Feng Shui and decoration

One of the most frequently asked questions is how to decorate the house according to Feng Shui?

Feng Shui does not require a special way to decorate the house to “work”. Everyone has its own style and when decorating the house, our personal style is reflected. There are as many styles as people.

When we decorate our house, the ideal is to first analyze our home to know which the energies of each sector of the house are. From there, we’ll know what the necessary or appropriate elements for each sector are.

In choosing the color of the walls, furniture and decoration, we can be guided by these elements to choose the most suitable. Each element has its features such as color, shape or the element itself. This will allow us to decorate the house according to Feng Shui, taking into account the elements identified.

The same applies to the bedrooms of children and adolescents. We can let them freedom in their tastes, especially among adolescents, when decorating their room, provided they respect the use of the appropriate elements.

Feng Shui and our element

In Feng Shui, each person has its own Ming Gua, or personal number, which corresponds to one of the five elements. In Chinese astrology, the animal for our birth year also corresponds to one of the five elements.

Are the two elements identical?

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. The element of our Ming Gua is not identical to the element of our animal in Chinese astrology. But it can happen that both are equal.

2008 is the year of the water rat and children born this year will have the water element. But in Feng Shui, the calculation of Ming Gua makes the difference between men and women. Thus, boys born in 2008 will have the water element and girls born in 2008 will have the earth element. As we can see, the Ming Gua is the same for boys but different for girls.

Another example is that of persons born in 1982: the element of the Chinese animal is water, but the Ming Gua for men is the fire element and for women is the metal element. Thus, we can have three different elements for the same year.

It is clear that the element of the animal in Chinese astrology is not synonymous to the element of our Ming Gua.

Feng Shui and remedies

Who has never read an article about Feng Shui with a complete list of remedies to use. It’s about Feng Shui decoration or Zen style. They indicate to have many plants and water sources, inter alia, to be sure of having good Feng Shui in our house. It seems all very easy and more than one will use these tips to ensure a more harmonious life.

There are no remedies ready to use at random. Indeed, we have at hand all necessary remedies. The only thing we have to do is make sure to place them in the right place. The right place depends on the house. Every house is different and what is fine for one will not be correct for another.

We must always look at the house according to directions, the year of construction, the inhabitants of the house and the surrounding area. The directions of the house are important to know what kind of energy affects our house. The year of construction tells us to which period belongs the house and helps us to establish a chart of the Flying Stars, which show the influence of energy in every moment. We must analyze the energies of the house in relation to its inhabitants, to see if this influence is positive or negative. The surroundings of a house have its importance, as the forms determine the element and each element has a specific energy that affects our house.

As we can see, there are so many factors involved in Feng Shui that there are no unique remedies ready to use at random. Having a plant can be very nice but we have to take into account its element, the wood element, to know what is its ideal place in our house.

Feng Shui and love

How can benefit Feng Shui our relationships?

As I said earlier, Feng Shui is only one third that influence our lives. However, there may be blocked energy in our home or workplace that prevents us from having harmonious relationships, whether with our partners, colleagues or family.

More than the South-West sector - relations - of the 8 Aspirations system, we can choose our favorable direction Yan Nian, according to the 8 Mansions system, to favor our relations.

In the Flying Stars system, the Mountain star is responsible to all personal, whether health or relationships. We need to look at the house and activate the favorable Mountain stars to enhance our personal well-being that is both our health and our relationships.

Once again I want to focus on the importance of correctly analyzing the house before applying any element to activate a particular sector. We cannot activate the South-West sector of the house without taking into account the Flying Stars, as it could trigger a malignant Star with its consequent negative result.

Applying Feng Shui correctly helps us improve our life, in all aspects.

Feng Shui and money

Many people expect that Feng Shui improves their economy. How can Feng Shui help us financially?

In the 8 Mansions system, we can use our favorable direction Sheng Qi to attract prosperity.

In the 8 Aspirations system, the South-East area of the house corresponds to wealth. Using this system alone can be activated with the water element, as the South-East is of the wood element. But if we consider the Flying Stars system, we risk activating negative Stars and won’t get any positive result.

In the Flying Stars system, the Water stars - also known as the Facing stars - are responsible for wealth. We need to analyze the house to see the combinations of stars and activate the Water stars that are favorable.

If we combine the two systems (8 Mansions and Flying Stars), taking into account the surroundings of the house that may trigger the stars, we can enhance all aspects of prosperity.

This does not mean that we will win the lottery overnight, as Feng Shui is only one third that influence our lives.

