Tag Archives: the bagua
red roses

Using Dried Flowers in Feng Shui – Q and A

by on November 15, 2011 in De-Cluttering, The Bagua

"lifeless" flowers

Question: I am confused regarding dried flowers/cut branches. I have several wreaths and branches. Should I remove all of them from my home? Is there any place in the home these are OK?

 

Answer: First of all, now that the holidays are here, I’d like to say that if you have some dried arrangement temporarily (let’s say a month or less) adorning your table or front porch, I don’t think the chi boogie man is going to come out and get you over it. If you like the look of a temporary arrangement like that and your energies (AKA your life circumstances) are holding strong – go for it. The idea is to always be mindful of what you do have in your house though, so you can make adjustments as soon as you have a desire for something different in your life.

Now, let’s talk about the permanent stuff. First of all, step back and take a quick review of you and your family’s life. If it is going perfectly, with everyone healthy, happy, and harmoniously living in the world, and your home happens to be filled with dried flower arrangements (and has been for years), then by all means – carry on. Remember, “If it ain’t broke, I don’t fix it.” You must have some MoJo going on over there that must be counterbalancing all the dried stuff, so I don’t even want to mess with it.

But if life isn’t perfect and you have chi weaknesses in your bagua somewhere, you may want to consider doing something about the dried stuff.

The chi that you want to attract and encourage to stay around within your home is vibrant, lively and in it’s thriving state. The chi that you do not want in your home is chi that is weakened, “sleepy,” disintegrating, wilting, dying, or seemingly dead. Dried flowers, pampas grass reeds, pussy willow stems, eucalyptus branches, wood shavings, wilted fresh flowers in stinky, stagnant water, moldy and damp fireplace wood, plants with a lot of dead or wilting leaves on them (snip those leaves off!), and (dare I go here?) pet ashes and people ashes all are things in their “diminishing state” in the “circle of life.”

“Preserved plants,” like those palm trees you see in some public places where they look real but they have been injected with something to stop their growth or death, seem to test OK. (Seeds usually have an essence within them that is vibrant and therefore also makes the cut.)

Yes, I have actually done experiments on this (as it is such a touchy subject) and I have observed that when dried stuff is removed, there is a definite chi improvement. (I get  a lot of people resisting feng shui because they desperately want to keep their potpourri and crispy, crunchy arrangements.)

I invite you to experiment on your own. Remove all dead or dying items from your household and lot and track the way life goes for the next few months. If things don’t improve, you either have something that was counterbalancing the dried stuff or you have something else keeping you down (because you should see improvement.)

Stuff that counterbalances dried up, dead stuff: living things (animals, kids, plants, and heck, I’ll even throw fresh vegetables and fruits in here!,) moving items, fresh air circulation, natural light, and bright, lively colors.) Since I’m not lucky enough to see all of your homes, you’ll have to be the judge of this. Remember, feng shui is a guide, based upon years of observations of actions and results.

One last thought, think about what you are willing to allow in your home. I usually lump dried flowers in the same category as kitty litter boxes, toilets, trash cans, dust, dirt and clutter. These are all potentially negative or chi-weakening items. I usually say, if you have to have them, and you have any control over their placement, put these items in a gua that is working very well for you (and might be able to “take the hit,”) and not a gua that is already suffering from weakened chi. (a gua being the part of the home that is associated with a part of your life in the feng shui map, the bagua.)

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stuff in context

The Wrong Color for a Part of the Bagua – Q and A

by on June 27, 2011 in 5 elements, Creativity and Children, Family and Friends, Furniture Position in Room, General

 

It all depends on what is around it!

Question: I just read your book and am now rethinking my decor ideas.  I was just getting ready to hang a red curtain in my guest bathroom that falls in the Creativity and Children Gua, and white blinds in a window in the Family Gua window. What would you say to this?

 

Answer: If you only knew how many questions I get like this! The answer is: it depends.  Color is one of the MANY items you can use to cure a space, that is true. But unless EVERY SINGLE thing in the room is that same color (I hope not!) then you’ve got some aspects of other elements nearby as well.  There is also the “cover your butt” cure in my book that you might want to review. It states that if you don’t know if you’ve got too much of one element or not enough of another, then put some of every element there with good intentions and it will balance itself out! As a matter of fact, I would say to consider the shape of the item first, then it’s construction material, and then its color to decide what element it is if you are looking at these items from a 5 element perspective.

So, can your particular bathroom handle a red curtain – maybe! It depends. Sometimes red can be used in the Fame and Reputation Gua of THAT ROOM and there you go! Or perhaps everything is all dark blue or some other dark color (which would be considered water element with a downward flow), then perhaps a little upward moving fire element in the red curtain would be helpful.. One would really have to know the context of the particular item to have an opinion.

So, there you have it. Depending on the context, that one red curtain could be bad, could be good, could be neutral…it all depends. That’s why I do live and  telephone consultations (where people send me pictures and floor plans ) – it’s because I need to see what’s around each item and how it all works together.

Nothing is inherently good or bad feng shui. It just depends on where it is and what’s around it.

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garage

How do Garages fit into the Bagua?

by on March 25, 2011 in Blog, De-Cluttering, Skills and Knowledge

Question: How to garages play into the bagua? Mine is full of junk and appears to be taking up my whole skills and knowledge gua. My sister’s totally sticks out in the front of her house, and my dad’s house has a detached one. Is there one answer for all these garages?

Answer: Let’s answer one thing at a time here. First of all, everything that you own, or are surrounded by over a vast period of time affects you somehow. So, to start the conversation, I’d first want to address the junk, and then talk about the bagua. “Full of junk” indicated “issues” with in the household, and/or lack of health or opportunity in life. My teacher once said, “Put the issues in the tissues and get on with it.” He noted that getting rid of (or through) the tears or emotions that go along with the removal of junk piles and clutter certainly aids in bettering the chi in the person doing the de-cluttering.

Where your garage is within the bagua of your home or lot makes a difference just like anything else in your home or on your lot. If the garage sticks out in front of the front door, it is not within the yang bagua of the house – but it is within the sphere of influence of the lot (and possibly within the yin bagua – which is the bagua that overlays onto the whole shape of the house. – This is not in my book, by the way.) It may not affect you as strongly, but it is affecting you. I had one gal who unlocked her whole world by eliminating the inherited things in her detached garage, so I don’t take a cluttered distant garage lightly just because it is not in the house’s bagua zone.

Now, because yours is stuck with junk and clogging up your skills and knowledge energy, I would suggest possibly enhancing the skills and knowledge area of all the other main rooms in your house where you spend a lot of time – at least until you clean up your garage. The room guas can help support the weak house gua – but I’m not suggesting enhancing them and forgetting the clutter because the garage clutter is still affecting you on some level and should probably be dealt with.

I have heard from one feng shui practitioner that he does not count the garage, because he only counts “livable space,” but I disagree. I don’t “live” in the attic, the cupboards, or up on the closet shelves if you go by this logic.

I did decide once, that an attached garage with no direct access into the house, where you did not “feel” the presence of the garage from anywhere within the house, was not a part of that home’s bagua – but that was once. I have not seen/felt that particular arrangement before or since. I’m saying this to show you that indeed, for just about every rule in feng shui, there is some example of where you could break that rule.

You may not like this answer, but I’m sure that if you took the time to think about this and write it, you probably have a gut feeling that it is indeed, something that needs to be addressed within your home and your life. Good luck.

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