Customer Reviews

KISS Guide to Feng Shui (Keep It Simple Series)

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This highly illustrated book, leads you 2 pages at a time through Traditional Form & Compass feng shui. Each 'doing page' gives you a place to enter your own results so that you can refer back to them everytime you want to check you own feng shui. No BHS feng shui however. Very clear, very simple to intermediate, written by the guy who introduced feng shui to the non-Chinese world back in the 1970's

The Keep it Simple Series distinguishes itself from other series like the Idiot and Dummie Guides by its extensive use of color and photographs. However, the superior content far outweighs the appealing cosmetics of the book's layout and design. In a nutsell, Stephen Skinner knows what he's talking about. In fact, he's a world renowned expert in the field as well as the author of one of my favorite feng shui books, The Living Earth Manual of Feng Shui. In his KISS book, Stephen provides an excellent overview of what feng shui is and how it can help you maximize your health, wealth, and relationships. It's well-organized and easy to read. Impliment his practical advice and you'll witness first hand feng shui's power. A thousand kow tows Stephen for elevating this Chinese practice! Nice work.

According to this book, my desk is in the wrong place. Although I have no choice, I've noticed I'm more edgy with the door behind me and when someone enters my office, I feel that if I was sitting with my back towards the wall, I would feel more comfortable and in control of my environment. My only problem is having to look at the computer wires, which would annoy me more.

So, I think there is something to be said for furniture placement, when practical.

Being of the thought process that there is something to be learned from everything, you can try to take what you need from this book to help encourage an environment you will feel comfortable in.

The Chapters Include:

What is Feng Shui? - Wind Water, a connection to natural elements. "Flow"
is also an important element. It is not a religion or magic.
Who Does Feng Shui and Why?
A Look at Feng Shui's History
Gods, Graves, and Feng Shui Masters
Ch'i and Alignments
The Building Blocks of Feng Shui
Chinese Cosmology
The Trigrams and the Lo Shu
Feng Shui Inside Your Home
Living Rooms, Dining Rooms and Bedrooms
Bathrooms, Kitchens and Corridors
Business Feng Shui and Color
The Four Celestial Animals
Feng Shui Outside Your Home
Water Dragon Feng Shui
The Feng Shui Garden
The Eight Mansion Formula
Feng Shui Remedies
Symbolic Feng Shui
The East Life/West Life Formula
Time and the Calendar
Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
Compass School Feng Shui Tools

Some of the ideas I incorporated into my own home without even knowing they were Feng Shui concepts was the use of mirrors. It does definitely create a feeling of energy in a room that would otherwise feel closed in.

If you are very, very serious about Feng Shui or extremely curious, this book has more than you will ever want to know.

~The Rebecca Review

Whew! Thank you for delivering a book that sets apart the American "New Age" Feng Shui from the Traditional Chinese Feng Shui derived from Science and Math.

Feng Shui is more than rearranging furniture and hanging mirrors. This book delves into the history, the reasoning, common sense, and the scientific.

It explains that BELIEF and CULTURE is the reasoning for hanging bagua mirrors and other remedies-a physical reminder in the home of tradition. Much like wearing a cross pendant is the ever present reminder of Christian faith. It makes no sense at all for people to hang flutes from their ceilings if they don't know why they are doing it-although this book does explain the mythology and reasoning involved.

Far more valuable are the chapters explaining the calculation of your personal Kua number, the use of a Lo Pan, and other Compass School information.

The history detailed makes a nice backdrop for the information, though if you're impatient you can skip it and not be lost when you get to the meat of the book.

I've had this book for years and its served me well as a reference for when I go apartment hunting. I also reference it when designing floor plans for my dream home-a long term hobby of mine.

Great book, laid out well and informative. [..] . I highly recommend KISS Feng Shui as a resource that delivers on scientific feng shui and common sense, while putting "American New Age/Black Hat/Intuitive" Feng Shui in its place.

