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Interior Design

Feng Shui Fall

There’s something about autumn we all love. Even before the hot days are over and the calendar tells us we are now in fall, we seem to crave the brilliant colors and harvest that autumn brings. According to retailers and interior designers, fall decorating is second only to Christmas and is not far behind! This decorating can be the artificial flowers and leaves or the fresh mums, pumpkins and gourds from the garden. It is beautiful, inspiring, happy making and joyful – but is it Feng Shui?

Certainly the beautiful decorations impact your emotions and psychological well-being and this can play a role in your mental outlook. When something makes us smile, makes us happy the impact can be quite transforming and boosts our inner spirit. And people who understand the power of attraction and intention can use this feeling to jump start their day and moods. This can be quite powerful – but it is not Feng Shui. Rather I would call it part of environmental (or interior design) psychology.

Feng Shui is the balancing of the energies that are inherent in your house based on the orientation of the sitting and facing directions and the year the house was built. Qi flow from the inside and outside environment is also a factor in determining the energy balance and the needed remedies. Holiday and seasonal decorating does not have the power to change the essential Feng Shui of your house. Despite this fact seasonal decorating plays a large role in much of the western Feng Shui practices.

I myself love to decorate for fall – I am a sucker for the Indian corn, the gourds, fall leaves and Halloween ghosts and witches. I love it all – and it makes me happy, brightens all the grey days and gets me pumped up before winter. But I know it does not change the inherent Feng Shui of my house. And, I also know that the “rules” given for fall decorating by some Western Feng Shui schools can be ignored. Let’s explore and destroy some of these myths so you can decorate without fear of bad Feng Shui.

Myth 1 : To enhance family relationships fall decorations should be placed in the east.
Truth is, it does not matter where you put your decorations. In some Western schools, the bagua is broken into 9 life aspects; the east being the family relationship. In the classic, traditional Feng Shui schools we do not look at the sectors (guas) this simply. Each one has an energy determined by the permanent stars so every one of the nine sectors affects the family, wealth, health etc. Every house has its own specific Feng Shui – it is not generic enough that we would say east is the family. Just think about it – if the laundry room was in the east would you only place your beautiful decorations there?

Myth 2: All reds and orange decorations should be placed in the south.
True, in all schools the south is represented by the color red. But this does not mean that red objects should only be placed in the south. In fact, this could be quite explosive when the fire element is over represented in this area – or in any area that does not call for fire. How do you know? By finding the permanent energy codes in your house through a classic Feng Shui reading.
However, do not fear placing your red and orange leaves in the southern part of your home if that is where you desire it. I have never seen a home with so much red in their fall decorations that it would negatively affect the fire element. (Christmas red is another story.)

Myth 3: Dried corn stalks and flowers represent death and should not be used.
Most Western Feng Shui schools perpetuate this myth while classical Feng Shui has no taboo against this. I see it as a personal preference. Dried flower arrangements, hay bales and dried leaves can be beautifully arranged and do not bring in the specter of death and decay. After all, we use dried herbs in our cooking and this is pretty life sustaining.

So, please enjoy the fall without worrying about your Feng Shui decorating. I wish you long walks in the falling leaves and crisp mornings to start your day.

Find the good Qi, tap into the Good Qi and Circulate the good Qi

The theory behind Feng Shui is so simple.  Really it is.   After all the explanations of what Feng Shui is, what the words mean and what we want to accomplish – it comes down to…

Find the good qi, tap into the good qi and circulate the good qi.

Of course the skill is how to read the energy map and that can be quite complex since there are more than 200 house types not to mention the unique quality that people add to the space.  And it is true; the more I study Feng Shui the more complex and specific the applications, cures and enhancement formulas become.  Yet I see that it all comes back down to the basic foundations of qi flow, yin yang and the Five Element theory.

And that’s what I have been thinking about.  The basics.

A classically trained Feng Shui practitioner uses a compass, the age and orientation of the house and the floor plan to draw up the energy map.  Simply put, this map gives us the qi flow as represented in the elemental numeric code.  These codes represent relationships of the elements – they may be in a productive or clashing relationship.  If they are productive we can enhance or leave alone.  If they are in a conflicting relationship the occupants of the house will feel the negative effect and it is the job of the Feng Shui practitioner to advise the client on how to neutralize this negative effect.

How can these negative element relationships or qi be fixed, or in Feng Shui terms, cured?  Well that’s what the reading is all about and each situation is unique so the remedies are unique, but what it comes down to is the basics.  We look at what element needs to be added, subtracted, the qi flow of the room and the possibility that we should keep the room “quiet” for a certain time period.

