Feng shui is such a fascinating subject and many have perused the blogs previously written with tips on how to enhance the energies in surroundings. Simple improvements may require changes and placements of objects. According to Angi Ma Wong, feng shui offers a return to a simpler, more intuitive, natural way of living that fulfills a deep need for many people. It must be done in concert with your spiritual, emotional and physical health. As you practice feng shui, be sure it is with a pure heart and in moderation. Keep a journal of the feng shui changes you implement and what happens after you do. Be patient, as there is a reason and a season for everything in our lives. Feng shui is as much about symbolism as it is about placement.
thought you would get a chuckle
Antiques - Be mindful of the original purpose or use of an old or second-hand item. Avoid masks of the dead that were used for burials or exorcisms, or statues that have come from tombs, caves, pyramids, cemeteries or temples. Purify antiques with wind, water, fire, sound, salt or other techniques outside of your home before bringing them inside. Refrain from bringing purchases from flea markets or tag sales into your home if the previous owners deceased, divorced or bankrupt; have been fired from jobs; or have experienced other misfortunes.
Aquarium - Place aquarium in North areas (associated with business success and career growth) or in East or Southeast areas for prosperity. In every corner of the world, water - in the form of rivers, lakes and oceans - has brought trade, commerce and prosperity. Use a metal and glass (or acrylic) aquarium as metal creates water. Don't put an aquarium in or facing a bathroom or a bedroom. This is considered unlucky and can result in loss of fortune. Don't keep an aquarium in your kitchen. Since the kitchen is in the domain of fire and is nourished by wood, the element of water will destroy your prosperity.
Do keep fish in multiples of nine, a symbol of long life, or in odd numbers. Eight fish should be gold in color, since eight is the homonym for the Chinese verb "to prosper." One fish should be black, a color that will provide protection and absorb negative energy. Don't fret if any of your fish die, for it means tht the deceased animal has absorbed something negtive that would have happened to you. Replace the fish as soon as you can to maintain your protection. Do keep one arrowana, known as the "prosperity fish." Arrowanas are beautiful silver, gold or black-tinged ribbonlife fish from Southeast Asia. They are very auspicious, but they are tropical and need water heated to about 82 degrees in order to survive. Do keep an odd number of fish; this represents yang energy. Keep your aquarium at a level about waist-high. Keep your aquarium and its water clean and keep the pumps, filters and other equipment in good working order. Don't hang pictures of family members, especially those who are deceased, on the wall above your aquarium.
Basement - Keep your basement free of clutter. Don't locate a bedroom in the basement. Finish basement rooms for occasional use only - as a family room, guest room or game room.
Bedroom - Create a safe haven for sleep, rest, intimacy and recharging your spirit and body. Don't keep more than a few books in your bedroom; they are too stimulating. Don't use a lot of yang colors, such as gold or red, in a bedroom. These colors stimulate your energy, resulting in poor sleep. Take notice of the view that greets you when you awaken. What is outside your bedroom window - a lamppost, church spire, neighboring rooftops, or a corner of your neighbor's house? Are any of them "poison" arrows disturbing your sleep or rest? If so, use a concave bagua mirror to absorb their negative energy. Remove as much electronic equipment from your bedroom as possible, especially televisions, stereos and computers, which emit electromagnetic energy that is detrimental to rest, health and fertility. Don't use an electric blanket or sleep on a water bed. The former generates electromagnetic energy, and the latter is believed to cause arthritis, muscle pain and joint problems. Don't use round windows, skylights or unusual ceilings in a bedroom, as these shapes create odd pockets that collect negative energy. Avoid sleeping in a bedroom situated above a garage, which channels the noxious fumes from the automobiles to the room's occupants, affecting health.
Don't occupy a bedroom that is in a direct line with a straight road. If a vehicle's headlights shine at or into the bedroom at night, use the room for exercise, storage, sewing, computer work, play or other leisure activities. Do use plants and flowers to introduce healing yang energy into an ill or convalescing person's bedroom. Don't keep a broom in the bedroom of a dying person; brooms are believed to sweep away life. Keep your bedroom free of clutter and minimize the amount of furniture so that chi, or life energy, can flow easily throughout the room. Don't have any water features, such as fountains or aquariums, in your bedroom, where they are considered unlucky and can lead to loss of wealth. Do cleanse the energy in your bedroom several times a year with wind (airing) sound (music, bells) fire (smudging with incense) or water (misting all walls with purified or holy water.) Use the form of energy cleansing that matches the upcoming season - water for spring and winter, fire for summer, and metal-generated sound for autumn.
