The Four Celestial Animals are:
When standing in the entrance of a property and looking out, the Green Dragon refers to the landforms to the left of the property, while the White Tiger is made up of the landforms to the right of the property. The Black Tortoise is located behind the property, and the Red Phoenix occupies the space in front of the property. The Celestial Animals don't refer to decorative objects like pictures of dragons, birds or tigers, or to pet turtles kept in ponds behind the property. Such objects and animals do not "manifest" the Celestial Animals.
The Celestial Animals provide protection to a landform, and allow Qi to accumulate. The Green Dragon and White Tiger form the left and right "embrace" of the property. The Red Phoenix, called a Table Mountain when it is present as an actual mountain, helps prevent Qi from leaking away. Ideally, the Red Phoneix landform should appear to be about shoulder height. If it is too large, the luck of the residents may be suppressed, and they may fail to achieve their goals in life. The Black Tortoise acts as a protector, and should be the highest of the four landforms. If the Black Tortoise is missing or too small, there can be problems with the residents' descendants. if the Black Tortoise is too high, however, it can be too dominant and cause problems with depression or loneliness.
The Green Dragon is considered Yang, and the White Tiger is considered Yin. Because of this, the Green Dragon landform should ideally be higher than the White Tiger landform. If the White Tiger landform is significantly higher than the Green Dragon, it becomes known as "White Tiger Sha", and can lead to bodily injury to the occupants. If the Green Dragon landform is so much higher than the White Tiger that it completely throws off the balance of the environment, however, a "Green Dragon Sha" is created. This can cause money problems. Note that the Yin landform relates to health issues and the Yang landform relates to income.
In addition to the four Celestial Animals, another important consideration in the external environment is the presence of a "Bright Hall", or Ming Tang. This is an open area just outside the entrance to the building, which is a spot that allows Qi to accumulate and settle before entering the building. The Celestial Animals help keep Qi from escaping from the Ming Tang, and the Ming Tang allows Qi to soften, so that it enters the building in a gentle, meandering fashion.
The Celestial Animals appear to have originated from the study of astronomy. Each of the Celestial Animals is actually based on a set of constellations in the heavens, with each Animal composed of seven constellations. Together, the set of four Celestial Animals comprise a set of 28 constellations in the Chinese astronomical system. The Green Dragon macro-constellation is located in the Eastern sky; the White Tiger macro-constellation occupies the Western portion of the sky; The Black Tortoise macro-constellation is set in the Northern sky; and the Red Phoenix resides in the Southern sky.