What we don’t do is add to the clutter, the confusion and the superstition.  No laughing cats, money frogs, Asian figurines, statues or popcorn in the bathroom.  Just pure and natural elements to nurture the qi flow.

 

 

About Ann Covell :

Ann Covell is a Feng Shui consultant, teacher, writer and blogger.  Ann is a practitioner in the  classic compass style of Feng Shui and her newsletter, Feng Shui Naturally, features articles on the practical usage of Feng Shui in the modern world.  She has also been known to ghost and guest blog for other qi- enhancing and healthy living websites.

When not practicing Feng Shui Ann can be found studying yoga, qi-gong and nutrition.

Ann offers personal consultations for the home, both on-site and on-line.  

Feng Shui Bitch

I’m a fan of the Skinny Bitch series.  I love the clean, clear, strong stance on non-toxic food, cleaning products, and concern for the environment.  Whenever possible I strive to eat organically and support companies that embrace that philosophy.  And I like to think that my Feng Shui is organic, too.

When looking for organic products you look for the basics: clear, fresh, clean, and natural.  Simple ingredients often make the best meals; cool, clear water is the best thirst quencher and breathing fresh air is the healthiest and most invigorating. When you look at classical Feng Shui you are also looking at the basics –qi flow, yin yang and five element theory.  It always comes down to this.

That means a classical Feng Shui reading makes use of the beneficial qi, finds the yin yang balance needed in the home and uses the pure elements to make any adjustments needed.   And this is important to know – if you need to cure or enhance an area of your home you will need to use a natural element not just a symbol of the element.  We want to get down to the pure, strong, energy emitting form.

Consider this: an area of your home would benefit from the wood element.  What will be the stronger manifestation of this element – a beautiful lush plant or a picture with some green it it?   I think we would all vote for the plant.   It is true that green does symbolize the wood element but symbols do not emit the same energy as the real item.  It is true, if you do not have a green thumb or for other reasons you cannot have a plant there are other things we can do.  But the real thing will always be the more powerful remedy.

And the real thing is not superstition.  Figurines, statues, and charms are not in the toolbox of the classic Feng Shi practitioner.  A pair of mandarin ducks or crystal lotus flowers will not have an effect on the Feng Shui of your home.   Placing water in the right sector or reducing the negative earth relationship with metal will.

Keep it simple, keep it pure, keep it natural.

 

 

About Ann Covell :

Ann Covell is a Feng Shui consultant, teacher, writer and blogger.  Ann is a practitioner in the  classic compass style of Feng Shui and her newsletter, Feng Shui Naturally, features articles on the practical usage of Feng Shui in the modern world.  She has also been known to ghost and guest blog for other qi- enhancing and healthy living websites.

When not practicing Feng Shui Ann can be found studying yoga, qi-gong and nutrition.

Ann offers personal consultations for the home, both on-site and on-line.  

Update And Renovate

 

It’s time to update and renovate- the bathroom attached to the master bedroom in my mother’s house has not been touched in over 30 years.  I would say it has bad Feng Shui.

Feng Shui literally means wind and water and these are not static concepts.  Wind and water must move to stay energized, without this movement water becomes stagnant and the air feels musty and dead.  Houses need to be energized; this act can be as simple as opening a window or more complicated as in a renovation project.  When the house is energized the occupants become energized.  And this is good Feng Shui.

This brings me to the issue of – does it change the house energy or the house potential which is a huge fundamental of Feng Shui. The answer is, no it doesn’t.   Renovating on this level does not change the natal chart of the house nor the sitting and facing direction so the energy blueprint that was established is the same as when the house was constructed.

It may sound as if I am jumping around a bit and I guess that is how my Feng Shui mind works – and that is how Feng Shui works. It is quite multi-level.  So, renovating the bathroom:

  • Will add positive movement and energy to the house.  It already has – the bath is so drab and, well, just kind of nothing- that the thought of entering the space does not inspire positive feelings.  However, even though construction has yet to begin my mom is fairly singing with possibilities over the change
  • Unless you spend lots of time in a bathroom, the natal energy pattern in this sector is not going to have much of an effect on you as does the chi of your bedroom, home office, family room and front entrance (or whatever room you tend to hang out in). Do not mistake this level of Feng Shui for the feeling you get when you look at a room visually.  Because remember, this energy pattern is not visible; it must be mapped out by the flying stars of the house.