If you are a Westerner new to Feng Shui or have been using it for years, Stephen Skinner's KISS Guide to Feng Shui is an easily approachable book. The DK Publishing books are great. Their whole layout is very engaging, with lots of TIPS sections, illustrations, and little jokes which make a complex system approachable to Westerners who are intrigued by it.

Stephen Skinner is the Western man on Feng Shui you want to turn to as the one who opened the door in the 1970s and is the founder and publisher of "Feng Shui for Modern Living" magazine which is internally best selling.

While the book is quite large and jam packed with Feng Shui information, have no fears. You do not have to read and deeply comprehend every nuance of Feng Shui to get started with it. The illustrations make the learning easy and clear to comprehend. The SIMPLE SUMMARY box at the end of each chapter does EXACTLY that, it summarizes a long richly illustrated chapter and gives you easy comprehension. Then you can actually go use this in your life at home and at the office like Madonna and Donald Trump do (Trump Tower in Manhattan is an excellent illustration of excellent business building Feng Shui applied in a modern manner."

Making it very approachable for Westerners, DK Publishing used a cute (not too cutesy) Dragon cartoon to point out Tips and Topics especially to note and learn.

Because there is no TABLE of CONTENTS here at Amazon, I'll provide those for you to help you choose to add this to your reading list:

The Forward is by Master Wu Hsien Sheng
The Book is in SIX Parts:

*PART ONE: Understanding Feng Shui*
What is Feng Shui? (addresses one of the misunderstandings that it itself is a spiritual practice which some Christians might then find problematic, no worries)
Who Does Feng Shui and Why?
A Look at Feng Shui's History
Gods, Graves, and Feng Shui Masters

*PART TWO: How Feng Shui Works*
Ch'i and Alignments (which is a very approachable topic)
The Building Blocks of Feng Shui
Chinese Cosmology (giving us more insights into an increasingly influential global culture)
The Trigrams and Lo Shu (still a bit challenging for me, but it's a start)

*PART THREE: The Feng Shui of Interiors*
Feng Shui Inside Your Home (essential reading for creating harmoniously pleasing spaces in your home and place of family, love and rest)
Living Rooms, Dining Rooms, Bedrooms
Bathrooms, Kitchens, Corridors
Business Feng Shui and Color (yes it is different than what you want at home)

*PART FOUR: THe Feng Shui of Exterior*
The Four Celestial Animals
Feng Shui Outside Your Home (this was so helpful about creating an eye pleasing entry way and front garden area as well as guarding your back walls, made so much sense)
Water Dragon Feng Shui (not something a lot of Westerns grasped. A number of Brits take to this immediately with the popularity of TV show, Ground Force's frequent use of a "Water Feature." That is Feng Shui in a Western context.)
The Feng Shui Garden (another chapter I found so approachable and easy to grasp and use. Inspired a weekend run to Home Depot to do a little application. I would love to see another KISS book just on Feng Shui gardens)

*PART FIVE: Remedies and Formulas*
The Eight Mansion Formula
Feng Shui Remedies (some super easy, some a bit more complex)
Symbolic Feng Shui
The East Life/West Life Formula

*PART SIX: Compass School Feng Shui*
Time and the Calendar
Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
Compass School Feng Shui Tools (I found this section a little bit harder to get on how I was to apply Feng Shui, however, I'm just beginning. This application I would still then likely bring in a professional Feng Shui consultant to apply for at my office and my home. This helps me to have a foundation in it.)

When you are just starting out in Feng Shui and are craving a whole approach for your home and office, not just a few articles here and there "KISS Guide to Feng Shui" is an excellent addition to your home library which you will use again and again.

I found the book to be a little bit boring. I wanted to know how to change my home to fit into the Feng Shui philosophy and it gave me more of a background of Feng Shui. That is great, I am glad I know all of that now, but I didn't find any practical ways to change my home.

I'm still trying to get into this book. There is a lot of subject matter with mulitple origins, interpretations and applications of feng shui. Whew! I'm not finding this KISS publication to be that simple. However, lots of info and pictures!