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Feng Shui
Feng Shui Basics:
Feng shui -- literally, "wind-water" in Chinese -- has become one of the hottest
design trends and conversation topics going around.
But while feng shui is suddenly in vogue, it is nothing new. Its history began in the
fourth century B.C. when the Chinese invented the compass. During the following century,
they began using the device to aid in the proper placement of grave and home sites.
Finding the optimum final resting place for
ancestors was to ensure health, harmony and prosperity for their descendants, because we
are all connected by cosmic, universal energy -- called "chi."
Today there are as many forms of feng shui as
there are practitioners. These are the three main "schools" of feng shui:
Form School: This school of feng shui
began in southern China. It is based on looking at and evaluating land forms, waterways
and geography.
Compass School: The absence of geographical and geological features and the
relative flat topography of northern China necessitated the development of the Compass
School, which dominates throughout most of the world. This is the traditional, classical
feng shui practice which uses either a Chinese (luo pan) or Western-style compass to
determine the eight compass directions in a room, office or home. Because those directions
govern various aspects of your life, you place the corresponding colors, animal symbols,
numbers, and elements in the areas that you wish to activate.
Black Sect Tantric Tibetan School: In this school,
which has gained popularity in the United States, you disregard compass directions.
Instead, you stand at and use the entrance of the room, house, or office as your main
reference point. Then you place objects and other enhancements according to what you
aspire to and wish to accomplish.
Basics
Want to make your home feng shui-friendly, but don't know where to start? Here are the
basics. Regardless of the school you choose, feng shui is based on these fundamental
concepts:
 | Flow of energy |
| Balance of yin and yang |
| Interaction of the five elements |
- Avoid sharp, straight edges to keep energy flowing.
In nature, we find perfectly straight lines in only very short segments, as in the canes
of sugar and bamboo. Even the tallest redwoods and pines have irregularities. It is a
natural law that energy flows in wavy lines like the breezes, mountain ranges and streams.
In the land, chi moves in dragon lines along the topography; in people, its paths are
called meridians.
This undulating flow is beneficial and natural.
Freeways, tunnels, bridges, buildings, corners of building and lampposts have straight
edges, which are considered conduits of negative energy -- called sha ch'i or
"killing energy."
In feng shui, such are to be avoided.
- Balance the "yin" and the "yang."
The duality of the universe and the world around us is expressed in the "tai
chi," a circle created by a light and a dark droplet, positioned end to end.
"Yin" is the female: soft, passive, nurturing, fluid, even numbers and the right
side. "Yang" is male: bright, hard, active, aggressive, odd numbers and the left
side.
Notice that in each half, there is the presence of its complement, in the form of a dot.
This has been accepted for several thousand years in Chinese philosophy, but the
acknowledgment that every male has a feminine aspect, and every female has a male side, is
new to the Western mind and medicine.
Together, yin and yang comprise a whole, and yet there is an element of each in the other.
But sometimes we have too much yang, and other times, we have too much yin. It is up to us
to find and maintain the balance between the two in our physical, mental, emotional,
spiritual, sexual and intellectual selves. Achieving this balance help us become grounded
or centered, much like a rock that is pounded by the elements and still remains
unyielding.
- Use the elements in generative ways.
Each of the five elements -- fire, earth, metal, water, and wood -- relates to the other
in two different ways.
 | The first relationship is generative or creative. For
example, water nourishes wood, wood makes fire, fire creates earth (as in volcanoes),
earth creates metal, metal creates water.
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| The second relationship shows how each can be overcome or
destroyed by the other. That is, water puts out fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood,
wood displaces earth, earth dams water.
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Garden the Feng Shui Way By Angi Ma Wong
Spring is the perfect season to plan and create a feng
shui garden.
Feng shui gardens are closer in spirit to rock, English or low-maintenance gardens than to
formal, artificial and overdesigned European gardens, which are characterized by unnatural
features such as severe corners, angles and straight lines.
Whether you live in a condo or a mansion, whether you are positioning a potted plant on
your patio or having many acres professionally landscaped, putting everything in its right
place according to feng shui principles will help create a healing, harmonious and natural
environment.
In designing your garden, be mindful of the three basic
concepts of feng shui:
- Energy flow (wavy or curvy is beneficial; straight lines are negative)
- Balance of yin (dark, soft, passive) and yang (light, hard, active)
- Generative and destructive relationships of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal
and water.
Here's how to apply basic feng shui principles in your spot of earth.
- Stand in the center of your outdoor space.
- Use a compass to determine the eight directions.
- Refer to the guide below to place the corresponding colors, symbols, numbers and
elements in their matching areas.
north |
Creativity, Personal growth, New ideas, Inspiration, Prospects, Career,
Music, Art
| Use:
Water elements |
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Good place for:
Metal toolsheds, ponds, Jacuzzis |
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Shapes:
Waves & curves |
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Avoid:
Stone, clay, earth |
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northeast |
Knowledge, Wisdom, Meditation/reading, Inner journeys, Spiritual and
intellectual growth, Nature
| Use:
Earth element |
|
Good place for:
Stone benches, rock gardens, repairing equipment, stones and boulders, statuaries, brick,
flagstone, anything made from the earth |
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Shapes:
Low and flat surfaces |
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Avoid:
Plants and trees |
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east |
New life and growth, Rebirth and rejuvenation, Harmony, Health, Family
life, Nutrition, Healing
| Use: Wood
element |
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Good place for:
Fruit trees, herbs, medicinal plants, play equipment, sauna, tai chi and other exercises,
trees, plants |
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Shapes:
Columns, cylinders |
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Avoid:
Metal garden accessories, patio furniture, tools, white flowers |
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southeast |
Wealth, Abundance, Material possessions, Communication
| Use: Wood
element |
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Good place for:
Cultivation and display of show plants, flowers or fish |
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Shapes:
Cylinders, posts and columns |
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Avoid:
Metal garden accessories, patio furniture and tools, white flowers |
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south |
Opportunity, Dreams, Aspirations, Awards, Fame, Achievement, Happiness,
Longevity, Festivity
| Use: Fire
element |
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Good place for:
Barbecues, fire pits, burning leaves, trees, flowers |
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Shapes:
Pointed and triangular shapes |
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Avoid:
Water elements such as ponds, waterfalls, and fountains |
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southwest |
Marriage, Romance, Motherhood, Love, Relationships, Partners
| Use:
Earth element |
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Good place
for: Seating/dining for two, team sports |
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Shapes:
Low, flat surfaces |
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Avoid:
Wood patio or deck furniture, gazebos, fences and gates, green |
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west |
Children, Creativity, Harvest, Socializing and entertaining
| Use:
Metal element |
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Good place for:
Outdoor entertaining, bar, children's playground/garden Convalescing & healing,
sunbathing |
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Shapes:
Circles and arches |
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Avoid:
Barbecues, fire pit, pyramid, red flowers |
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northwest |
Trade, Interests outside of home, International travel, Fatherhood,
Mentors and benefactors, Helpful people, Supporters
| Use:
Metal element |
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Good place for:
Statues of deities, angels, cherubs, animals, wind chimes, sounds |
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Shapes:
Circles and arches |
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Avoid:
Barbecues, fire pit, pyramid, red flowers |
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Angi Ma Wong is a feng shui consultant to over 80
major residential and commercial developers.
Visit her website at www.wind-water.com.
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