Catholicism's view on Feng Shui

  • Thread starter Thread starter anhphan
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

anhphan

Guest
Can Catholic practise feng shui? My friend said that if we touched or moved our ancestral graves in wrong place, we will be have trouble in work or we will have some serious health problems (may cause death). Is that true? Thanh you very much.
I asked the same question in the Non-Catholic religious category yesterday but no one answered. Please help me. Thank you very much.
 
It is wrong to disturb graves unless there is a serious reason. As Catholics, we are called to have the utmost respect for where our dead are buried. Moving bodies around willy-nilly would be incredibly sinful.

That said, you will not “get in trouble” or have it cause death. That is superstition.
 
Feng Shui is about a putative energy that is said to flow in nature. Moving graves is very different. It has to do with respect for the dead and perhaps morality of moving them.
 
Bookcat posted the following in the old forums. It’s still appropriate advice AGAINST feng shui:

Jul '12

vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html

"Feng-shui: a form of geomancy, in this case an occult Chinese method of deciphering the hidden presence of positive and negative currents in buildings and other places, on the basis of a knowledge of earthly and atmospheric forces. “Just like the human body or the cosmos, sites are places criss-crossed by influxes whose correct balance is the source of health and life”. " (section 7.2 above …and there is another reference there)

(obviously not something to embrace…)

and in general regarding non-Christian Religions

CCC

842 The Church’s bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:

All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. . .The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."332

844 In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:

Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.333

scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a9p3.htm#lll
 
I wouldn’t touch Feng Shui - I know a lot about it. It’s placing your trust on something else than God to help you. There is nothing wrong with a tidy environment and some of the logic is practical but done use it as a good luck charm. I rather focus on breaking the generational sins, blessing the land/house by a priest etc
 
Feng Shui to me is just moving the couch at an angle furthur away from the TV, and then maybe throwing a purple blanket by the plant.

In other words, it’s completely harmless and nothing more than making your home or place you’re at more pleasing to your eye, and heart.
 
From what I know about “Feng Shui,” in a modern sense it has more to do with the common sense placement of furniture around the house more than anything? Not sure what the Church has to say on it one way or another but I’ll say the movement of the tabernacle from anywhere other than behind the altar isn’t very “Feng Shui.”
 
Last edited:
Chinese Catholic here. Feng Shui should only be understand from an anthropology way (eg: Don’t put the 2 doors directly across from each other on the same hallway, because having two person encounter each other physically increase the chance of conflict).

Don’t believe in the “Door underneath your room will lead to your fortune flow out”, or “step the wrong foot out of the door” THAT is superstition.
Jamie5 said:
Feng Shui to me is just moving the couch at an angle furthur away from the TV, and then maybe throwing a purple blanket by the plant.
Click to expand...
Pretty much this, just codified and mystified.
anhphan said:
My friend said that if we touched or moved our ancestral graves in wrong place, we will be have trouble in work or we will have some serious health problems (may cause death). Is that true? Thanh you very much.
Click to expand...
Consider the historical origin: Graves have rotting corpse. Moving it may release methane gas or even bacteria. Compare to other east Asian culture, we Chinese moved away from raw food, and drink more tea, because we live in an environment where there were an occasional plague (all the rivers were dirty even back then). Also, it’s heavy – 工in Classical Chinese means physical labor. You are going to have trouble if you move a heavy stone and ended up breaking your back, right?

The best way to understand Eastern Philosophy and culture is to do it in an anthropological way.
 
Last edited:
Oh, so we have to understand correctly the Feng Shui in order not to be superstitious.
 
That’s definitely incorrect. I’ve studied Feng Shui and it’s taken far beyond that level.
 
I can’t in order to help convince the curious that divination is not something Catholics should deal with. And Feng Shui is divination.
 
Father Amorth, the former Vatican Exorcist mentions Feng Shui as one of the things we must avoid.
 
Agree. Nonetheless it’s something one have to take an understanding with gentleness, as it is in grain to culture regardless…

On another note, as I discuss with my Taiwanese colleague, prosperity Gospel will speak louder to the mainlanders, while Taiwanese stay with ancestoral worship because they consider themselves Chinese. Even my Hong Kong born spiritual director admit it will be likely only Cantonese RCIA will be filled.
 
I have a book written in the late 1800s that outlines various Chinese subjects. Cultural sensitivity is important but Feng Shui is not an accepted practice for Catholics.
 
And how accurate is an 1800 books on Asia written by a westerner, I persume? Do we really need another Chinese Rite Controversy? Do you know how hard it is to explain, in Chinese, that Catholicism(天主教) is Christianity(基督教), even though it’s literally not in the name?

That being said, I agree with the Feng Shui is superstition. The Chinese radio, at 7:55, blare out which direction you are suppose to face, which foot to goes out the door first, what you are suppose to do (and not do) that day. That is getting beyond superstition and just plain silly. Yet many of the Rich Mainlanders bought into this.
 
Last edited:
I have more than one book about this subject. I had a friend who lived in Asia and told me about Chinese beliefs and practices. His friend spoke fluent Chinese and English. There are other sources by Chinese scholars. This practice is highly complex and should be avoided.
 
You had a friend who lived in Asia and told you about Chinese belief and practice. I am a pure blood Chinese that lived in China before moving to Canada and speak Chinese as first language.

And indeed it is highly complex, involving Chinese pride and sense of superiority, not helping with how the States is starting to decline in world stage and economy.
 
Last edited:
So as a Chinese Catholic, would this be a fair to summary of your thoughts?
Feng Shui can lend itself to superstition (which is bad and should be avoided) but many people use it primarily as aesthetic guidelines for arranging furniture (which is not that big of a deal).
Click to expand...
 
Yes. Pretty much. A pride thing, if you will, which is “helped” by a strong history, culture, and now economy. And it will be important going forward if Catholics want to engage Chinese that they are the true church, and not one of the many Evangelical churches that incorporates such concept.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top