What we can expect is an improvement in our economy and hence our quality of life.

Free Feng Shui course

I am preparing online courses of all levels, available from September 2008. For the inauguration of the Academy, the first level - Fundamental principles of Feng Shui - will be free. If you want to be the first to sign up, you can do so by registering at The Feng Shui Concept. Do not forget to indicate “Free Feng Shui course: YES”.

Applying Feng Shui in the bedroom

One of the most important rooms of the house is without doubt the bedroom. We spent many hours there in our lives sleeping. In the case of children and adolescents, the bedroom becomes even more important, as they spend a good part of their time in it.

We can apply Feng Shui in the bedroom, but we must always take into account the entire house. As you know, we have to analyze the house to know in which sector or sectors is the bedroom. Once we have all the necessary data, we will know which is the most appropriate element for the bedroom. From there we can choose furniture, decorations and appropriate colors.

Another very important point is the location of the bed. The main guideline is to have the bed in one of our favorable directions. If the layout of the bedroom allows us, we can choose which of the four directions should be most favorable. If not, we must always give priority to a favorable direction. You can use the Ming Gua calculator to know your personal number and favorable and unfavorable directions (to avoid).

What must we avoid in a bedroom?

The bedroom has to be more Yin, thus we must avoid water sources or an aquarium, plants, mirrors that reflect directly the bed and electrical appliances such as television or computer.

The bedroom has to invite us to rest. But when it comes to the bedroom of a child or adolescent, they use to play, study or listen to music in the bedroom. We will have to be careful with the “poisoned arrows” or edges of the desktop and shelves towards the bed. We should separate the spaces of rest and activity inside the bedroom, using one side of the bedroom for the bed and the other side for other activities.

Feng Shui and colors

A very common question is whether there are specific colors in Feng Shui. The color is a characteristic of the elements used in Feng Shui. To find out what color is best suited in a room or a section of the house, we must first analyze the house to see what element is needed and where. We’ll use the Flying Star or the 8 Mansions system for the analysis.

If we must harmonize a sector of the house with the water element, we can choose the color - black or blue - to paint or for the decoration. We can use all shades of blue, from light blue to dark blue. For the bedroom, a soft color will always be more appropriate, since the bedroom is Yin. On the contrary, we can choose a stronger blue for a living room, as it is a Yang room.

For those who prefer the walls of their house in white, they can utilize the characteristics of the elements in the furniture and decoration to harmonize the energies.

Can I use red in a bedroom?

The red color is very intense and Yang, thus does not invite to sleep. However, it depends on the sector of the house and the person. I saw red bedrooms for people with Ming Gua 9 - Fire. When analyzing the house, the fire was appropriate in this sector and the person had no problem sleeping.

There are no specific colors for specific rooms. We must always analyze first the house and its inhabitants to know the appropriate element. From there, we can choose between color shades that we like.

Feng Shui and photo frames

Should we give great importance to photo frames?

How important are photo frames depends on several factors. The first thing to take into consideration is the frame itself. The frame represents an element depending on its color, shape or element itself. Thus, a wooden frame obviously represents the wood element. Thus, we must take into account the element of the frame for a given sector.

Another aspect is the photo. This is rather important in the 8 Aspirations system. In the relationship area, for example, it is appropriate to put photos of couples. And in the family area are more appropriate family photos. Beyond the 8 Aspirations system, we must bear in mind the Flying Stars and put photos of couples, families or children in appropriate sectors depending on the Stars of the sector.

Once again, we must first analyze our house to see which the appropriate elements for each sector are and depending on them we use the elements in decoration, including the photo frames.

The Bagua map

The Bagua map, used in the 8 Aspirations system, has become the most known as Feng Shui, thanks to the countless books on Feng Shui using this system.

We have all heard about the sector of abundance, work or love. Thus, the major concern in how to apply Feng Shui is summarized namely how to “fix” these sectors of the house to improve your economy, your job or your relationships.

The 8 Aspirations system, which uses the “Bagua map” and tells us what aspect of life corresponds to what direction, is just one infinite part of Feng Shui. I have had many students and clients with notions of Feng Shui, precisely the 8 Aspirations system, who did not understand why, having arranged their house using the Bagua map, saw no improvement in certain areas of their lives. They commented that they had everything arranged and that although some had noticed some positive change, in other aspects it was not better and for some even worse.

The 8 Aspirations system is valid, but very minimally that, if we do not consider the 8 Mansions (Ba Zhai) system and the Flying Stars (Xuan Kong) system, we will not see any difference when implementing or even a negative result.

