term is purported to come from the Burial Book written by Guo Pu (郭璞) in the Jin Dynasty (晉朝). Qi (氣) rides the wind and stops when it meets the boundary of water. The ancients manipulate Qi so that it did not dissipate, and directed it so that it was retained. For this reason this art is called Feng Shui.

For a place to have "good feng shui" is for it to be in harmony with nature, and to have "bad feng shui" is to be incongruous with nature. Although people aren't usually described as having good or bad feng shui themselves, believers in feng shui say that certain people by force of personality or visual appearance are able to add or subtract from the feng shui of their surroundings.