FIRST STEPS IN PRACTICAL FENG SHUI
THE VERY SIMPLEST SHIFTS can bring enormous, far-reaching effects in feng shui. So don’t dismiss it – try it. What’s to lose? You don’t have to do everything suggested in these chapters all at once: just try one or two things to begin with and see what happens. Apart from anything else, feng shui often makes suggestions that are very practical, which make your home easier to run or more attractive. So be open-minded and give it a go.
Once more, I want you to take a walk through your home. By now you’re probably becoming very sensitive to its atmosphere and ‘spirits’. You may gently touch a wall as you pass, or caress the banister. You might whisper a soft ‘hi’ to the lares, smile gently at your guardian angel, or nod your head to Hestia as you pass the hearth. You could have a few friendly words with the home itself. Now take a few moments to get in touch with your own subtle energy, using the exercise in Chapter 11 (see here). Feel the energy running through your hands, between your palms, like a magnetic charge. Now imagine the energy, the chi, running around your body: is it running smoothly and harmoniously, or racing through some places and becoming sluggish in others?
By the way, if you have any health problems, this can be quite an illuminating and useful exercise in itself: you can often become very sensitive to how the chi is flowing within yourself and can then visualize it flowing in a more disciplined and healthy manner. But back to the house.
Now you have got in touch with the chi, shift your perspective so you start to imagine you are the chi energy in your home. You want to flow through this space, to move freely and easily around the home. So you come through the front door and into the home. What greets you? Can you move smoothly through a well-planned space which is clear and clean? Or are there masses of sharp corners to spin off and badly positioned furniture to bump into? Would you get stuck in a morass of mess and clutter? Might you find yourself flying through far too fast because there are long corridors or a flight of stairs shooting straight up opposite the front door? Could you come to a grinding halt because there’s a wall right in front of you? Go around your home imagining you are the energy passing through the space and see what your intuition tells you. Is your home chi-friendly?
Now you have a feeling for feng shui on an intuitive level, let’s take the ba-gua further. You’ve looked at your home on a piece of paper with the ba-gua superimposed over it. Now you need to check your home with your new feng shui knowledge.
MAPPING YOUR HOME WITH THE BA-GUA
Walk through your home with the ba-gua diagram in your hand. Make sure that each room is as you drew it on your map. Be on the lookout for more subtle features: you might think your space is perfectly square but once you look further you might see that there is a bit jutting out from one room; a deep recess in another. These are important so add them to your plan.
Now you can check to see whether each space is working at its best. For example, you may have a perfectly formed wealth area but be using it as a storeroom for junk. You might be sleeping in the children area while they are sleeping in the marriage corner (which would be perfect for your bedroom). Are you desperately trying to make it as a singer or keen to get publicity for your favourite charity and getting nowhere? Check the fame area – it might be hidden behind a pile of old clothes crammed in a closet; it might be in a bathroom which, to be honest, is less than pristine; it could be missing altogether. Don’t worry for now if areas are missing: we’ll look at how to cure that in the next chapter.
There may be obvious changes you could make which involve no expense – just a little effort. If it’s possible, try to site your bedroom in the marriage area. Children should obviously sleep in the children area, if at all possible. A living room would be wonderful in the family area; a study in the knowledge area. Helpful people or family is good for kitchens and breakfast rooms. You get the idea. If this kind of shift is totally impossible, don’t worry: we’ll talk about how to get around it later.
Now let’s go through the house and see what simple changes could make your home full of healing, helpful energy.
Your front door is known as the ‘Mouth of Chi’ because it is where most of the energy will come into the house. Make sure it is smart and freshly painted: a battered looking door will force you to fight to reach your goals; life will be a struggle and battle. Your door furniture should be bright and gleaming to attract money and luck. Now check it opens smoothly and easily: a door that sticks will bring irritations into your life and slow you down. Don’t hang so many coats on your door that it won’t open properly: you will be limiting your opportunities.
If your house has a number or a name it should ideally be hung at an upward slant, the end of the name higher than the beginning. You might consider giving your house a name if it doesn’t already have one. Naming a house gives it even more of a character and also reflects your aims and aspirations. Choose carefully: do you want your home to reflect peace and tranquillity or prestige and power? Is it a cute, snug The Hobbit or a grand, serene The White House? Ask your house for some input. Don’t forget, however, to display the number of your house clearly (if you live in a long street or apartment block) to make life easy for tradespeople and emergency services.
