For the yangtaek-geomantic, the primary requirement is deciding an appropriate living site by studying the geographic area’s wind and waters. To analyze the wind and waters in the area, it is important to find out how the surrounding area is formed ...
For the yangtaek-geomantic, the primary requirement is deciding an appropriate living site by studying the geographic area’s wind and waters. To analyze the wind and waters in the area, it is important to find out how the surrounding area is formed by the mountain terrains and the rivers. The main motive of geomantic is finding the exact propitious spot through this analysis and some of the methods to do this is by searching through some of the studies of geomancy: kan-ryong-pub , jang-pung-pub, duk-soo-pub , hyung-kuk-ron , jwah-hyang-pub, pi-po-ron.
One of the basic requirements of deciding the housing site could be the bae-san-im-su, which is a description in which there is a mountain located behind the building and water (lake, river) located at the front (face) of the building. If the house is not sheltered by the mountain at the posterior, the house would be exposed to the wind without any cover and become a haunted house.
Junjohoogo means that the front is lower than the back and if this term is applied to housing, the main house would be placed at a higher place than the house near the main gate. If the building is built according to the junjohoogo the main house would be able to block the bad aura and the cold winds during the winter, while will be able to fully receive the lively aura and the warm winds to let the inhabitants live a happy and healthy life.
A method to see in which way the house it tilted to is by looking at the house in relation to the lighting and the drainage composition. Flat grounds are usually preferred. Dong-juh-suh-go, Nam-juh-buk-go, Puk-sou-ko-nam-dong-juh, Puk-sou-dong-ko-nam-juh are considered the ‘propitious sites’ for a house. While in the other hand Dong-ko-suh-juh, Nam-ko-puk-juh, Puk-suh-juh-nam-dong-go are considered ‘bad, unpropitious sites’ for housing. It isn’t good if the ground site’s center is sunk under the surrounding land. Housing sites are usually a quadrilateral shape but many housing sites do not share the same shape and each have differences. Housing sites that are short at the south and long at the north (ladder shaped), rectangular sites that have long sides in the north and south, square shaped sites, and circular sites are all considered propitious sites. However, sites that are long at the south and short at the north (ladder shaped), triangular sites, isosceles (triangular) sites, rectangular sites that have long sides in the east and west, and sites that have shapes tilted to the east and the west are considered unpropitious and bad housing sites.
The houses luckiness is also decided upon by how parts of the buildings are jut out or sunk in. If the housing site or building is slightly jutted out, it is considered lucky but if the jutting out is too extreme it becomes unlucky. In yangtaek-geomancy, there are many methods in deciding the luckiness of the house, but『Yang-taek-sam-yo』talks about a method (through introducing a housing theory) by putting choui as the roots and by substituting the 24 directions (created by the yin and yang and the five elements) with the eight trigrams directions. According to the book the housing that has energy flowing in the east is called Kam-li-jin-song, housing with energy flowing through the west is called kun-kon-kan-tae and it distinguished the eight trigrams in to four ‘east houses’ and four ‘west houses’.
It also divides the entire house by east (energy-wise) and west (energy-wise) housing by observing the positions of the door, kitchen and the main house and observes upon the ability of the harmonization between yin and yang’s, coexistence of the five elements and the blend in the opposite east and west (energy-flowing) according to the theory of housing to decide on the luckiness of the house.
The four lucky houses according the indoor spacing structures are saeng-ki-tek, yeon-nyon-tek, cheon-eul-tek, bok-we-tek and the four unlucky houses are oh-kwi-tek, yuk-sal-tek, wha-he-tek, jul-myong-tek. In analyzing these four lucky houses and four unlucky houses the dong-sa-tek-il-ki’s house that has energy flowing in the east and the so-sa-tek-il-ki’s house that has energy flowing in the west become lucky houses while the houses that have energies flowing from both the east and west become unlucky houses. The geomancy’s main thing is in measuring the exact direction of the door, kitchen and the main housing and the place in which the paechul is placed in the house – for the measurement – is called the reference point for measuring direction. This bangwichukjung datum is not positioned at the housing land’s center, rather it is placed according to the area of the flowing energy’s center. 『yang-taek-sam-yo』 says that if it is Jung-tek measure from the yard’s center and if it is Dong-tek measure from each yard’s center. Even when houses have housing sites that are perfect and have the indoor spacing structures’ doors, kitchen and main house’s positions that make it appear like a lucky house, they could harm the inhabitant’s health if there is a disruption in the terrestrial magnetism through the construction materials (e.g. rebars or H section steels are ferromagnetic bodies that disturb the terrestrial). Electronics near the bed especially create electromagnetic waves and disturb deep sleep. As springs inside the mattress are also ferromagnetic substances, it is possible to get myocardial infarction, heart diseases and mental diseases through being exposed to it for a long period of time. As people spend most of their lives in the building’s artificial spaces, to live and lead on a pleasant life people must actively prepare against the damage that the release of indoor bad aura would produce.
To make a pleasant interior space you must drive out the food and displeasing smells, and lower the temperature & humidity if it is high. To maintain an optimal environment with you must also ventilate the room frequently. To do this it is important to control the wind. You must let there be a difference in the air pressure of the outside and the inside of the house and if you particularly want a little breeze in the house you must let there be a little air pressure difference between the interior and the exterior of the house. Air pressure differences are affected by how the surrounding environment of the house are like (mountains, fields, other buildings), how the house’s direction is, what materials the house is made out of, the structure house, and how the placement of the furniture is positioned. Even the lighting of a small lantern or a candle in the house could cause a difference in the air pressure.
What we have considered a superstition or ideologically are all explicable through science. Thus it must not be explained through ideological methods but rather explained in scientific means. If this could be understood and trusted objectively, geomantic geography would not be disregarded and ignored bur rather become something that everyone acknowledges as something that could benefit everyone (contribute to the welfare of others).