The art and science of setting up countermeasures to deal with aversive conditions and installing enhancers to improve on existing conditions have become a very important part of a traditional feng shui purist’s knowledge. It is almost impossible not to use countermeasures and enhancers when working with the feng shui of a building. Even if you have optimal positions in the nine palaces in the geomantic chart, the stars of the yearly and monthly cycles change, and you may have to use countermeasures to lessen the impact of destructive effects and enhancers to bolster beneficial influences. In fact in differentiating yin and yang schools of feng shui, lucky motifs and symbols are a must in the practice of dwellings for the living (yang feng shui). Because auspicious symbols will activate “yang” energy. While feng shui for graveyards (yin feng shui) are supposed to be done with little to no symbols. It is therefore a big mistake for dwelling for the living to apply “yin feng shui” practices. Countermeasures deal with aversive conditions. They are designed to help us avoid, dissolve, weaken, or remove destructive energy. While countermeasures are used to neutralize undesirable effects, enhancers are designed to increase desirable effects. Typically, an enhancer is placed in an area to strengthen the energy associated with the benevolent star. Enhancers work n the opposite direction of countermeasures.

Feng shui purists have always proactively introduce “intervention” to counter the harmful effects of malevolent stars. This makes sense as malevolent stars need “immediate attention”. “Intervention” involves countering the malevolent stars by neutralizing the energy associated with them. Using the knowledge of how the the elements nourish, weaken and destroy each other, it is possible to place objects or artifacts in strategic locations to counter the effects of malevolent stars. The artifacts are carriers of elemental energy, and can be used to lessen or even eliminate the harmful effects brought on by the star’s element.

Staunch traditionalists normally consider the combination of “three factors” when prescribing feng shui countermeasures and enhancers:

1. Those using esoteric, religious, imagistic, symbolic, iconic or magical remedies.
2. Those using Form and alignment considerations, by absorbing, blocking or deflecting sha chi. 
3. Those using element interactions to reduce or enhance an element. 

Only remedies that encompass all the three factors above are considered as appropriate feng shui remedies that can certainly help to correct or enhance feng shui. All these are “yang cures” and help counter an excess of yin, opposite of yang, darkness, silence and stillness. A practical suggestion is to choose remedies as close as possible to traditional remedies. Feng shui is susceptible to deduction, but you need to guard against using your intuition and making up remedies. For example, colors is a useful reinforcing adjunct to placed remedies, but be wary of using it solely on its own. Colors alone do not work. A red floor rug for example has zero effect on countering #3 Green star. Another example of wrong remedy is to use a lump of metal such as metal trophies to counter dangerous stars such as #5 Yellow or #2 Black stars. The reason windchimes are used instead is because passing breezes will stir metal windchimes, thus keeping the metal activated, where most of the effects is derived from the passage of the chi through the windchimes.

Some pseudo practitioners believe on the principle of “avoidance”. They believe that if movement is lessened in an area, the destructive effect is minimized. This is not the best way to deal with malevolent stars and can be very dangerous. Such practice is often being disregarded by the purists who would prefer to proactively apply an “intervention”. Inactivity is overly reactive and not a remedy.

The annual chart can be superimposed onto the floor plan of any home, office and even individual rooms to understand how the luck patterns will change with the new year. This will allow you to install the appropriate feng shui enhancers and cures to activate lucky stars while suppressing unlucky ones.