Clean your bedroom (or house) during a new moon, at the solstices (March 21, June 21, September 21 and December 21) or whenever the atmosphere feels heavy, stale or hostile, such as after an argument, illness or death on the premises. Air out the bedroom thoroughly for at least an hour after smudging. Open all the doors and windows, so that the negative energy is drawn outside and dispersed. Close any bathroom doors and toilet seat covers if a bathroom leads into your bedroom. This simple habit can ensure a good night's sleep. Don't install a ceiling fan directly above a bed, where it will adversely influence the health of the occupants underneath. A ceiling fan can be situated past the foot of the bed, where it can still effectively cool a room without affecting the people sleeping in it. Encourage your child to study in the Northeast area of his or her bedroom to facilitate learning and achieve scholarly success. Remove pornographic, violent, warlike, depressing or lewd posters and publications from a young person's bedroom if you want him or her to achieve success in school and life. Don't keep too many plants or any plants that have sharp foilage, such as cactus, in your bedroom. Plants emit yang energy that can disturb high-quality rest.
Beds - Position your bed so that it is not in line with the entrance to your bedroom, especially if your feet point toward an entrance. This is almost universally considered a "death position" because those who die at home are carried out of the room feet first. Don't place the head of your bed against a wall shared with a bathroom. Don't put the head of your bed against a window unless there is a solid headboard, curtain, drapes, blinds or shutters to block off the window. Energy enters the body through the head; this holy part of the body needs protection and support in the form of something visually solid. Use a headboard made of wood, metal or foam. Match its shape to the element associated with the direction of the room - arches and round shapes for West and Northwest; rectangles and squares for East and Southeast; curvy, wavy or irregular shapes for North; and triangular shapes for South. Don't position a bed on the short wall of a room with a pitched ceiling. The energy of the sloping ceiling will press down on the bed's occupant. Make sure the corners of desks, shelves, cabinets, wardrobes, other furniture and architectural features do not point toward the bed. These corners resemble the points of arrows and sha, or "killing" energy.
Choose bedding and linens in solid colors. If they have patterns, avoid geometric, angular designs that emanate negative energy and disturb your rest. Don't use twin beds pushed together or twin box springs under your king-sized mattress if you share your bed with someone. These arrangements symbolize a split in your relationship. If you have twin box springs, tie the adjoining legs together securely with red cord so that they will not separate. Don't place your bed under a beam. If this cannot be helped, install a false ceiling with fabric, or hang wind chimes, flutes or red fringe on the beam. Beams symbolize separation if they appear between a bed's occupants, and they represent health problems in the area of the body that they bisect. Don't move the bed of a pregnant woman, as this may disturb the life energy present in the bed that led to the conception.
zhouzhuang bells
Bells - Ring a bell in the corners of a room to clear stagnant or stale energy. Use bells with pleasant tinkling sounds to activate yang energy in your home. Give your bell a single, firm shake above a person's head; then, holding it about six inches away, trace the person's body from head to toe to cleanse his or her energy. Choose bells that are new and have a wooden handle for cleansing activities. Select brass and silver bells in the sound or tone that appeal to you. Clean your bells by wiping them after each use. Store them in West areas which represent the element of metal. Use bells across from an entrance. String one or three bells with red ribbon, thread or cord. Hang the ribbon on your doorknob or above your door, so that the bells sound joyously whenever someone enters. Bells attract good luck and fortune. Don't select bells that have been used inside temples or churches. They have absorbed the energy of those with sin, and you will bring that negative energy into your home.