Why?

When we use the Bagua map of the 8 Aspirations, we consider only the elements relating to the directions. But beyond this, we do not know the Flying Stars from every sector of our house. If these Stars are in harmony with the element of the sector where they are located, then our lives will improve in some aspect, but if they are in disharmony, it can be worse. If we have a combination in a sector which requires the metal element and it turns out that this sector is the South and we have the fire element, we get quite the opposite of what we wanted.

Another problem is whether we consider our favorable directions or not. Sleeping in one of our unfavorable directions will have a negative impact on our lives, depending on which unfavorable direction it is.

We must be very objective when it comes to analyzing the results. We must observe and draw our own conclusions. We live our lives according to our experience. If something has gone well, then we will do the same. It is the same for Feng Shui. If it goes well, everything is perfect, but if not, then something is wrong. We need to take everything into account, not just one part.

“Feng Shui” Objects or lucky charms

A very common question is whether there are specific objects or “Feng Shui” objects to encourage good health, wealth, work or love. Many items are sold as “Feng Shui” objects which supposedly will benefit us.

I saw Feng Shui candles, one of each color - representing the five elements - with the Chinese ideogram and translation of each element. This is a good example of pure marketing. Why? A candle represents the fire element. A blue or black candle with the ideogram inscription of water can not represent the water element as it is a contradiction in itself.

Other objects commonly found as favorable for a good Feng Shui come from Chinese tradition. We can find statues of good fortune, such as three-legged frogs, statues of gods of the Chinese mythology, gold ingots or the famous ancient Chinese coins. Another example is the water fountain or lucky bamboo.

As in all traditions, we all have objects representing one thing or another. There is a tradition of planting an almond tree in the garden of a new house or have a container with salt, so that we are not lacking wealth and health. We must not confuse tradition with science.

When applying Feng Shui we use the five elements to harmonize a specific space. To implement the five elements, we use its characteristics as color, shape or the element itself. If it is necessary to use the water element in an area of the house, you can use the color of water, a fountain or an aquarium. If the fire element is required, it can be the color red or a candle. And if you need the metal element, it can be a statue or metal coins. At no time a so called “Feng Shui” object is used.

It is a very common contradiction to find Classic Feng Shui consultants, which supposedly do not believe in all these “Feng Shui” objects, but which profit of the ignorance of people and sell these items in order to have a part of the market.

If you have a house and like the Asian decor, having objects of the Chinese tradition makes sense. But your house will not have better Feng Shui. A modern house with a modern interior does not require “Feng Shui” objects to be consistent with the theory of Feng Shui so that its inhabitants have a good life quality.

How much does a Feng Shui consultation cost?

Each Feng Shui consultant has its own criteria to determine the price of a Feng Shui consultation. To compare between a consultation and another, we must first distinguish between the types of consultation. The main differences to take into account depend on if:

• the Feng Shui consultation is: for a house - for a business,
• the Feng Shui consultation is: online (distance) - onsite.

In addition, the price will depend, in most cases:

• on the number of inhabitants (house) or employees (business)
• on the number of plants and / or square meters

They also are prices set:

• per hour or
• at fixed rate.

Comparing these criteria, we can choose which the consultation that best fits our budget is. However, before we decide, we must compare what it includes exactly, namely which systems or methods of Feng Shui are applied for the consultation.

Prices vary greatly depending on all these criteria and you can find Feng Shui consultations for free up to more than € 6000. Before deciding to request a Feng Shui consultation, we must take into account all these criteria.

An expensive Feng Shui consultation will be better than a cheap Feng Shui consultation?

The price may be an indication to use when comparing, but is not necessarily synonymous with quality. Here, too, it is a criterion set by the Feng Shui consultant. Each consultant has to assess what is an appropriate price when it comes to fix it.

My approach is to offer online Feng Shui consultation for €68, regardless of the number of inhabitants, plants or square meters. I think that a Feng Shui consultation is not just for people who have a certain economic level and I wish that everyone can afford a Feng Shui consultation.

A Feng Shui consultation will improve your life quality, if implemented correctly. The influence of Feng Shui in our lives is only one third, thus we should not expect miracles. What we can expect as a result is a favorable change in our life, whether personal or professional, which allows us to live better. This includes improvements in health, improvement in our relations, improvements in our work and economic improvements.

