Flying star feng shui, or xuan kong fei xing (玄空飞星), is a subset of xuan kong feng shui (玄空風水) which in turn is a subset of the broader study under the san yuan (三元) concept and theories, which has a greater emphasis on the li qi (理气) system.
The concepts and ideas of modern practices in flying stars mostly originate from the 5 classics of 地理辯正, 玄空紫白訣, 玄機賦, 玄空秘旨 and 飛星賦, which are considered by many as the bible of this particular art of feng shui.
The time dimension plays a fundamental part in the concept of flying star feng shui.
It is for this reason that it is the most widely practiced feng shui school of thought today.
As most people instinctively acknowledges that energy patterns change over time, it only makes sense that any use of geomancy to manage energy forces on a property should take the dynamics of time into account.
Why the name flying stars feng shui?
The theory behind this school of thought is that the numbers represented by stars on the Luo Shu diagram moves from:
- Age to age (every 20 years)
- Year to year
- Month to month
- Day to day
- Every 2 hours
This means that for every given moment of a day, there are at least 5 stars that are dynamically influencing a particular space.
However, it must be noted that in practice, the potency of stars are prioritized on the Age and Annual stars.
Birth chart of a house
Depending on when a home, or property in general is built, a birth chart is associated with the house according to the facing direction.
So to identify the birth chart of a house, two sets of information is required.
- Completion of construction date
- Facing direction
For example, if a house is completely built in 2018 facing northwest 1, it would have the below natal birth chart.
When an existing house is fully renovated, remodeled, or have extensive construction done on it, it takes up a new birth chart according to the date of completion of works.
When feng shui masters recommend homeowner to undertake major renovations, it is for this reason that their suggestions are based on.
This is so that the property can incorporate a new birth chart that would bring more good fortune to the inhabitants of the house.
9 ages that make up 3 periods
The time dimension follows a 180 year cycle that restarts when it comes to an end.
The 180 years consist of 3 era periods of 60 years each:
- Upper
- Middle
- Lower
In turn, the periods consist of 3 ages of 20 years each, making up a total of 9 ages and 180 years.
| Age | Years | Time Period | Era |
| 1 | 20 | 1864 – 1883 | Upper |
| 2 | 20 | 1884 – 1903 | Upper |
| 3 | 20 | 1904 – 1923 | Upper |
| 4 | 20 | 1924 – 1943 | Middle |
| 5 | 20 | 1944 – 1963 | Middle |
| 6 | 20 | 1964 – 1983 | Middle |
| 7 | 20 | 1984 – 2003 | Lower |
| 8 | 20 | 2004 – 2023 | Lower |
| 9 | 20 | 2023 – 2043 | Lower |
The 180 cycle means that at the end of 2043, the period of 1 commences again.
The earth plate
The earth plate is the foundation base where the ruling period’s stars reside.
Whether you are using a circle-based chart as in compass feng shui, or a square-grid chart as in bagua map, the star numbers remain the same.
For example, if we are talking about the age of 8, the earth plate would look like this.
Take note that the ruling age, which is 8, takes up the center of the grid. And that the sequence of stars follow the pattern of the Luo Shu map.
Determining the facing direction of a property
While many feng shui schools of thought measure the facing direction of the main front door to determine the classification of the type of house, flying star feng shui takes the facing direction of the property.
Because of this, many DIY feng shui enthusiasts apply flying star feng shui wrongly as they are unable to accurately determine where is the facing of the house.
This can be especially challenging when trying to determine an apartment unit facing.
Thus, measuring it’s facing direction from the wrong place.
Because urban architecture consist of various types of home configuration, determining where the facing direction is has become an art form.
If you are stuck in this phase, think of it in terms of a metaphor. If the house is a human head, where is the face?
What can be said for certain is that the facing of the front door is not necessarily the facing of the property itself. Especially with modern homes being constructed with more and more creative floor plans.
Because of this, people who bought land and are preparing to built their homes from scratch, tend to incorporate a design that has a front door at it’s facing direction when they believe in feng shui.
This helps avoid the predicament of a confusing facing direction, and flying star feng shui can be applied to the property with conviction.
Apartments face an even more widespread problem with identifying facing direction.
The 24 mountains
There are 8 cardinal directions on the compass:
- North
- South
- East
- West
- Northeast
- Northwest
- Southeast
- Southwest
Flying star feng shui further demarcate the 8 directions into 24, called the 24 mountains.
Each of the 8 cardinal directions are split into 3, making up the total of 24.
The facing direction which corresponds with a sitting direction of the house will align with one of these mountains, adding the water and mountain stars will conclude the exercise of discovering the birth chart of the house.
Details of the 24 mountains are explained here.
Water and mountain stars
As the earth plate is already determined, the next step is to map out the water and mountain stars that reside in each of the 9 squares in the grid.
These 2 stars are often the focal point of feng shui practitioners, even more intensely than the 5 dynamic stars previously mentioned.
You can find these birth charts fully made and for your use on this website.
However, here are some extra information on how the location of these 9 stars are determined.
Depending on the facing and sitting direction of the house, the water star will be the base star on the facing direction as described on the earth plate.
The mountain star will be the base star on the sitting direction as described on the earth plate.
For example, if we have an age of 8 house facing north at dead center and sitting south, then the water star would be star 4 and mountain star would be star 3.
Then the Luo Shu pattern of movement follows with 4 and 3 either with a forward or backward moving sequence.
More in-depth details of how this forward or backward sequence if determined is described here.
Full birth chart with flying stars
Once the earth plate and flying stars are mapped out, you now have the complete birth chart of the house and can apply flying star feng shui enhancements and remedies to the specific sectors of the house.
Superimpose the birth chart over the floor plan layout of the property and it should clearly show which stars reside in which areas.
To enhance or cure certain areas, refer to the nature of the 9 stars and follow the relationship between the 5 elements.
Annual flying stars
At the opening of this discussion, it was said that time dynamics of flying star feng shui is the chief reason why it is the most widely practiced method of feng shui today.
Annual flying stars make their entrance and exits from specific sections of the property on an annual basis.
They can either bring good luck or bad luck.
Not only is the nature of a particular star of concern to a homeowner, the manner in which it would interact with existing stars on the birth chart plays a critical role in evaluating what needs to be done.
This is why feng shui masters publish annual checklist for precautions and enhancements.
It is also the reason why sometimes the change of front door colors is advised.
To conclude, the most crucial part in practicing flying star feng shui is the determination of the facing and sitting direction.
This depends on judgment, instinct, and experience.
So if you are unsure, do practice caution as you might use the wrong birth chart and end up energizing unlucky area, and destroying auspicious lucky areas in the house.
Finally, advanced practice of flying stars take into account not just annual flying stars but heavenly stems and earthly branches that rove about as well.