So how do you know if you need to remedy these rooms (and how can you be sure what a remedy really is) – we will find out in the next installment!

Updating and renovating is wonderful – it keeps you, the house, the chi movement fresh and it may make a difference in resale value so if you have a bathroom like mom’s and the opportunity to get some work done – you and your house will thank you.

 

 

 

 

Mirror, mirror, Feng Shui mirror…

I probably get more questions about the use of mirrors as Feng Shui cures than anything else.  Are they taboo in the bedroom, can they multiply the wealth area,  will they fill in missing pieces and will a Bagua mirror ward off evil or destructive influences?   And the answer may be as complex as the question depending on the Feng Shui school that rings true to you.

I remember the first time I asked a Classical Feng Shui master where he felt the best place to put a mirror was – he looked at me as if I was asking a trick question – and answered, “the bathroom?”

For him mirrors held no more power or purpose than the purpose a looking glass has to reflect an image.  True, in historic times, a mirror was considered to be of the metal element and thus a potentially powerful remedy.  But historically mirrors were polished metal.  Once they started to be made of more reflective material as we know them today mirrors were no longer used as metal cures.

Both Classical and Western Feng Shui practitioners agree on the restriction of mirrors in the bedroom. Mirrors are considered too yang for this space; they reflect movement and light which detracts from deep sleep.  Chinese folklore says that mirrors attract ghosts; certainly it was not difficult to believe that when one awoke from a deep sleet and saw an image, a movement reflected in the mirror, that a ghost was lurking.  But folklore is not Feng Shui so we emphasize quality of sleep as opposed to quantity of ghosts.

Also, both Classic and Western Feng Shui practitioners will advise that the mirror should reflect something beautiful, something that is pleasing to the eye.   We are strongly affected by the visual and that which is not visually pleasing does create inner stress.  It’s kind of a no brainer – just take a look in your mirrors and see what is being reflected back to you.  If it is not pleasing, move the mirror.  Now, you have just practiced good Feng Shui.

Although many people who read the generic Feng Shui books and follow the Western tradition tend to give power to the Bagua mirror a Classic practitioner sees things differently.   We do not believe that it is a cure all, it will not reflect, balance or deflect bad energy and it cannot absorb energy.

But the use of the Bagua mirror does reveal quite a bit to the Classical Feng Shui practitioner.     It tells us that the homeowner feels there are lots of problems in the house and the use of a Bagua mirror on the outside door is just advertising to all that trouble lives here!

Think Of Feng Shui As A Science Not Interior Design

Feng Shui is not interior design.   There, I said it.  It actually feels like a relief seeing it written down on a page.  I have tried to say it directly but find I have danced around the question for so long so as not to exclude or to offend.  Certainly there are some interior designers who are familiar with Feng Shui and some of its basic concepts.  There are even those who are well schooled in Feng Shui and incorporate interior design after using the traditional methods of reading a house.    And certainly there are Feng Shui practitioners who may be interior designers or who have a good eye for design.  But, it is not the same thing.

I have been called to do Feng Shui consultations in homes that have been stunningly decorated but are still in need of vital Feng Shui remedies.  And I have been in homes where one may wonder about the decorating choices of the inhabitants even while recognizing that the Feng Shui is pretty good there.  Feng Shui is not just about the eye.  Certainly, it is a part of the equation as very basic to Feng Shui is the idea of creating aesthetically pleasing environments which provide psychological and physical comfort to the inhabitants.  There is no question that people tend to feel comfortable in well decorated, clean, organized homes.  But even if you home is not up for a spread in House Beautiful you can live in a home with beneficial, auspicious Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is a science. It is an ancient practice that has been around for thousands of years.  It is complex and multi layered.  It is not a fad or a fashion nor is it simply about painting the walls a certain color or moving a few pieces of furniture around.

Classical Feng Shui

I love Feng Shui and have been studying it for over a decade now. My training began with a short course taught by a Chinese master who worked with a compass and spoke about trigrams and East / West schools and pre-heaven and post heaven. It was fascinating, intense and a bit incomprehensible to me. After that class I turned to the western schools that taught modern day Feng Shui: I studied from sincere, wonderful teachers who were generous in their sharing of their knowledge and experience. I became a teacher, had a successful practice and published an on-line newsletter for approximately two years. And then I stopped.

I stopped because it was no longer working for me and if it did not work for me, how could I in good faith counsel others in their Feng Shui. Still, my belief in Feng Shui was not shaken – I have seen it work, I know it worked so why was it not working now.

