Natalia, what is Feng Shui, in its purest form?
Many come to me expecting a simple art of placement. They are not entirely wrong, but they see only the leaf, not the roots of the great tree. Feng Shui is the symbiosis of science, art, and a profound, earthly logic. It is but one stream within the vast river of Chinese metaphysics, all of which flow from the same source: a deep observation of nature’s laws.
Every formula, every technique I employ, can be explained through the lenses of mathematics, physics, and geography. We speak of energy, or Qi, as a modern physicist would speak of a field—invisible, yet dictating the behaviour of all within it. The modern world may be built of steel and glass, not wood and stone, but the principles that govern the flow of life force remain unchanged. A consultation, when performed with true mastery, is not an expense. It is an investment in the very substrate of one’s life.
The common understanding is that Feng Shui is about energy and its flows. For a person to live harmoniously, these must circulate correctly in their home. Is this the core of it?
You touch upon the heart of the matter, yet the heart is more complex than a single beat. For millennia, monks and sages studied this energy, this Qi. The science of Feng Shui is over six thousand years old. It was not meant for the masses. It was a closed doctrine, a secret weapon for emperors and their inner courts, guarded with utmost severity.
The emperor, during periods of trade with foreign lands, even issued decrees to spread a mixture of truth and falsehood about it. This is why so much confusion exists today. True Feng Shui is a mastercraft, passed from teacher to disciple. It is the fruit of relentless, years-long labour. It cannot be gleaned from a book. I would estimate that eighty to ninety percent of the information on the market is a forgery.
The theory of Qi is merely the foundation. The guiding principle is this ancient verse: “Qi rides the Feng (wind) and scatters, but is gathered, retained, upon meeting Shui (water).” The most potent place is where water attracts and contains the wind. This is not poetry; it is a practical observation of how energy consolidates.
The Three Pillars of Destiny
We must understand the three manifestations of Qi. There is Heavenly Qi, Earthly Qi, and Human Qi. In simpler terms: Heaven, Earth, and Man. These three forces converge in every home, every office, every space we inhabit. A master of Feng Shui understands the laws of these energies’ flow and their quality in any given location. Low-quality energy fosters disharmony—illness, disputes, misfortune. High-quality energy supports robust health, prosperity, and harmonious relationships. In areas with benevolent energy, you will find thriving communities, lush vegetation, and great longevity. The very frequency of a energy can shape character traits, trigger specific thoughts, and evoke powerful emotions.
What determines whether energy becomes positive or negative?
It depends on a symphony of factors. One must first assess how freely the energy circulates, what obstacles block its path. The local infrastructure, the landscape, the building’s facade, its orientation to the cardinal directions, the direction of the front door, the placement of the stove, the position of the bed, the colour schemes—all of these are notes in the grand composition. To overlook one is to create dissonance in the music of a life.
Your understanding is profound. Where did such a journey begin for you?
It began not with an epiphany, but with a quiet, persistent unease. Shortly before my first encounter with Feng Shui, I felt a profound lack of ‘space’ or ‘air’ in my apartment. I knew, intuitively, that moving house would not solve it. A dear friend then gifted me a book on the subject. It was an opening, a crack of light under a door I had not known was there.
I was fascinated by the mechanics of it all, but a single book was a single raindrop in a desert. That curiosity ignited a quest. My personal library soon swelled with every text I could acquire from across the globe. Each author offered a fragment, a glimpse, yet I could discern no coherent system. I sensed one existed, but it remained elusive. I refused to experiment on my own family based on these incomplete theories. So, I took the most practical step: I invited a specialist to create beneficial Feng Shui in my home.
My husband and I approached it with great seriousness. We undertook a full replanning and replaced our furniture. The result was not merely aesthetic. The long-awaited sensation of open, free space manifested. It was as if a metaphysical weight had been lifted. Our path forward seemed to clear, obstacles dissolving before us. This transformation was so profoundly inspiring, so catalytic, that my life began to magnetise people, events, and knowledge that drew me deeper into the professional world of Feng Shui. Answers began to find me.
The catalyst was a personal need for harmony, not an abstract interest. The path required humility—seeking a master before becoming one. The first, most powerful proof was the tangible shift in my own lived experience.
Structuring the Knowledge
The next pivotal chapter was my training at the Academy of Grandmaster Yap Cheng Hai in Malaysia, and my encounter with the Grandmaster himself. Concurrently, I studied under other renowned masters from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Europe. Yet it was in Malaysia, under the Grandmaster’s guidance, that the fragments coalesced into a perfect, harmonious system.
The practical course I completed there provided the fundamental bedrock for my practice. The knowledge was structured into a coherent whole where every question had an answer, and every action held a justified confidence. To converse with Grandmaster Yap Cheng Hai is to be charged with an extraordinary energy. One can read of such masters in books or see them in films, but until you feel that current for yourself, the words are merely empty shapes.
What compelled you to turn this deep study into a professional vocation?
The decision was not mine alone. My surroundings witnessed the rapid, positive transformations in my life—the clarity, the flow, the prosperity. A need arose naturally among my acquaintances, and then among their acquaintances, for Feng Shui consultations for their homes and businesses. The path presented itself. I simply had the wisdom to walk it.
You speak of a ‘system’. This seems to be the core of what you practice. How does this Classical Feng Shui differ from the popular version people know?