magpie
Birds - Keep a red bird, such as a
parrot, in South areas. Red is the traditional Chinese color for protection. Don't ask for feathers from others. Hang feathers that you find near your front door. These feathers represent protection for you and your family. If your feathers blow away, try to find others to replace them. Don't throw feathers away if you find them. Don't keep your pet bird caged; confining it means that your wealth will be limited. Keep birds in the Southwest when they are in pairs to strengthen your romance, love, marriage or motherhood area. Put a pair of metal cranes in the North area of your garden with a water element. The
crane has long been associated with good fortune, wealth, wisdom and longevity for the patriarch and matriarch of a family. Use a statue of a
rooster to offset the divisive effects of ceiling beams and interior pillars and posts. The bird's beak should be aimed directly at the offending spot. Use a ceramic rooster to mitigate the dreaded symbol of illness and affliction, the centipede. A "centipede" is a lammpost outside your house or window that has three or more crosspieces intersecting the main posts. Point the rooster's beak directly toward the centipede. Put doves carved in wood in South areas to fuel the element of fire there and increase longevity. Improve your relationship with your partner by putting a pair of
Mandarin ducks, a male and female, in the Southwest areas. These ducks represent marital devotion, fidelity and happiness because they are deeply attached to each other. When separated, the birds are believed to pine away to the point of death. Use two
wild geese, which always fly in pairs, in the relationship and marriage area of your bedroom, the Southwest. These animals are messengers of good news and represent the married state. Use figurines of a
pair of lovebirds in the Southwest corner of your home, garden or bedroom to enhance the romance aspect of your life. Put statues of
eagles or hawks outside and away from your house for protection. Good locations are at the bottom of a driveway or on either side of a gate. Don't display statues, pictures or other images of predatory birds with their victims clasped in their talons or hovering about their dead or half-eaten prey. Use
magpies as decorations in South areas. They are harbingers of joy, happiness and festivity and are good luck omens. If they set up residence near your home, in your trees or under your eaves, good fortune is sure to follow.
Place the
phoenix in Southwest areas to attract happy relationships and marriage. This bird personifies everything good and beautiful and is believed to appear only when China is governed by a just, reasonable, and fair ruler, or during peaceful and prosperous times. Put a
phoenix or a pheasant, another symbol of beauty, in the South area to attract fame and fortune. One carved in wood is doubly powerful because the wood element nourishes the fire element of South. Place a
swallow in East (wood) or South (fire) areas to enhance your prosperity and good fortune. The
swallow, which builds its nest under the eaves of buildings, portends approaching success or a lucky change in the fortunes and affairs of the house's occupants.
Buddha - Pick a laughing Buddha for your home or business. He is the cheerful, chubby chap with a potbelly, carrying a gourd or a bad hanging from a staff held over one shoulder, and sometimes an ingot in one hand. The bag contains your troubles and problems, which he has collected for you. Do select the largest-sized Buddha that appeals to you, keeping him in proportion to the size of the room in which he is located. Display a Buddha with children climbing all over him. This represents an abundance of good fortune coming from heaven. Do not put your Buddha on the ground so that people look down on him. Keep him level with or higher than the occupants of a room. Position your Buddha diagonally across from and facing the door, which is the position of power and honor in the room. Don't bring a used or antique statue or figurine of the Buddha, especially one from a temple, into your home unless you cleanse or purity it first. It may carry unwanted negative energy.
Candles - Use scented candles to purify a room, help you relax and improve your sleep. Don't use candles in the metal element areas of West and Northwest; fire melts metal. Light red, blue or purple candles in South areas to stimulate celebrity, fame, fortune, reputation, happiness and festivity; light white, yellow, orange, pink or red candles to reinforce the Southwest area, which represents love, marriage, relationships, motherhood and romance. Put blue, green or turquoise candles in the Northeast area to enhance knowledge, scholarly success, wisdom, experience and self-development.
Coins - Tie three coins, either ancient Chinese coins or silver dollars, together with red cord or string and hang them on the inside of the main door to your home. This gesture keeps your prosperity inside your home and is especially effective if your front entrance faces one of the metal directions, West or Northwest. Don't hang any coins on your back door; this represents money leaving your premises. Wear Chinese coins in any combination of jewelry, such as earrings, bracelets, brooches or rings, to attract good fortune. Tape three Chinese coins to the underside of your telephone to encourage it to ring more often. Hang a hallow-rod wind chime or crystal above the telephone.
Colors - Use
aqua or turquoise in the Northeast to enhance knowledge, wisdom, self-development, experience and in the East to promote family, harmony, growth, vitality, prosperity and youth. Use
brown, beige or tan to represent spring, youth, prosperity, family, harmony, nutrition, strength, growth and vitality. Don't use
black in bedrooms or on the walls or ceilings of any room, and don't combine it with yellow or use it in an earth area (SW or NE). In the North, it enhances business success, career, and new beginnings but it also represents mourning, evil and guilt. Use
blue in the North to attract business success, and in the East to enhance family, harmony, growth and health. Don't use blue in the earth areas (SW and NE) or wear it in a ribbon or bow in your hair; it is one of the traditional Chinese mourning symbols. Use
metallic gold in the West to enhance children, children's fame, creativity, business and career success, supportive people, trade, travel, prosperity, wealth and interests outside the home. Don't use metallic gold in bedrooms, as it destroys health and harmony, or in East areas (representing health, prosperity and family) or SE areas (wealth and prosperity.) Use
non-metallic gold in NE areas to enhance wisdom, knkowledge and scholarly success. It also enhances SW (the area of marriage, motherhood, love and relationships.) Don't use non-metallic gold in the North, which represents business and career success. Non-metallic gold represents earth and earth destroys water, the symbol of financial prosperity.
