Sha?

[Dave Monroe]

"It acts as a Conduit for what we call Sha, or, as
they say in Spanish California, Bad Energy.—- Imagine
a Wind, a truly ill wind, bringing failure, poverty,
disgrace, betrayal,-— every kind of bad luck there
is,—- all blowing through, night and day, with many
times the force of the worst storm you were ever in."
(M&D, p. 542)

Sha
542; aka "Bad Energy"; 545; 547; 573; 601; 615; 649;
683; 692

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/alpha/s.html

Sha Chi 
Sha Chi, or "killing Chi" as it is sometimes known, is
a different from Sheng Chi and Si Chi. It is harmful
energy, the Chi that is possessed when people are
angry or when a place has a threatening or peculiar
feel to it. Sha Chi originates from negative
surroundings both above and below ground and,
depending upon its origin, can cause various
detrimental effects. Sha Chi from below the ground
causes sickness and saps energy and so a person may
feel tired and apprehensive for no obvious reason.

Sha Chi emanating from above ground causes nervous
complaints and illnesses. It may result in troubles in
people's personal life such as a marriage breakdown
and financial concerns, whether personal or relating
to business. Sha Chi can affect houses in a number of
ways, inside or outside, we don't mention all the ways
at this site, but here are some examples.

It is well known that Sha Chi will affect a house
detrimentally if the house is sited at a T-junction in
the road ... or if a road or a river runs straightly
from one of the doors or windows. Similarly, a house
surrounded by other structures (bridges, roads) will
receive harmful energy as well, since the structures
box it in.

Also, there are some other situations will create Sha
Chi:

Pointed objects aligned with the door or a window 
Being opposite a ruined building 
A noisy neighborhood or a noisy building such as a
fire station or a bar. 
Overhead cables or wires obstructing the view 
Proximity to a graveyard 

http://www.fengshuiprophet.com/sha_chi.htm

Sheng Qi and Sha Qi

There are two types of Qi, the good and the bad. The
good type is called Sheng Qi while the bad type is
called Sha Qi. The word Sheng means vital or life. The
word Sha means evil or killing. These two types of qi
can sometimes be felt by our senses, but we may be
unaware of their existence some other times. 

Beautiful objects are considered Sheng Qi. They are
pleasant to our eyes and we feel comfortable with
beautiful objects at our sight. Although what is
beautiful to one person may not be so to another, we
cannot disregard general consensus of opinion. 

A house built in a beautiful environment is then said
to be bathing in good Feng Shui because it is
surrounded by sheng qi. If the interior of a house is
clean and tidy, well ventilated and has good lighting,
then the house is also filled with sheng qi. People
living in such a house will feel calm and peaceful and
life is enjoyable to them. They will have more energy
to work and play. They are enjoying good Feng Shui. 

On the other hand, ugly objects are considered Sha Qi.
They are unpleasant to our eyes and we feel
uncomfortable with their presence. A house built near
a dumpsite with flies and mosquitoes, with bad odor
polluting the air, is suffering from bad Feng Shui.
People living there will easily get sick and feel
unhappy. They will find life horrible. 

Chinese people consider the Perfect Trinity to be
formed by Truth, Kindness and Beauty. Ancient people
argued in search of truth. They were kind to each
other with a common goal of creating a beautiful
world. 

Today, there are Feng Shui wars in a lot of places.
This is the most ignorant action. Using ugly objects
to harm competitors is creating a source of sha qi at
home. It not only hurts the competitor but the person
himself and other innocent neighbors. Feng Shui
practitioners who employ such technique to make money
should be reprimanded. 

Some people teach others to use mirrors to handle sha
qi. They are equating qi to light, which is not true.
If light is not qi then what does the mirror do? 

Well, they say that there are three kinds of mirrors -
the plane mirror, the convex mirror and the concave
mirror each having a special function: 

[1] A plane mirror can reflect sha qi back to the
source. 

[2] A concave mirror can concentrate the sha qi at one
point. 

[3] A convex mirror can disperse sha qi. 

What really happens is that a plane mirror will form
an image at the back of the mirror. If there is a
source of sha qi outside your house, using a plane
mirror at your front door will bring it virtually into
your house. If you use a concave or convex mirror you
are also bringing the sha qi in a focussed way into or
near your house. Fortunately, it is only the image of
the source of sha qi that is involved, not the sha qi
itself. Since light contributes only a part of the sha
qi, the actual harm done is not great. We can be sure
that it does not work even if no harm is done.

http://fsrc.topcities.com/fengshui3.html

The archives were surprisingly quiet on this ...

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l

Again, basic research never hurts ...

--- Geoff Stacks <gstacks at purdue.edu> wrote:

> Is the concept of Sha (in M&D) Pynchon's invention?

And how are things in lovely West Lafayette?  All I
recall is the sulfurous tapwater, and the 10% off sale
at the local adult bookstore when it was being
picketed by the local Moral Majority ...


	
		
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