Feng Shui on the Internet

    "...Feng Shui, meaning literally "wind and water", is a mystical combination of Chinese philosophical, religious, astrological, cosmological, mathematical, and geographical concepts...Feng Shui is a pseudophysical science of climatology and geomorphology originating in fear of strong desert winds, devastating typhoons, thunderstorms, floods, droughts, and other forces of Nature which the ancient Chinese could not explain or control."

    The purpose of this project is to examine the impact the internet has had on Feng Shui.
Specifically I sought to study:

(i)    the prevalence of Feng Shui on the Internet
(ii)   the ease with which one can learn about Feng Shui via the Internet
(ii)   the utility of the Internet to Feng Shui practitioners, consultants (and their clients), teachers, students
(iii)  the impact of Internet Commerce on retailers of Feng Shui products
 
 

A. Searching for Feng Shui on the Internet

I browsed the Internet for Feng Shui websites, categorizing them into the following sub-headings:

1. Definitions - sites which provide definitions, and information on the different Feng Shui schools and frameworks. Educational and informational, these pages are often contained in the websites of schools, consultants and organizations.

2. Organizations - Feng Shui Associations and Organizations

3. Consultants - Websites of Feng Shui Consultants, providing contact information and consulting fees.

4. Schools - Feng Shui schools, including some which offer on-line courses.

5. Shops - Any business selling Feng Shui-related merchandise

6. Magazines - All Feng Shui e-zines and online publications

7. Forums - Feng Shui mailing lists and discussion boards

8. Directory - Directories of Feng Shui practitioners and consultants

9. Foreign - Foreign Language Feng Shui websites

10. General - Web sites which encompass two or more of the above

11. Related - Web sites associated with Feng Shui, which do not really fall into any of the above categories

Note: There are many Feng Shui websites which could easily fall into more than 1 of the above categories - in each case, I classified them according to their dominant theme, or purpose. Where there are 2 or more dominant themes, I classified the site under General.

Descriptions of Feng Shui sites on the Internet, including samples of the best examples of Feng Shui on the Internet, are here.

The full list of Feng Shui sites studied is here.
 
 

B. Interviewing Feng Shui practitioners

I asked Feng Shui teachers/ practitioners (representing the whole gambit of Feng Shui related organizations, schools or businesses), whose e-mail addresses are listed on web sites, several questions regarding the impact the Internet has had on Feng Shui, and on their practices/business. A summary of their responses is reported here.