As you move into the world of Feng Shui you will find that is not one simple system to apply. Over the centuries, different schools of thought have developed.

For example the "Form School" relies on a great deal of intuitive insight and places great emphasis on the shape and contours of the landscape. Next the
"Compass School" is more concerned with the magnetic effects of the earth's gravitational fields. , the movement of Qi , and utilizes the eight trigrams of the I Ching.

Solutions within these schools vary as well, as if you were not confused enough already with the concepts and practice of Feng Shui. Within the Compass School, some practitioners use a compass to find their ideal orientations to determine the health relationships or career corners; while others calculate their personal lucky and unlucky areas according to their birth dates.

Each of these systems helps you work out which part of your home need to be balanced. With the help of the concepts of "Bagua" as well as finding your own lucky and unlucky directions. You can further work to balance your own home as well as your life and its directions and stability.

As you apply the concepts of Feng Shui and learn to look at the different approaches that the compass, you will find that these are interchangeable in terms of their shapes and that these are simply and merely different ways of depicting the eight compass directions. Of north, northeast, southwest and northwest and the areas of life that these directions govern.

The ideal site for Feng Shui is said to be the where the descending heaven qi meets the ascending earth qi. There is no hard and fast rule about the perfect site. However there are some general conditions that you can look for.

Generally halfway up a hill facing the sum is considered good feng shui because you will get cool summer breezes and warm winter ones.

Next the ideal Feng Shui spot for a house is called xue or shu. It has an open space in front, the "bright hall" or Ming tang, with four mythical animals or spirits surrounding it. The red bird is the distant front view; the black tortoise is the protective hill at the back; the azure dragon is to the left and the white tiger to the right. Ideally you should have a stream flowing in front of the sine because water is regarded as a source of food and means of transportation. It is also believed that the heavens qi descends down the hill and is contained by the water.

As well in your quest to understand the concepts and complexities of Feng Shui that the idea of this protective, armchair shape can be applied not only to the site of your home, but to the Feng Shui of a particular room, where chairs are placed so that the backs are protected and there is an open space in front of you, or to your garden, where you can plant protective trees at the back if there is not a hill. After all feeling safe and secure is a large part of being happy. Feng Shui!