Total Feng Shui: Bring Health, Wealth, and Happiness into Your Life
For readers who are serious about studying feng shui, Too’s comprehensive book will prove an invaluable one-stop reference. Too has written 48 previous books on the subject, and her latest is colorfully arranged into sections that examine the "General Principles," the "Practical Techniques," "The Secret Formulas," the "Protective Symbols and Rituals," and the ways that feng shui can be applied to "Improving the Quality of Your Life." Each chapter is fully illustrated with diagrams, and there is a detailed glossary in the back. However, in spite of the neat layout and design, readers cannot simply dip in and out of this reference book. Many of the concepts and ideas presented build upon each other to such a point that the text can be incomprehensible to readers who haven’t started from the beginning. And novice students might struggle with feng shui’s complex strategies and theories, which involve calculating kua numbers and "activating" auspicious corners with plants and crystals. At times, Too’s advice can be impractical. For example, at one point she suggests that the best remedy for an irregularly shaped house "is to add another room" to the building. While many of the suggestions smack of superstition (i.e. "bury a symbolic wealth box in the Northwest of your garden"), several of the ideas are just common sense (i.e., "incorporate discrete lighting into all important areas and corners."). Followers of the practice will appreciate Too’s view that everyone is able to learn feng shui. "A feng shui master, no matter how good, can never be as good as you can be," she explains near the beginning of the volume. "When you are doing your own place, you are bound to be extra careful and fastidious."Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.