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To: alt.magick
From: Josef 
Subject: Re: Feng Shui vs. Geomancy
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 01:21:42 +0000

On Tue, 12 Mar 2002 17:59:00 -0500, Chaoswolf
 wrote:

>Guys and Gals;
>
>After Josef's post to me, I made a quick excursion with Google and came
>up with the attached information about Feng Shui and Geomancy.
>
>It seems that our dear Josef mixed up some sources himself. 

Note the first two words of your source---"Strictly speaking..."---and
look into what they refer to if you wish to know what "geomancy" is.

This is geomancy friend:
http://www.princeton.edu/~ezb/geomancy/figures.html

These geomantic dot figures constitute "geomancy", any application to
ley-lines is simply finding a new and inaccurate use for the word. And
I have already said that geomancy is a *misnomer* applied to fengshui.
And that fengshui as generally appreciated is a gross corruption of
what it truly is.

There is more to research than believing the first source you come
across that appears to support your ignorance. Are you a New Ager?

>
>Geomancy, old method of scrying, "merged" in the 19th century with the
>Chinese Feng Shui and connected with the ley-lines matching the Dragon
>lines of Feng Shui.
>
>But, whoever is interested in this topic, please read on. I took this
>info from the following URL:
>
>http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMGeomancy.html
>
>Best regards
>
>CW
>
>
>Geomancy
>
>Strictly speaking, the term geomancy refers to an ancient form of 
>divination in which, simply put, handfuls of soil or other materials 
>were scattered on the ground, or markings made in the earth or sand, 
>to generate a range of dot configurations which could then be "read" 
>by a seer. 
>
>In the 19th century, however, geomancy came to be applied to the 
>Chinese practice of feng shui by which the location and orientation 
>of houses and tombs was determined with close regard to the topography 
>of the local landscape. The feng shui master or geomant employed a 
>circular magnetic compass, called a luopan, which was marked off in 
>rings containing data relating to astrology, directions, the elements, 
>landscape forms, times of day, and so on. The aim was to locate a site
>where the energies or ch'i of the land and sky were brought into perfect 
>balance. The harmony of these energies ensured good fortune.
>
>
>The layout of a typical feng shui compass, also called a luopan
>
>The science of feng shui, literally "wind and water", recognized that 
>certain powerful currents and lines of magnetism run invisible through 
>the landscape over the whole surface of the earth. The task of the 
>geomancer was to detect these currents and interpret their influences 
>on the land through which they passed. 
>
>These lines of magnetic force, known in China as the "dragon current",
>or lung-mei, existed in two forms: the yin, or negative, current 
>represented by the white tiger, and the yang, or positive, current, 
>represented by the blue dragon. The landscape will display both yin 
>and yang features; gently undulating country is yin, or female, while 
>sharp rocks and steep mountains are yang, or male. 
>
>
>
>A feng shui geomant at work in the Ch'ing dynasty
>
>It was the aim of the geomancer to place every structure precisely 
>within the landscape in accordance with a magic system by which the 
>laws of music and mathematics were expressed in the geometry of the 
>earth's surface. The landscape itself may be manipulated in order to
>achieve the harmony sought through the placement or adjustment, or 
>removal, of trees or rocks, or bodies of water. Every feature of 
>the landscape may be contrived to produce an effect which ultimately 
>is perceived as beautiful; indeed, perceived beauty in a landscape 
>may in fact be simply when the lines of the dragon current are in 
>balance. 
>
>At the outset, a geomancer must locate the course of the major lines 
>of the dragon current in his or her area. These days, it is claimed 
>that such energy lines can be detected, and traced, through dowsing. 
>
>In the 1960s, the ley lines discovered by Alfred Watkins forty years 
>earlier, came to be identified with the dragon lines of Chinese feng 
>shui. This gave a whole new meaning to ley lines which now ceased to 
>be simply straight tracks but in fact mapped on the surface of the 
>landscape lines of energy coursing through the earth. The presence 
>of prehistoric sites - megalithic tombs, stone circles, standing 
>stones - along ley lines indicated that these energy currents were 
>known in prehistoric times and that the sites did not merely mark 
>the route but somehow also tapped into this energy source. Frequently, 
>important prehistoric monuments occupy sites where two or more ley 
>lines intersect. Also located along these ley lines are sites 
>associated with Dragons and Dragon-killers