I was chatting with my sister-in-law yesterday over the net and she asked me a very interesting question. Her question was “A friend told me a bird touched her hair when she walked out of her office during lunch time”. Apparently this is the second time it has happened. “So, what significance does that have in Chinese metaphysics”. Mmmm…..

Being a student of this art and science field for the last couple of years, I was desperately searching my memory banks to recall the significance of “a bird touching someone’s hair” so that I could appear Smart and A-Know-It-All. But all I could think of is “Must be something in the shampoo she used which the bird liked”.

I seriously cannot think of any significance of that piece of action. Then I remembered what my teacher and Master Joey said “Do not attempt to relate every incident in our lives to Feng Shui. That will make us paranoids”. He has written many articles in his website and also in his books on the topic of people getting overly excited of incidences in their lives which they tried to relate to feng shui. In his article “A Fish Story” dated 1st March 2005, he wrote about a distraught lady whose pet goldfish “kicked the bucket” and she read it as the fish literally “sacrificed” itself to save her life, as it has absorbed her bad luck for her.

This was perhaps the lady’s first thought, especially if she was brought up in a culture steep in superstitions and old wives tales. In Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Feng Shui is defined as “the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment. The literal translation is "wind and water". Actually, Feng Shui is defined differently, depending on who you talk to. But take it from me, it is definitely NOT superstition.

In the case of the goldfish “pushing up daisies”, perhaps the fish simply died due to the water being unclean or some skin disease. Perhaps it was an “old” goldfish, which was due to meet his maker. It definitely has nothing to do with Feng Shui. In my sister-in-law’s case, my answer to her question was “No feng shui significance” But because I am Chinese, and it is my culture to be superstitious, and the Ghost Month IS approaching, my natural advice is for the friend to keep an eye on any other extraordinary event that might happen to her. And for my sister-in-law to keep an eye on her friend.