Either side of your front door or front gate is a wonderful place for features such as statues, ornamental pots, boulders or guardian creatures. The Chinese use Fu dogs but you can choose whatever stone guardians you like: lions maybe, dragons, hunting dogs? Heavy features like this protect the house and prevent energy from escaping. However, if you live in an area where they are more likely to be burgled, you might consider putting them in the hall.
THE HALL
Whether it’s a grand baronial hall, a long corridor or simply the space behind your door, halls are important too. If your hall or behind-the-door space is packed with boots, coats and other clutter you may find your opportunities are always limited – you are restricting the new, fresh energy coming into the house. Make sure your hall is well-lit, bright and cheerful. It is the first place you see in your home and should be upbeat and welcoming. Make an effort by decorating it in cheerful colours; ensure the lights are all working and give it a boost with a cheery vase of flowers. Mirrors can make a dark hall look brighter and bigger.
Wind chimes by the front door are supremely good feng shui. Choose the little ones which gently tinkle rather than those huge outdoor wooden ones. They should softly ring when you enter the house but make sure the door cannot hit the chimes directly. Wind chimes sited in this way will usher in more money and keep away bad luck. A pair of guardian dogs or creatures can protect your house: think of Cerberus, the mythical dog who guards the gates of hell. Now there’s a fearsome guardian who might give burglars second thoughts.
Does your hall lead straight into a long corridor? Can you see straight through to the other side of the house? Or are you looking at a series of doors in a straight line? If so the chi could race too quickly through your home. There are a few options. You could hang a heavy curtain to make the flow of energy pause, or you could hang a crystal between the doors so the energy will stop and play around the crystal before heading off. You might have the opposite problem: a dead end of a wall or a blocked-off door at the end of your hall. Try putting a mirror on it to reflect the energy back into your home.
Before you leave the hall, check it is as clear and uncluttered as possible. Hallways and corridors are considered the veins and arteries of the house. Like the blood vessels of our own bodies, they need to be kept clear. And make sure that any furniture in them is soft and rounded. Sharp protruding corners provide harmful energy known as ‘cutting chi’.
What is the first room you come to? Do you walk straight into a living room or is your kitchen right there in front of you? The first rooms you see when you walk into a home will determine the life of the people who live there.
BATHROOMS
Seeing as we’re already talking about bathrooms, let’s continue. Where is your bathroom situated on the ba-gua? If it’s in your wealth area you could be flushing money down the pan! If it’s in the very centre of the house, the mysterious area known as the Tai Chi which corresponds to the very heart and soul of your home, it could affect your health. If it’s in the marriage area, your relationships could be a bit iffy.
The solution in all these cases is to mirror your bathroom as before. Another problem can arise if your bathroom is at the end of a long corridor – again it is bad for the family’s health. In one case, a woman could not have children. A feng shui expert suggested she hang a beaded curtain in the corridor to disperse the chi (a wind chime, crystal or mobile would have done the same trick) and a year later she was a happy mother. In an ideal world, the bathroom and kitchen should be well apart from each other (now you see what I mean about feng shui being practical: any public health inspector would tell you the same thing). If they are too close, in feng shui terms, any money you earn will be lost in next to no time. If there’s no way you can shift the situation, always keep doors shut and put a mirror on the outside of the bathroom door. And place something heavy, such as a kitchen or dining table, between the two, closer to the kitchen.
Also make sure the bathroom is always spotlessly clean and that the seat is always, ALWAYS, kept down. Men are hopeless at this so put up a notice saying ‘DON’T FLUSH MONEY DOWN THE PAN – PUT THE LID DOWN!!’ or something like that.
BEDROOMS
You can create a sense of happiness and wellbeing by placing your bed in the best possible position. If you cannot have your bedroom in the best spot in your house, don’t worry – you can often shift your bed and create equally good results. So far we have only looked at the bagua in terms of the whole house, but you can superimpose the bagua on any single room in the house just as easily. So go into your bedroom and stand on the threshold with your back to the door. Depending on where your door lies you will be standing in either the career (the centre), helpful people (right-hand corner) or knowledge (left-hand corner). Now you can plot the rest of the ba-gua – wealth will lie off in the far left-hand corner and marriage in the far right-hand corner. Where you place your bed will depend on the age and circumstances of the person sleeping there.