Beijing 2008 - the number 8

Exactly 8 days left until the 8/8/08. Why are the Olympics starting exactly on that day? The number 8 is considered as very fortunate in Chinese tradition, as it represents prosperity, and is one of the most fortunate numbers.

Coming back to Feng Shui, we are actually in period 8. The Flying Star 8 White - Zuo Fu, element earth, is associated to the North-East. Actually a timely star, it is mainly a very favorable star governing financial aspects. The attributes of the 8 White Star are primarily prosperity, wealth and fame.

So, it is surely not a question of coincidence that the Olympics held this year in Beijing will start on 8/8/08, which should be one more step to help ensure success.

Feng Shui and mirrors

One of the frequently asked questions about Feng Shui is the use of mirrors. Is it a problem to have mirrors in the bedroom? Can a mirror face another mirror? May I have a mirror in the entry? are just a few samples of these doubts.

Mirrors are a reflecting tool. This is the most important thing to take into consideration about mirrors. So, whatever is reflected in a mirror is what counts. When placing a mirror at home, we must think about what it will reflect, what image we will see in them.

If you place a mirror that reflects beautiful plants, it will be good energy. If, on the contrary, the mirror reflects part of a room that is not organized, well, this won’t be very good. It’s all a matter of what is reflected. Think, for example, of a mirror that reflects a highway. Then, think of looking at this highway all the day. How would you feel?

Besides using mirrors in the bathroom for an obvious reason, mirrors are used as an architectural element that can enlarge small rooms or hide pillars. Nevertheless, we should always be sure of what they reflect before placing them.

We’ll have a look at the different options to place mirrors and the effect they have.

What about a mirror in your entry? It was said that this would reflect energies. More than reflecting the incoming energy, good or bad, it firstly reflects the door and while the door is open, it will reflect what is outside and interfere in the energies of the house. As it is a very sensitive issue, it is normally recommended to avoid a mirror in the entry reflecting the main door.

What about a mirror in the bedroom? It is recommended to avoid mirrors in the bedroom if they reflect your bed. The main reason is that this will disturb your sleep, as it reflects you. But you may have a mirror in your bedroom if it doesn’t reflect it.

What about mirrors placed one in front of another? Once again, it depends on what is reflected. The main purpose is to enlarge the room. But if you look in one mirror it will reflect the other one that reflects the first etc. This could be a strange feeling to look at it. If many items of the room are reflected, it would be better, but I personally do not recommend it, unless both mirrors are not directly facing.

What about mirrors in front of a window? The same applies for windows as for doors.

There is no standard response for mirrors, as all depends on where they are placed, what they reflect and which are the effects this has. You should always analyze the room when thinking about placing a mirror. If you are not sure about what to do, just try for a week. A week is pretty much to know if it makes you feel comfortable or not.

The placement of mirrors must always be analyzed with the surroundings. You have to see the room where the mirror is or should go, to be able to analyze it correctly taking all factors into account. 

Beijing 2008 - Olympics and 5 elements

15 days left to the 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing. You’ll be wondering what this has to do with the 5 elements and Feng Shui. If we look a little bit closer, we will find a lot of Feng Shui influence in this year games. The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (Fuwa) are representing, inter alia, the five elements (Wu Xing) used in Feng Shui to harmonize the energies.

“Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature — the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky — all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.”

Known as the Chinese five elements (or five phases = Wu Xing), water, wood, fire, earth and metal are represented by each of the figures forming the Fuwa. As explained in the official Web site, “fish and water designs are symbols of prosperity and harvest”. Among Fuwa, Beibei represents the sea and the water element. The lotus designs of Jingjing symbolize the lush forest and the harmonious relationship between man and nature. It is clearly the wood element. Huanhuan is a child of fire, and its element is obviously the fire element. Like an antelope, Yingying races across the earth, remembering us that the next one is the earth element. Finally, Nini symbolize the infinite sky with her golden wings. Here, we need to have a look at the 8 trigrams: Qian - Heaven - belongs to the metal element.

As you can see, they are placed in order of the creative cycle (Sheng Qi), as water nourishes wood, wood nourishes fire, fire produces the earth, the earth produces metal and metal produces water.

Feng Shui is not only used for living spaces. It can be used from a minimum surface like a room to a maximum surface like a continent.

Ming Gua - your personal number

To accurately apply Feng Shui to your home, one of the first things you should know and take into account is your personal number or Ming Gua. The Ming Gua (also called Kua number) is calculated from your birth year. The calculation also depends on the gender.

