I am new here, and pretty new to feng shui, though I've been reading some for a couple of years. It's all so complex, the only part I really think I understand some is the land form school. And right here, I have a problem: My backyard has big ravines in it. On a practical level this is very good, because we will never flood, something that the folks down in the bottoms, who can get a proper tortoise to their back and phoenix in front cannot be sure of. OTOH, I know it's consider bad feng shui to have your back yard slope away.

Our ravines are heavily wooded, so there are big trees between us and the serious drop off. I haven't been able to find a clear answer as to whether they constitute a sufficient "tortoise" or if I really need to do something more. I dread needing to do something more, since our yard is quite large, and it would no doubt cost a bundle -- which we don't have.

I'd be interested in everyone's thoughts.

So the area in the front of the property is higher than the house? And the rear is lower?

No, the land in front of the house is level; it slopes away in the rear. Really very beautiful, and again, I never worry about flooding (and again, not everyone hereabouts can say that), but technically bad feng shui.

Consider then that the house is "reversed." I assume that the architecture takes good advantage of the beautiful rear views.
The back is the facing in that case (most likely...only testing can prove one way or the other)

Not, not really; the house mostly faces the level parts of the yard. Indeed, the office I'm sitting in this moment is the only room in the house with significant viiews of the ravines. Well, there's a little room back of the kitchen, obviously is a back stoop that got enclosed somewhere along the way; it has views too. But we've mostly used it to store my oversized cookbook collection.

And how is the health of the residents since moving in?

And how is the health of the residents since moving in?

Interesting question. We both have ongoing issues that have been with us since well before this house. They have gotten neither better nor worse, so far as I can tell. I'm hypothyroid and have ADD/SAD/sleep disorder, he has depression and anxiety issues, but again, those predate this house -- or, for that matter, even living in this state. We certainly have very few colds, no flu, very little infectious illness, or skin problems, or arthritis, digestive issues, or anything like that. We both work out and are quite fit for middle-aged folks.

And general people issues (relationships, etc) are good?

How about wealth?

(I'm trying to understand the impact of the land forms)

People issues consist of my marriage, and we're very good. Just the two of us in the house, and we're really nice to one another. :-D

Money is where it's been hard to gain traction. Some of it is no doubt attributable to the generally sucky economy, but since I currently have a few business irons in the fire that could generate some real cash, and because there may be an opportunity for my husband -- who's been on reduced hours for about three years now -- to get more hours in, I'd like to maximize my chances.

I live infront of a creek. There is a downward slope between my home and the creek. The former owner of my home is a Feng Shui Practitioner. She had planted small mirrors at the top of the slope. The mirror part was facing the creek, so as to prevent any "overflow."

Okay, but with my ravines, would I face the mirrors toward my house, to try to keep my chi from "sliding downhill?" Trust me, my ravines aren't going to overflow unless it's an end-of-the-world event, and then I'll have more important things to worry about. ;-p

My mirrors have been placed facing the creek.

I get that, but you're trying to prevent water coming up from the creek toward the house. I'm trying to prevent chi moving *away* from my house, down the steep slope, and flowing away.

I should add to this discussion that the land form thing is only one issue; there are other things going on, some easy to fix, some not so easy. The easily fixable ones -- like mirrors where they shouldn't be -- are being fixed. The less mutable stuff will take thought and some advice from those better versed than I.

Mirrors aside (can a mirror really reflect qi? What a notion!): your house sounds from the description like there may be no way to gather qi sufficiently. The yang side is in the back where there are not much windows and no main door. The front may well be less yang but that is where the front door is. So not an ideal situation.

Since taking advantage of the yang rear may be financially out of the question, I think you are left to try to gather qi at the main door. This requires a suitable ming tang both outside and inside (that is, a somewhat enclosed or at least defined space, like a small "outdoor room" and a decent sized foyer.

Of course, this all is looking only at one issue and since health is ok and relationship is ok, then an audit might well reveal approaches to increasing income.
Mirrors won't do it, IMO

There are many "feng shui practitioners" and most, especially in the West, wouldn't know classical feng shui if it fell on them

I'm aware of the fact that there's a lot of bad feng shui going around -- I've read Cate Bramble. And I ascribe no objective reality to what are, I realize, basically decor decisions; falls into the "what the hell, why not?" category, you know?

If I knew how to find a classical feng shui practicioner in Southern Indiana, I might pony up the bucks, but all I know of around here is pretty obviously rip-off-oriented Black Hat stuff.

My house is an unusual shape, too; which forum would be proper for discussing that? Thanks!

Re the rear of my house -- we've been wanting to add an enclosed four-season porch/addition to the kitchen when money allows. Would help?

Also, be aware that the rear of the house faces north; this time of year a lot of sun comes in the south and south-east facing windows we have, which are generous. Sunlight is yang, no? I was thinking it was...

Really can't figure this out piecemeal. It takes a complete audit that takes everything into account.
Rather like diagnosing an ailment by talking to your friends rather than seeing a doctor.
(My comment about bad feng shui practitioners was really in response to Laura88's story of the former owner of her house)

At least southern Indiana can be beautiful (I have a friend in Evansville)

Good luck with your original landscaping question. As I believe that there are many different schools/principals of Feng Shui, I have come across numerous posts here which contain comments which do not ring a bell at all for me. The former owner of my home is an excellent practitioner, as my original entrance into her home was a peaceful and successful one.