The difference is the chasm between a precisely engineered timepiece and a child’s drawing of a clock. One tells the time with unerring accuracy, regardless of who wears it. The other requires a powerful imagination to believe it works.
In short, for Pop Feng Shui to have any effect, it demands excellent visualisation skills from the individual. It relies on belief. Classical Feng Shui operates on immutable environmental laws. It works for everyone, unconditionally. It is no more a matter of faith than the law of gravity. You do not need to believe a building has a foundation to be kept from collapsing into the earth.
How do you view this popularisation and simplification?
Walk into any bookshop in Europe, and you will see a mountain of titles on Feng Shui. Perhaps one, in the best case, will be written by a genuine master in a ‘light’ style. The modern market is oriented toward populism. The reader is served not what they need to know, but what they wish to hear—what is simple to digest and will be consumed by the masses. This is not education. It is entertainment wearing the mask of wisdom. It creates confusion and devalues a profound science, reducing it to a parlour game of crystal placement and colour choices.
Who finds their way to you, seeking this authentic application?
The tapestry is vast, yet the threads are universal. They are ordinary people with the extraordinary human problems. Managers, entrepreneurs, civil servants, artists, politicians. Their pursuits are fundamentally the same: the well-being of their family, the evolution of their person, the prosperity of their enterprise. I consider myself fortunate. The individuals who come for consultations are, without exception, people of quality, striving for excellence. Each is unique. I am grateful not only to guide them but to learn from their journeys in return. The relationship between master and client is a two-way stream of wisdom.
Are there vivid examples of transformative changes for your clients?
We must be careful with the word ‘miracle’. It suggests a suspension of natural law. What I deal in is the meticulous application of it. There was a couple who, for fifteen years, could not conceive. Medical professionals found both in perfect health. A Feng Shui analysis of their home revealed a sector profoundly hostile to the energy of new life. Once the corrections were made, the woman conceived within months. The problem was identifiable and solvable. This is not a miracle; it is a correction.
More recently, a company director consulted me, contemplating shutting down his business. We found a new, more auspicious premises. We positioned his desk and those of his key personnel in their most favourable directions, and activated a specific business formula. Within a year, sales volumes increased, and three new branches opened in other cities. I would not call this ‘miraculous’. I would call it the expected outcome of restoring the proper flow of energy to an enterprise. This is my daily work.
Do you ever refuse a consultation?
Without hesitation. My art is a tool for harmony and growth, not for manipulation or harm. I refuse requests related to causing a divorce, bringing misfortune to another, or any business that operates with malevolent intent. The energy one sets in motion must be aligned with a fundamental ethics. To use this knowledge for harm is to poison the well from which you yourself must drink.
A question many ponder – can Feng Shui make an ordinary person exceedingly wealthy?
This desire misunderstands the fundamental distribution of fortune. Feng Shui is but one pillar in the temple of a life. We speak of a three-part division.
Thirty-three per cent is Heaven’s Luck (Tian Qi). This is your destiny, your innate blueprint. It is the hand you are dealt from the celestial deck. If one is not fated to be a millionaire, this portion is unchangeable.
Thirty-three per cent is Human Luck (Ren Qi). This is your own effort—your thoughts, your actions, your personal development and diligence. This is entirely within your power to change.
Thirty-three per cent is Earthly Luck (Di Qi). This is the domain of Feng Shui. It is the environment we can shape to maximise our potential.
Therefore, if Heaven did not ordain vast riches, we cannot alter that. But it is only thirty per cent. The remaining seventy per cent rests on our own efforts and our environment. Some wish for wealth without work. Feng Shui is not a substitute for endeavour. It can attract prosperous energy from the environment, using specific formulas, but the money will flow through your work; it will not fall from the sky. Feng Shui optimises the path; it does not create the traveller.
Is this practice intrinsically tied to Eastern philosophy or religion?
It is a common confluence, but not a dependency. Many masters integrate their Feng Shui practice with spiritual disciplines—Buddhism, Taoism, even Christianity or Islam. Given its origins, many renowned masters are indeed Buddhist. However, Feng Shui itself is a secular science of the environment. It is a study of tangible forces, not a system of faith. Your belief is not a prerequisite for its function, just as you need not believe in aerodynamics for an aeroplane to fly.
On a global scale, do the principles apply equally to all people and all countries?
The underlying principles are universal, but their application is exquisitely local. It is the difference between the recipe for a perfect loaf of bread and the specific quality of the flour from a particular field. The energy on a sea cliff is fundamentally different from that in a deep valley. The landscape profoundly influences the people, the cities, and thus the fortunes of nations.
This is why some economies are more developed than others. I am fond of using Switzerland as an example. Classically, it resides in a most auspicious configuration, abundant with both mountains and water. The mountains bestow health and stability; the water attracts wealth and flow. It is no surprise that Geneva is home to so many prosperous individuals. The environment itself suggests the possibility of abundance. One can find such potent locations in every corner of the world—in Kiev, in Rome, in London, and in Munich. The task of the master is to find them.
So, after all this, what is Feng Shui, in the end, to you?
It is the lens through which I see the world. It is the discipline that shapes my days and the craft that allows me to serve. It brings to mind the words of the Dalai Lama, who once said: “We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety, one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful. If you contribute to other people’s happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.”
Feng Shui is my means to contribute. It is my useful thing. It is not about rearranging furniture; it is about helping to rearrange a life towards its fullest, most harmonious expression. That is its true purpose. That is its power.
Interview, Germany, 2013.
