Finding a feng shui consultant

If you are having trouble figuring out how to choose a Feng Shui consultant, you are not alone. The field of Feng Shui is huge, with at least three schools of thought officially recognized, and much superstition that has come to ride piggy back on what started as a practical philosophy. There are also disciplines related to Feng Shui that are often confused with Feng Shui itself.

In addition to the range of beliefs, there is a range of motivations for a person to become a consultant. For some people, it is a true calling, one they spend years studying, and they would be doing it for free if it was not a profession. In contrast, some consultants are charlatans motivated purely by money, and will exploit the naivet? of anyone they can. Some consultants are truly well meaning, but are misinformed or undereducated, and will none the less assure you of their "expertise".

With so many differing approaches, and so many different practitioners, finding a consultant that is right for you will take some digging.

The Association of Feng Shui Consultants (AFSC) was formed in order to give the public enough information about Feng Shui, to enable people to make informed decisions when choosing a consultant. Hopefully you'll find a similar organization in your country or region.

Since there is no industry standard, they recommend reading the websites of the Feng Shui institutions and Masters they recognize, as this will help you to decide which level of certification and which institution or Feng Shui Master will have most likely produced the type of consultant you want. The AFSC verifies the level of training that each applicant has received, and requires them to sign a Code of Ethics before publishing their names on a list of AFSC recognized consultants. The AFSC only includes the traditional Chinese schools of Form, Compass and Flying Star School, so you'll need to look else where for an evaluation of the Western school, and they actually stipulate that using only Annual Flying Stars may cause more harm than good. In the future, the AFSC may come up with an accreditation process. Until then, here are a few tips for questions to ask and things to keep in mind when you are choosing a Feng Shui consultant:

1. If they make promises that you will definitely be healthy, wealthy, famous, or that your love interest will fall head over heals for you, they are probably charlatans. Feng Shui can have those effects, but it is not magic and the consultant is not an omnipotent jinni. Feng Shui simply increases the positive energy and decreases or neutralizes the effects of the negative energy, which allows for improvement in all areas of your life. It does not, however, guarantee specific results or make you bullet proof. You'll still have to look both ways before crossing a street, and work for a living. People with life threatening diseases are often vulnerable to charlatans. If a consultant promises a miraculous cure and full recovery for an exorbitant fee, rip up their calling card.
2. Ask if they are a member of the AFSC, or a similar organization in your country or region. As most charlatans will shy away from signing a code of ethics or having anyone snooping around verifying that they were trained by whom they claim they were. You can verify their membership at the appropriate associations.
3. A consultant who has just completed their studies may be very passionate about gaining experience, and willing to work for less than someone with years of experience.
4. If they hail from the school of Compass, do they use a Traditional Lopan, or a modern compass? Either can be done well, but you may have a preference.
5. If they hail from The School of Flying Star School, they will need the floor plans, date of construction, and date of birth of the occupants of any building they work on. If the claim to be from that school, but don't request these things, something is fishy.
6. Two consultants with the same training back ground are none the less very different human beings. So ask yourself, do I feel comfortable with this person? Do you feel confident about their skills when they answer your questions?
7. Feng Shui remedies can and should blend in with your d?cor to create harmony. If the consultant can introduce a balance of the 5 elements with out making it obvious that a consultant has been there, that's a good sign.
8. Recommendations and testimonials from previous clients should be made available to you.
9. Ask whether the consultation includes a verbal and/ or written report and whether the consultant will be available for follow up questions and answers. These may affect the cost, but in any case you should know what you are paying for ahead of time, to avoid resentment and misunderstanding.