Despite the common assumption that a house sits on a flat piece of land, reality is that at leash half of residential homes are built on land that is contoured one way or another.
This does not mean that a house might be built slated to one side. It just means that even though a property is built to be flat and level, the land under it or immediately around it is contoured.
And how the land is configured plays a much larger role in determining the feng shui of a house than finding your best sleeping direction… maybe by a factor of as much as 10:1.
This is because when we discuss land, whether it’s about the land shape or contour, we are talking macro feng shui. While concepts like flying stars and 8 mansions are micro in comparison.
The reason why this does not get enough attention is that the curvature of land is not something that most people can control or have them shaped to their will.
Something of interest is that Florida is supposedly the US state with the flattest land. Read into that what you will.
Here are some of the common land contours, natural and man-made, and what feng shui has to say about them.
Take note that it is possible for land to have more than one of the following attributes and fall in more than one category.
High back low front
This is often the default recommended land configuration for any property.
It falls in line with the fundamental concept of the 4 celestial animals with the black tortoise at the back (high) and red phoenix at the front (low).
It’s no coincidence that this advantageous orientation is also applied in military science where the side that is fighting from above facing down has the upper-hand.
The great part with such land configuration is that the bright hall in front of the property would be in full view from the property’s front, enabling it to accumulate and draw in auspicious chi easily.
This is also sometimes referred to as the armchair or command position.
High front low back
If we apply the law of pure opposites, a house with land that is high at the front and low at the back would contrast with one that is high at the back and low at the front. So since the latter is a good land configuration, the former should be bad.
This is often, but not always the case.
A house that faces high land directly in front would essentially be swallowing up fast moving sha chi that is “moving downhill”.
It is definitely not ideal.
But it can sometimes be tailored to fit right into this land configuration to harness Sheng Chi.
This depends on a more analytical assessment of the house directional orientation based on concepts like flying stars or 8 mansions.
For example, the direct spirit is at the northeast in 2019. This means that a house facing northeast might be able to activate the direct spirit, and maybe even the indirect spirit with a low back and high front.
However, the feng shui ailment of lacking backing support still needs to be addressed.
This can done by constructing a strong wall behind or planting big trees at the rear of the house.
High left low right
When we talk about the left and right in feng shui, we are referring to them from the perspective of the face of the house looking out. Or from the inside looking out.
A higher left side and lower right side erects the left green dragon and right white tiger in proper formation.
This is because in land form, the dragon is supposed to be on a more elevated position than the tiger.
This enables the dragon to take charge in generating wealth opportunities while the tiger concentrates on keeping wealth safely protected.
It also benefits a household where the main bread winner is the patriarch of the family.
Yang water would flow from left to right in front of the house.
When we combine this with the previous land feature of high back and low front, we get the “ideal” land contour of residential feng shui.
High right low left
Such a land formation would not be good for households with a male bread winner.
It would however be good for one where the matriarch is the family member bring home the bacon.
But it can also trigger disharmony and conflicts within the family.
Most probably originating from children challenging the authority of adults. Or women imposing their authority on men.
If the left side is a steep slope downwards, it is suggested to build rails, fences, walls or trees on this side to prevent financial catastrophe.
Such a house would essentially be facing yin water rolling from right to left.
Mound land
Mound land is a description of elevated land that pop out (usually on flat land) like a boil on skin.
A house built on top of mound land is not auspicious.
This is because energy that is moving about on the surface of land would find it difficult to climb up the raise land area. Thus, preventing the house from drawing it efficiently.
Moreover, any auspicious chi that is collected by the property would have the tendency to drop off the mound and back to the land below.
This makes it difficult for chi to meander. The use of trees can play an important role in managing the problems with retaining chi.
It’s probably the best that you can do in a bad situation.
Depressed land
Depressed land or sunken land is the opposite of mound land.
Whether houses built on such types of land contour depends on the depth of the depression and how steep the gradient it.
Deep depressions like a crater are not good for feng shui. They are also vulnerable to flash floods.
This is especially the case when a house built on it goes below ground level and the only view that it can see is the event horizon.
When the depth is minimal, flat at the surface area, and with gentle slopes, this can be an auspicious piece of land to build a house.
Metaphorically speaking, depressed land that is shaped like a salad bowl is undesirable and one that is shaped like a frying pan can potentially be desirable.
Terraced land
Terrace land is mostly man-made alterations to land contours to dictate the flow of water so as to prevent damages caused by flooding and soil erosion.
They visually resemble steps on a far larger scale then what we are used to when climbing the stairs.
They are generally bad feng shui except in extraordinary circumstances.