Whether it's called science, philosophy, psychological ecology or superstition, the ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui is gaining fans in the Western corporate world.

Feng Shui, which is pronounced fung shway, is a 3,000-year-old belief tied to Tao, the process that links man and the universe to chi, or cosmic energy. Asian businesses and government agencies routinely call in Feng Shui consultants to ensure that the lighting, furniture, doors, colors and shapes in a room make up a harmonious whole, enabling chi to flow freely and bring good fortune and high morale to employees.

Chase Manhattan Bank in Hong Kong, Citibank in Singapore and Morgan Guaranty Trust in Taiwan are just a few of the corporations that have enlisted Feng Shui consultants to create a design conducive to productivity and prosperity.

And Donald Trump made the news a few years ago when he hired a Feng Shui consultant to work on his New York property.

Lately, the practice has been making a more visible entry into American offices.

"Five years ago, I was getting a lot of calls from within the holistic health community," says Belinda Mendoza, a Memphis Feng Shui consultant and owner of Design For Energy, an interior and landscaping design business using Feng Shui.

"Eventually I started doing workshops and speaking on the topic and architects, bankers and attorneys would come forward and express interest in getting a space that would help them be prosperous," she says. "I've definitely started getting more calls from businesses."

The American Feng Shui Institute in Monterey Park, Calif., has seen enrollment in its training classes reach 140 last year, compared to just a handful in 1991.

The roster of consultants listed in FengShuiDirectory.com now includes more than 250 practitioners since the directory went online in 1998.

And several books targeted to managers and employees on how to harness Feng Shui's force have been published.

Feng Shui bracelets of different colors representing harmony-inducing emotions like strength and vibrance have even begun showing up at department stores this season.

Mendoza studied Feng Shui long before it started becoming a trend for residential and office design at Omega Institute in New York in the early 1990s.

In 1996 she took the opportunity to spend a month in China studying Feng Shui under one of the country's top instructors at the University of China in Wuhan.

Feng Shui, which means wind and water, was originally used by Chinese farmers who observed nature to determine the best place to put their crops, Mendoza says.

"Wind and water are two elements they felt are always moving, so if you have this natural energy within your environment you're going to have productivity and health because there are no blocks to it that energy entering your space," she says.

A key element of the Feng Shui philosophy has to do with eliminating clutter and obstacles.

While mirrors open up a space to create better energy flow, they shouldn't be placed near a messy desk or cubicle, says Holly Tashian, owner of Nashvillle Essential Feng Shui.

"If your desk is messy, having a mirror there mentally doubles your work, which creates stress," she says. "In Feng Shui, we really do stress that people address clutter and chaos in an organization."

Another key piece of advice Feng Shui consultants are likely to give businesses is to physically position employees in a place within the office that makes them feel empowered.

"One of the main things I do when dealing with a business is make sure the people who have desks have a view of the door so they feel empowered," Tashian says. "When you have your back to the door, you never know who's coming in, you don't feel quite safe."

Mark Weiss, a psychologist with a private practice in Memphis, called Mendoza in to work over his office space to create a better sense of organization and comfort.

"In case the Mongolian hordes come dashing into your room, you don't want to have your back to them," he says. "So we positioned my desk to where I could see and added a mirror for added safety."

Artwork that included specific colors was positioned in Weiss' office in the creativity and career sections of the room, he says.

When an office space is reviewed by a Feng Shui consultant, it is sectioned off into career, creativity, wealth and prosperity areas that flow together to make the most productive work environment, Tashian says.

Color plays a significant role in Feng Shui. It's associated with each of the five basic elements, which also symbolize certain qualities: water, personal drive (black); fire, reason (red); wood, steadfastness (green); metal, righteousness (white); and earth, honesty (yellow).

"If you come into the office and there's a lot of wood, you want to make sure you bring in other elements, like fire, which is lighting, ceramics for earths, and mirrors for water," Mendoza says. "If you have all of those in a room in some form, you have a balance."

Plants also play an important role in creating positive energy within an office, Tashian says.

"I like to stress the idea of brining in plants into an office with nice, rounded leaves," she says. "But plants like a Yucca plant, with pointy leaves, feel dangerous to be around because of the sharp edges. Also, the sharp edges aren't as friendly as the curved leaves, and they can create friction in the environment."

Because Feng Shui combines elements from astronomy, astrology, geology and philosophy, there is some debate on exactly what it is.

To inspect a space to determine rearrangements of work spaces, for example, traditional practitioners use compasses, but Western practitioners use an octagonal chart.

Whichever method is employed, Feng Shui advocates agree on one thing: It works.

Attorneys Laurice Smith and Thomas E. Williams decided to bring Mendoza in to incorporate Feng Shui design into the office they jointly occupy and have seen their client list increase dramatically since, Smith says.

"She made suggestions about what would be good for the reception area, helped in selecting colors and advised the use of a desktop waterfall, which symbolizes the flow of money," she says. "Since I've moved here, my practice has increased, had more clients and the space just looks good and feels good."

Contact staff writer Theresa Bechard at 259-1729 or tbechard@amcity.com