At approximately 19:20 local time, on Sunday the 17th November, a Tartarstan Airlines Boeing 737-500 jet suddenly crashed in a spectacular nosedive onto the tarmac at Kazan Airport in Russia, about 450 miles east of Moscow, killing all on board. Investigators are still assessing the cause of this terrible crash. However, from a feng shui perspective, the timing is very interesting and provides a classic example of the effects of the Hour of the Dog as the ‘Gate of Hell’. This rather dour term stems from the traditional Chinese system for analysing one’s destiny. The system carries the name of the Four Pillars of Destiny and examines events from the perspective of the influence the five elements has over time itself. In Chinese cosmology, all things within the universe can be divided into Yin or Yang which in turn interact through the agencies of the 5 elements of: Earth, Metal,…

Apple’s new Cupertino Campus meets traditional Hakka Tu Lou Apple Inc. has announced they are to build their new space age campus (HQ), in Cupertino County, California, and have released images and a video of a scale model of architect Norman Foster’s concept designs for the complex. Norman Foster’s design for Apple’s new campus. http://www.detail-online.com/architecture/topics/hongkong-and-shanghai-bank-ndash-10-questions-to-lord-norman-foster-006642.html Foster was the architect for the famous Hong Kong Shanghai Bank HQ in Hong Kong, which is said by many, to have excellent feng shui. Foster is on record as having this to say about feng shui. “If a building has good feng shui it’s probably also a good place to be, and that’s something we are all trying to achieve.” 1 However, the design of the new Apple campus is proving to be somewhat controversial and has not been received with universal acclaim as yet. In commenting on the design some bloggers and on-line…

What’s happened with Parnell? The upmarket district of Parnell, according to the local business association’s website, started out as Auckland’s first suburb. It began to take this role from about the early 1840’s following the European purchase and development of land in the area. Initially it seems, the first white settlers to move into the area were working class families, many of whom were employed in and around Mechanics Bay; where there was by then, sufficient concentration of enterprises to need their skills. By the early 1900’s trams lines were laid from the city into the district, further ensuring its convenience as a neighbourhood easily accessible to the now burgeoning centre. This timing of the development of Parnell as first suburb, coincides with a feng shui phenomenon most frequently referred to within the Xuan Kong Fey Xing (or Mysterious Phenomenon of the Flying Stars School), and more frequently known simply…

Reflections On: The New Britomart Precinct (06/09/2013) I got taken to lunch the other day by a friend, and as he was paying and had suggested we eat downtown in the new Britomart Precinct, I was more than happy to go along with his recommendation and use the visit to also have a look at the changes in this part of the CBD. There’s no doubt about it, it’s a busy and attractive area now, and the rather small but chic café my friend had picked for lunch, was as busy as any in the precinct. Since we meet on an irregular basis, it’s always good to catch-up, and it wasn’t long before the talk turned to feng shui and what my overall opinion might be of the redevelopment. As I hadn’t had the time before lunch, I decided to go for a walk afterwards and investigate the area in…