Children
Children should always sleep in the children position of the room. If the bed cannot be put there, put a lamp there plus something white (flowers or a fluffy toy perhaps). Choose furniture for a child’s room with care – large, heavy pieces of furniture can be harmful for a young child’s chi and health. Mobiles and wind chimes are wonderful: they stimulate chi and make your child more motivated and even more intelligent! Colourful objects and fishbowls also help. Keep colours soft and gentle for babies and very young children.
Fifteen to Twenty-two Year Olds
People in this age group need more peace and stability in their bedrooms. Their bed should be in the knowledge position or, if impossible, put something black, blue or green there. A plant, wind chime or crystal could also help to boost that area. Books near the entrance to the room can help their studies. If they are leaving school or college you will need to boost the career and/or helpful people corner (more about that in the next chapter).
Couples
If you’re in a relationship (and particularly if you’re looking for one) you should make sure your bed is in the marriage position. If that is impossible, put something red in that spot – maybe some rich velvet cushions or pillows or a sumptuous crimson throw. The shape of your bed is important too: while beds with separate mattresses may be supremely comfortable, they could also be divisive.
Equally, twin beds could make relationships rocky. One man whose marriage was on the rocks was advised to replace his twin beds with a king-size mattress. The cracks between the beds were representing a chasm in their relationship in energetic terms. The new bed worked a treat.
Feng shui expert Sarah Rossbach gives an unusual tip for any woman who wants to become pregnant or who is already pregnant. She suggests that beds should neither be moved, nor dusted underneath because according to the Chinese view of conception and birth the universe is full of spirits waiting to be born (known as ling). The ling are said to float under beds, waiting for the moment to enter the womb. If the bed is always being moved or cleaned, the ling might scatter, causing infertility or possibly even miscarriage.
Older people should ideally sleep in the family position. Again, if that’s impossible or difficult, there is an alternative: put something green (or a plant, wind chime or crystal) in either the wealth or fame corners.
There are a few other pointers for bedrooms. Beams look attractive but can symbolize division and ill-health in feng shui. If you have a beam directly above your bed running vertically down the bed it could cause difficulties in your relationship. If the beam cuts across your body horizontally, it could cause health problems: someone with a beam across the throat area had a constant sore throat and tonsillitis. Where possible, move beds away from beams. If that is impractical, drape the beam with garlands of dried hops (they’ll give you sweet dreams too) or pin soft fabric along the beam to soften the energy shooting down onto you.
Built-in cupboards or shelves around or over the bed are awkward too, causing headaches, sore throats and a feeling of being hemmed in. Keep the head of your bed as clear as possible. Bedside cabinets, and bedroom furniture in general, should be soft and rounded. Avoid sharp corners and angular shapes. Mirrors are not a great idea in bedrooms and they should certainly not face your bed. They can cause insomnia or bad dreams and nightmares.
And finally, your bed should give you a clear view of the door. The ideal position for a bed is one where you can see the door clearly from your bed but not have it directly in front of you (i.e. with your feet pointing out the door). It may take some serious juggling to manage this and have your bed in the most auspicious position for your age and circumstances.
THE KITCHEN
Kitchens are considered very important in feng shui because the Chinese equate food with wealth and success. A cook should always work in a clear, brightly-lit and well-ventilated kitchen. Ideally, he or she should be able to see the door to the kitchen. The reason for this is pretty practical: if you’re cooking the last thing you want is someone startling you from behind when you’ve got a pot of boiling water in your hand. If you can’t see the door (and don’t feel like getting a brand-new kitchen!) then put up a large mirror so you can see anyone coming in as you work. Even if you don’t actually need a mirror it’s a great idea to put a mirror behind your stove: it symbolically doubles the number of burners, which are equated with wealth and success.
The stove is the most important piece of equipment in the kitchen, and even in the house. Interestingly, this ties in with our discussion of Hestia and how the stove was the original hearth and heart of the home. To honour the hearth your stove must be kept clean and well-working at all times. If the burners are clogged it is said you will never clear your debts. Make sure you use all the burners: the more burners you use, the more money earned. In China it is believed that if some burners are not regularly used, the family fortunes will suffer.
These are just basic guidelines but even these simple points can make a real difference in your home. Try some of them out and see what happens. Move your bed and you could find you sleep better, your baby sleeps through the night, or even that you end up sharing your bed with someone new and wonderful. Boost your kitchen with a few mirrors and a few cheques might come through the post. Keep that hallway clean and bright and new opportunities might appear as if by magic. In the next chapter we’ll take it all one stage further …