Prt 2. Digging into the Birth of An American Haunt

What feng shui reveals about mansion that house raised the Lemp family

We covered the history (and myths) tied to the Lemp Mansion’s alleged hauntings. But this week, we are going to do a different kind of investigation that doesn’t involve tape recorders, ghost gadgets, and mediums. It is still a little on the woo-woo side, but we’re talking about ghosts, so I think it might be the perfect tool. This week we will journey into the building’s energy to see if it is the culprit for the mansion’s disturbances.

My investigation into the property using feng shui began nearly twenty years ago. I am not talking about rearranging the furniture at the mansion either. Feng shui is an ancient approach to studying the energy or “chi” of a property and it is a unique way of unveiling what may have impacted the family that once called it home.

I set out to analyze the physical environment and determine the type of energy that exists in the building. The method I used is called “flying stars”. What’s that??? It’s a confusing title hardly worth explaining here. It’s kind of like an astrological chart for a property, but I prefer to call it an energy blueprint or house DNA.  The method takes the period of the home’s initial construction and the magnetic sitting and facing direction to calculate the pattern. A compass not set to true north determines the magnetic direction of its sitting and facing side. The calculation output is the energy blueprint or a map that shows how the chi (a.k.a. energy) was distributed during a specific period and the magnetic influence it has on the property. Then, the map reveals the kind of influence a property can have on its occupants.

It’s a potential influence because people have to spend enough time in the home’s space deemed to be problematic, and the severity usually depends on the person’s predisposition to the influences. For example, if a bedroom has energy that is known to influence losses through gambling, the outcome would be more devastating to a person who already has a gambling addiction than someone who does not.

The last thing to keep in mind before we get into the nitty-gritty of the Lemp Mansion’s DNA is that the analysis of these energy patterns comes from a collection of researched cases over hundreds of years, via feng shui masters. This data is shared with practitioners during their training. Some schools teach feng shui as an environmental science because the research is considered empirical data (a requirement of any science.) I’m on the fence, not having collected enough personal cases to validate all the claims. However, as far as the Lemp Mansion, we have a very public history about the property so we will be looking back to see if the analysis matches what we know about the property and the occupants.

The Construction Period

A little more feng shui background is required to understand the analysis. The feng shui period is made up of twenty years and nine periods make up The Great Cycle (180 years) before it repeats. Each period in the cycle has a different energy, therefore it has different effects on the occupants. For example, one house might attract an unusual number of divorces, while an identical property built in a different period might be very good for relationships.  As buildings age, the energy in the home tends to decay but eventually refreshes as its construction period comes back around after the great cycle is completed. In fact, 2024 is the start of the ninth period of the great cycle which will be completed in 2043.

The Lemp Mansion was built in 1868, which is in the first period (1864 to 1884) of the great cycle. Within any energy blueprint, there are always negative and positive influences. The unbalanced energy can negatively affect the occupants only if those patterns are used in rooms where they spend a lot of time, or if located in frequented entrances to the home. Since people traditionally don’t spent a lot of time in bathrooms and closets, those spaces are inconsequential.

The Lemp Mansion’s energy blueprint eerily resembles the empirical data for a period-one home. Period one constructed buildings are known to strongly support the occupants' wealth/career OR their health /relationships, but not both. It was no surprise that the Lemp Mansion’s pattern followed the pattern that supported wealth and career over health and relationships.

Period one ended in 1883 followed by periods two and three (1884 to 1923) completing the lower part of the great cycle. During this time the beneficial energy began to decay. By the mid-part of the great cycle (1924 to 1983), a period-one property reached full decay before it began to slowly climb out of its funk. In the upper cycle (1984 to 2043) the property began following an upswing gaining beneficial chi. This will continue as it gets closer to returning to a “first-period” energy, beginning in 2044 when the great cycle starts over.

Through the eyes of feng shui, the great cycle has manifested in the property’s history. The period of growth and wealth for the family occurred in the first period (1864 to 1883). During the first two decaying cycles, (1884 to 1923) the apparent heir to the business, Fred Lemp dies, and then William, the patriarch who grew the Brewery into its commercial success, commits suicide. At that point, the business begins to decline for multiple reasons, Prohibition being the most prevalent.  By the end of the period, the Brewery, a source of family prominence and wealth, was liquidated, and then Billy committed suicide.

While intriguing, the more interesting stuff is in the details of the energy patterns. This is how feng shui reveals the influences a building has on its occupants. Feng shui looks at wealth, and health (health includes relationships). The preference is always to have a home with better health energy because a healthy person can still earn money. Areas of the home likely to have the most influence are where people spend a lot of their time. Good examples are bedrooms, offices, and kitchens. Additionally, the home’s entrances and exits used most often are important because this is where new energy enters the house.

Overall, there are 144 potential energy blueprints for any property, which is about 16 per period. But each period is different, so the influences for homes built in the first period, like the Lemp mansion, would be different than homes built during other construction cycles.

Here is what the feng shui analysis reveals about the influences the Lemp property would have had on those who lived there:

• The heart of the home is considered the “potential”. Normally, we ignore it, but since the pattern also exists in the south sector of the home of the home anyone spending time in this area could be impacted. This energy is considered good for money, wealth status, and credibility for adults. But it has the potential to injure children.

• The property’s facing direction (West) strongly supports wealth. However, it is also related to malicious influences on females and excessive drinking or alcoholism in the home. This seems to be where the front doors are located at the mansion. Because the Lemps were in the business of selling beer, it was likely a double-edged sword—good for beer sales, but there may have been occupants that abused alcohol.

• The northwest and northeast locations were considered highly unfavorable for children’s bedrooms. It was unfavorable for conception also because it could cause the birth of mentally challenged children. (Yikes, not trying to perpetuate the Zeke myth.) Fire energy like vibrant reds, candles, and fireplaces would have made the problem worse, leading to sickness and loneliness for anyone who made it their bedroom or office.  

• The southeast area of the home would have contributed to quarrels or lawsuits involving contracts. It would not be good for pregnant women and could influence kidney disease It is also not good for a company office.

• Probably, the most disturbing areas are the southwest and east locations of the property. They both have an energy combination that only appears in period one. It is called the suicide combo. The empirical data says people sleeping or working in these areas would see money issues, easily fall sick with bone or head-related diseases, and, in extreme cases, suicide.

The mansion’s overall pattern is considered good for wealth, but weak for health and relationships. In my opinion, the extreme wealth energy located on its facing side is counterbalanced by the extremely unbalanced health energy on its sitting side. Specifically, this is the seat of the suicide combo energy.

This property supported the money but at the risk of the occupants’ physical and mental health. If there were elements present in space in conflict with the natural element of the energy (defined as water, metal, earth, fire, wood) that would have manifested the problem even more. From what we know about the history of the family, it certainly seems that the property may have influenced some of the behaviors. Keep in mind, if the family was pre-disposed to mental illness, then having a bedroom, office, or entrance in this area would have made it worse. I also think it is interesting that the St. Louis coroner's office reported a 25% increase in suicides from 1884 to 1885, and it makes me wonder how many people lived in homes built in the first period.

Since I don’t have a detailed layout of the home to show the location of the original rooms and what areas were built potentially in the second construction period, the analysis is not as exact as it should be in a feng shui report. A detailed analysis requires the exact locations where the occupants slept, worked, and gathered. Perhaps one day I will get my hands on the complete construction blueprint and have some answers.

Next week we’ll wrap up the Lemp Mansion property assessment and examine features that could be the key to unlocking the mystery of its ghostly attraction.