Do use
green, the color of health, harmony, prosperity, youth, growth, spring, wealth and prosperity, to enhance South areas (representing fame, fortune, joy, festivity and protection from evil.) Don't use green in earth areas (SW and NE.) Green symbolizes wood, which destroys earth. Don't use gray in wood areas (E and SE.) Gray represents metal, which destroys wood. Do use
gray in NW, N and W areas to enhance supportive people, benefactors, mentors, international trade, trips, travel and interests outside the home. Do use
orange in SW areas to promote motherhood, romance, love, relationships and marriage. Don't use orange in North areas. Orange is a fire color; if placed in the North, it will be doused by water, that area's element. Do use
peach liberally in your unmarried daughter's bedroom so that she will marry well; it is the color used by single women to attract a good husband. If you can find peonies or pictures with this color, put them outside her bedroom. Don't use peach in your bedroom if you are already married. This hue will activate your partner's roving eye or heart, causing infidelity. Do use
pink in a single woman's bedroom; it represents romance, love and marriage. It is especially powerful in South and Southwest areas. Do use
purple, the color of knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, wealth and spirituality, in the East to enhance harmony, prosperity, family and health, or in the SE to promote wealth and prosperity. Do use
red in any form in South areas.
Next to black, it is the most powerful yang color in Chinese culture. It represents fame, fortune, joy, festivity, longevity, summer, passion and protection from back luck and evil. Do use red for newlyweds, brides, people celebrating their birthdays, temple doors, baby blankets, firecreackers, embroideries and tapestries. Use red hearts and silk flowers in the Southest, the area of relationships, marriage, love, romance and motherhood, or the South, area of fame, fortune, long life, reputation and prosperity
. Tie two cords or ribbons on the inside of your bedroom doorknow if you would look to attract a serious partner. Don't put too much red in a bedroom. Its yang energy is too active and will disturb the occupant's rest.
Cows - Put a wooden figure of a wishfulfilling cow on your desk in the SE or East area. Use a metal figure in the West or SW, or a ceramic one in SW or NE locations. These placements will encourage wealth. The cow represents spring and is revered because it pulls the plow to prepare the fields from which the harvest comes.
Crystals - Clear your new crystals by running them under cold water (preferably sea, holy or purified water - don't use tap water) to wash away the energies of all the people who have handled them before you. Let the water drip down from the point. Purify natural crystals before using them by gently rinsing them in rainwater, the ocean, or a solution of sea salt and cold water (mixed in a glass or ceramic container, not a metal or plastic one.) Bury them in the earth for at least three days and up to one moon cycle or store them under pyramids. Don't keep your colored crystals in the sunlight, as it will cause them to fade. Do recharge your crystals by placing them out in the moonlight as often as you can. Hang two white, red, gold or pink heart-shaped crystals in the SW corner of your bedroom to activate love, marriage and relationships. Put crystals in multiples of eight in the NE area of your office or study if you want to excel in your work or incease your intuitive and thinking powers. Put them in the NE area of your child's bedroom to help her or him do well academically. Use crystals in the earth areas of SW (marriage, relationships, romance, love), the earth area of NE (knowledge, wisdom, self-development), and especially the metal area of W, because earth creates metal, which is made into coins and represents wealth. Place six crystal balls in the NW, another metal area, to bring supportive people into your life and to strengthen the power and influence of the male head of the household.
Hang a crystal from an exposed beam, or from a door frame if you have three doors in a row in a hallway. Crystals break up the negative energy created by beams and long hallways. Hang a crystal in a dark corner to activate
chi, or life energy, in that location. Put a crystal jar or vase on a desk to deflect
sha, or "killing" energy, if the desk is in line with a door or corridor. Dangle a crystal from a window if the view includes corners of buildings, rooftops, lampposts, chimneys or other other unpleasant sights. Clean your birth gemstone after each use to keep its energy pure. Collect citrine crystals to tuck inside your wallet or purse, as this stone is associated with wealth and fortune.
If only your "positive" beliefs given were materialized then you would never clearly comprehend the power of your thought, for you would not completely experience its physical results. Jane Roberts
Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tide and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
more to follow xo