Each Ming Gua belongs to one of the five Chinese elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal. And each Ming Gua belongs to either the East or the West Group. Water, wood and fire belong to the East Group, while earth and metal belong to the West Group.

The four favorable directions of the East Group (North, East, South-East, and South) are the unfavorable directions of the West Group (North-East, South-West, West, and North-West) and vice-versa.

Use this Feng Shui calculator to know your Ming Gua and your good and bad directions.

Why is our Ming Gua so important?

The Ming Gua determines our favorable and unfavorable directions. That means that if we sleep pointing towards one of our favorable directions or work looking (sitting) towards one of our favorable directions, depending on which one it is, we will benefit from its good energy. On the contrary, sleeping or sitting in a bad direction will have negative, unfavorable effects.

It doesn’t matter in which one of your favorable directions you sleep, unless you want to benefit from a particular energy, but you should absolutely avoid sleeping and working in one of your unfavorable directions. If you really can’t change it, you should at least try to be in the least bad direction, but I highly recommend avoiding any bad direction.

What exactly is Feng Shui?

Generally known as having something to do with harmonizing your living space to improve your life, Feng Shui became in the last decade a sort of miraculous cure for all our problems. Who hasn’t heard about placing ancient Chinese coins in the wealth sector to benefit of great abundance in its life?

Feng Shui is much more than Chinese symbols, space clearing or specific sectors of our home. According to the dictionary, Feng Shui is defined as “rules in Chinese philosophy that govern spatial arrangement and orientation to patterns of Yin and Yang and the flow of energy (Qi); the favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into consideration in designing and setting buildings and graves and furniture”.

Another common view of Feng Shui is to say that it is synonym of Geomancy. Let’s have a look at the dictionary. It says that Geomancy is a “divination by means of signs connected with the earth (as points taken at random or the arrangement of particles thrown down at random or from the configuration of a region and its relation to another)”. It is clear from this definition that Feng Shui has nothing to do with Geomancy.

But what about the fact that Feng Shui Masters can predict what will happen in the future, using Feng Shui? One of the systems used in Classical Feng Shui is the Flying Stars system. It takes not only the space but also the time into consideration. This allows the prediction of what could happen in the future. It is clear that, knowing in advance possible mishaps gives us the opportunity to make the appropriate changes to avoid them.

According to the definition of Feng Shui, the rules that govern spatial arrangement gave place to various systems or methods, also called schools, of Feng Shui. This is the point where the confusion starts.

Why are there so many different Feng Shui systems and/or schools? Nowadays, there are so many Feng Shui books that it is almost impossible for the novice to make a choice and deciding which book we should buy. We will find books about Classical or Traditional Feng Shui, Flying Stars Feng Shui, Ba Zhai Feng Shui, the Bagua, space and clutter clearing etc.

Who is right and who is wrong?

It is obvious that any system that doesn’t take into account the accurate orientations does not have much to do with Feng Shui. Space and clutter clearing, for example, will certainly help the Qi to flow easily and, that way, improve the beneficial energies, but it has nothing to do with Feng Shui.

To explain it, I’ll take Mathematics as an example: you have the basic Mathematics topics that include logic, the set theory, the number theory, geometry, algorithms, algebra etc. Once we know the basic knowledge, we can go on and study advanced Mathematics and further on applied Mathematics.

The same applies to Feng Shui. You have to see Feng Shui as the umbrella term (as Mathematics) for all the systems/methods used. So, Flying Stars Feng Shui is one topic, Ba Zhai or 8 Mansions another topic etc. As Mathematics uses the numbers, Feng Shui uses the five elements, the Yin and Yang, etc. usually known as basic or fundamental principles.

But there is still one point: What is Classical or Traditional Feng Shui?

Classical or Traditional Feng Shui is the umbrella term for the compass school and the landform/landscape school of Feng Shui. These are the most accurate systems. The Compass school includes the Ba Zhai or 8 Mansions system and the Xuan Kong or Flying Stars system.

Another method that appeared in the last decade is the famous 8 Aspirations system. As so many books have been written about this Feng Shui system, it became rapidly the only method to use. Going further, to easily make Feng Shui understandable and applicable everywhere, some Feng Shui authors use the application of this method without even taking into account the accurate compass directions.

Experience showed me that if you really want to apply Feng Shui seriously to your home or business and take the most advantage of it, you should use the compass school and the landform school. Certainly, you can start clearing your clutter and apply the 8 Aspiration systems to improve your quality of life, but it is only an infinite part of what Feng Shui can bring you.

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