Feng Shui. - book reviews

Whole Earth Review, Summer, 1989 by Derek Walters

Feng Shui Derek Walters, 1988; 112 pp. $13.95 ($15.95 Postpaid) from: Simon & Schuster, inc., 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, NJ 07675; 800/223-2348 (or Whole Earth Access).

Ever notice that when people prepare to sit in a chair outdoors, they usually move it a bit before sitting? We all sense "rightness" in location, but we rarely think about it. (Remember all the talk about Place" in the Don Juan books?) The Chinese have not only a word for it - Feng Shui - they have a very well-developed art and literature on the subject. Its Practicioners are called geomancers. Even today, geomancers are called to select the site, orientation, furnishings and architectural detailing of new buildings. Westerners are skeptical. (I have seen solar greenhouses near Beijing sited to face east; the geomancer said that to face them south would place them on the dragon's testicles." The veggies apparently didn't understand, and froze solid.) This handsome book is unlikely to assuage skepticism, but it certainly is enlightening and entertaining as it describes phenomena that have persevered thousands of years.

-J. Baldwin

According to some Feng Shui authorities, in environments which involve considerable reliance on electronic devices, cables and other apparatus should be placed along the path followed by the natural chi, instead of being arranged haphazardly around the room.

It is also important that the bedroom is not located over an empty but enclosed space, such as a storeroom. The Feng Shui explanation is that such dark and unventilated places do not permit the ch'i to circulate freely. Thus, a stagnant area of dead chi may be created beneath the sleeper, leading to psychological discomfiture which may ultimately develop into some form of physical illness.

In effect, this also means that bedrooms should not be built over garages. Despite the sensibility of this basic Feng Shui principle, many modern houses in the Western hemisphere are in notorious breach of it. Yet the inherent dangers ought to be self-evident: inflammable materials, by necessity kept in garages, pose a threat of fire, while there is a real possibility that chronic Poisoning may result from the continual breathing (about three thousand hours every year) of toxic vapours seeping into the bedroom. @@007688709X 1510HBa113CPHO

The Complete Painters Handbook Gregg E. Sandreuter, 1988; 150 pp. $14.95 postpaid from: Rodale Press, 33 East Minor Street, Emmaus, PA 18049; 800/441-7761 (or Whole Earth Access).

House painter, that is, inside and out. This is a real pro's experience passed on to fortunate readers. I soy fortunate because this is the only book I've seen on the subject that realistically addresses such critical matters as scary ladder-work and hornets under the eaves. The author knows what you're going to encounter because he's been painting long enough to have faced just about every conceivable situation. And of course you get his opinions on 0int brands (and how to estimate quantities), brushes and how to grip them), drop cloths - all the stuff you need to know to get a good job from yourself or a hired pointer. This is by for the best painter-book around. -J. Baldwin

If you ore painting shutters, you'll need one gallon of paint for every 28 shutters that will be sprayed, or every 34 shutters that will be pointed by hand.