Dragon, Tiger and the Side Spurs

The Green Dragon and the White Tiger are the two arms on the left and right of the lair, and both must be spurs that branch off the incoming dragon itself. When the two arms hold the lair between them, the wind is still and the energy gathers, and only then is the lair true. Other spurs guard the lair as well: one between the arms and the main range or in front of the lair, and one behind the Green Dragon.

The Green Dragon and the White Tiger

The Green Dragon (青龙) lies on the left of the incoming dragon: with the incoming dragon at one's back, the hills rising and falling on the left are the Green Dragon, and it is not necessarily due east. The White Tiger (白虎) lies in the same way on the right of the incoming dragon. For the basic definitions of the two arms and the spurs, see Landform Terms.

The left arm of a true dragon must come out of the incoming dragon itself, as its extension, so the Green Dragon is always joined to the incoming dragon, and so is the White Tiger. Only spurs that branch off the incoming dragon make a true Green Dragon and White Tiger. If the Green Dragon and the White Tiger stand apart from the main range and are spurs of another range, in feng shui they are not a Green Dragon and a White Tiger at all, and the lair only looks like a lair.

Shelter from the wind

As a rule the Green Dragon should be the higher and the White Tiger the lower, the two holding the lair between them like arms. Then the lair is sure to be sheltered from the wind, so its energy gathers.

The shelter is judged standing on the lair. If all is still and silent and a gentle breeze comes, it is a true lair; if sand blows and stones roll and a north wind strikes the face, it is not a good site.

Even when the lair's form is excellent, and the sand, the water, the Green Dragon, the White Tiger and the table and facing mountains are all of the very highest grade, a lair set too high cannot shelter from the wind, and its energy does not gather. Its force lasts only a short time, and the site even comes to be famous on the outside and empty within: its name spreads far, while inside there is truly nothing. This is not good for the descendants: it makes them aim too high, and start things boldly only to finish them feebly. Add great fame to that and it only grows worse: the fame does nothing to help, and in the end they are sure to live out their days in gloom, never reaching their aims in life.

The spurs inside the arms

In the gap between the main range and the Green Dragon and White Tiger stands a spur or small hill that acts as a store; Chinese sources call it 官星. Because it is a store, its shape should be square, round and large, with no cracks and no collapse. Then the store is full and the family prospers.

There is such a spur in front of the lair too: the foothills that extend out from the Green Dragon and the White Tiger. When it is whole and unbroken, and the water leaving the range is held back by it so that it winds as it flows out, the site is more favorable still. A range with no such spur to guard it is sure to send its water shooting straight out: any rise it brings is sure to be empty show, ending in utter ruin.

The spur behind the Green Dragon

Behind the Green Dragon, close to the range, stands another spur, also a branch of the main range; Chinese sources call it 鬼星. Its place in feng shui is a supporting one. If the range itself is one that raises military officers, and this spur is ranged behind like a formation of banners, it makes the range more favorable still. If this spur is damaged, in human affairs one is sure to meet petty people who work against one. Other cases follow in the same way.

Source: The Way of the Earth's Veins (天纪：地脉道)