Newspaper Feng Shui Times
What is the Feng Shui scene in France like?
In France, it is not a trend anymore. The magazines are not so interested by a new tendency called Feng Shui. It has become something that you want to do for your home, your office. And a significant number of Managers are not so afraid that their employees learn that they are practicing Feng Shui in their office.
Can you give us a rough idea of the percentage of people in France practising classical Feng Shui, and New Age Feng Shui? As a pioneer practitioner in the France Feng Shui scene, where do you see the direction this industry in France is heading to in say, 5 years?
It will be a very rough idea indeed. I would say 50% of people in France are practising classical Feng Shui and 50% are practising New Age Feng Shui. Among the New Age adepts, there is again one half who could practice really New Age Feng Shui, following a school, etc. The others are mixed up in decoration, colours and symbols and certainly ready to learn the real thing.
In France, there is a strong cultural heritage of study of environment and energy. In the past, in France, cathedrals and palaces like Versailles were built according to secret measurements. Nothing as sophisticated as Feng Shui, but enough to give the French the desire to learn about Classical Feng Shui, closer to our heritage than New Age Feng Shui.
It is our mission to help people make the difference between classical Feng Shui and New Age Feng Shui. In fact New Age Feng Shui is drawing people away from Feng Shui. And classical Feng Shui is speaking to those learning other Chinese sciences, like Acupuncture, Martial Art, Chinese Medicine.
Interview for the Feng Shui Congress for Homebuyers
1.How did you come across Feng Shui, when was it and how did it amuse/ amaze you at the very beginning?
I first came across Feng Shui in Hong Kong. I used to have a travel agency specialized in South Asia. I was invited to the Grand Opening of the Regent Hotel. When I arrived with the guests, it was half built and the cocktail took place on the concrete among workers and cranes. In fact, the owners of the hotel were warned that it was not good for Hong Kong according to the Feng Shui masters because it was blocking the Qi to enter properly into Hong Kong Harbour. They had to tear it down to the ground and build it the good way. They kept the date because it was the best date of the year. This took place in the early eighties and it started my interest for Feng Shui.
I could not imagine that Feng Shui would come to France and that the French will be interested to get Feng Shui consultations.
2. How popular is Feng Shui in your country? How is Feng Shui applied in various fields?
Feng Shui is getting popular in France. More and more French people know that Feng Shui is not a new Chinese Restaurant. Still some of them believe it’s something about decorating your house. Those who practice martial art or Chinese medicine do make immediately the difference between the fake and the real Feng Shui. And those who have tried the pop Feng Shui, once they encounter the authentic Chinese Feng Shui, they know which one is the good one.
I was a little puzzled at the beginning about the constant request for consultations by very serious financial firms all over the world. Then, someone told me the reason why: No matter how well you plan your perspectives, it’s never safe. So, you might as well turn toward other ways and if it works, why not go on?
3. How do you practise Feng Shui in your country? What types of projects do you normally handle?
I do consultations all over Europe. Most of my clients are asking for their home and their office as well. I am working mostly by the word of mouth. In France, everybody is interested by Feng Shui. I can be one day in the French countryside in a mansion house surrounded by a park and the next day in Paris with a young couple in a flat. And they have made a budget for a Feng Shui consultation when they planned to buy their flat.
4. What are you going to present during the congress?
Kindly elaborate the content of your paper and why do you think it is pertinent?
I am going to present “Feng Shui around the world” during the congress. We can observe the same recurrent results whenever we see the same landscapes. The capitals of the world have some features so similar that it was to be observed and explained.
If you are looking for a house, and you come across some of the features that bring prosperity, it’s worth trying to live there.