When you are faced with this, the best thing you can do is to go back to the source and see ‘where it all went wrong.” This I did and my path led me back to the previously incomprehensible Feng Shui.

And this I discovered: If you are not applying classical, compass based Feng Shui it is not true Feng Shui. And the proper use of classical Feng Shui is incredibly powerful because it can truly enhance the beneficial energy patterns and neutralize the energies that can and do sabotage all your efforts.

How can this happen? Think of the Feng Shui energy patterns like gravity. You cannot see gravity, but you know it exists. You cannot see the underlying energy patterns of Feng Shui, but they are there.

Modern or Western Feng Shui may touch on this but their emphasis is on what one can see. Classic, traditional Feng Shui also has eyes for what can be seen but goes way beyond to that which cannot.
Imagine this: When you observe a tree in summer, it looks large, voluminous, layered with leaves and fruit. In winter you see the same tree but without all its dressing. You see the branches, the twigs, the dead limbs and the limbs that are beginning to grow and branch out. You see the structure of the tree- you know what lies beneath the leaves. You know where to prune and how to train the tree for better growth patterns and to optimize its harvest.

Or, visualize this. You are house hunting and find what you believe is the perfect house. It is so cute, homey and feels right. And then you hire an experienced home inspector – he tells you that the new bead board walls were put up over moldy drywall and the new carpet is covering weak floorboards. Good to know- if you want this house you know you will need to replace some walls and floors and make sure the foundation is strong.

To improve the tree and to fix the house you must go beyond which is seen. This then is like classic Feng Shui.

The Front Entranceway

Keep the entranceway clutter-free. Dropping keys, bags and coats on the floor near the front door is not conducive to a good flow of chi. Put up a coat rack, position a side table or just train yourself to remember there is a place for everything and then take a moment to put it away. Clutter in the entranceway blocks chi and limits opportunity flow into the house.
Make sure the door opens wide with nothing to prevent them from opening fully. Storing umbrellas, using over the door hangers or temporarily storing boxes behind the door will restrict the flow of chi. We want to think in terms of expansion rather than contraction.

Make sure the entrance way or front hallway is well lit. Besides the benefits of safety and security the light offers it is also a welcome chi enhancer. You want to come home to brightness and light and you want that visual to reflect a feeling that permeates through the whole house.

If you have windows in the front door clean them! Remember, Feng Shui is literal. We want to lighten up, cast the light, Illuminate and see things clearly. And we want to let the clear, bright light shine through!

Make sure all the doors in your home open and close easily. If the doorknob is stuck get out the WD40. In Feng Shui we believe that doors that do not readily open suggest poor communication or stuck areas that need to be examined. How do you feel every time you try to open or close the bathroom door and it sticks? Little irritants like this build up and create stresses both seen and unseen.

If any door needs paint or staining find the time to attend to it. At the very least, wipe down doors on occasion so they are as clean and welcoming as possible.

Polish the door knobs and handles. Not only will it look better but it is good for your health.

STEP IN, STEP UP AND STEP THROUGH

When we begin any project or embark on a new journey, career, challenge or direction we usually say something like –
It’s time to step up to the plate
A new door is opening and I am stepping through
I’m ready to take the next step

And, when we say that, we feel as if we are going through a vortex, an opening, a new phase. And that symbolic feeling is made physical and literal when we walk down hallways and enter and exit through doorways. We are always going somewhere.

Every time we go in or out our front door, we are transitioning to a new experience. When we exit it we open ourselves up to new adventures, contacts, communications and experiences found in the outside world. When we return, we are looking for that place of relaxation, solace and comfort we find in being at home. That doorway is the place of transition.
In the wonderful world of Feng Shui we look at the front door as “the mouth of chi,” the place where all energy and opportunity enter. Energy and opportunity enter through the front door in the same way we physically enter the house. A clean, attractive, well-lit, and well-maintained front door can create an opening where energy, love and opportunity want to enter. Your front door is the connection, the literal threshold, the portal between your inner and outer world. For more information please refer to my earlier (and first) article on front door Feng Shui.

But the exterior of the front door is not the only area of transition. To get to the other rooms of our home we walk down hallways and through doorways. We are transitioning. When we walk into the kitchen we feel different and expect different activities, interactions, feelings and experiences than we do when we enter our bedrooms, or baths or family rooms.
We want the transition to feel easy and natural. We want our home experience to refresh, rejuvenate and relax us. So we could borrow some tips from the care and feeding of the front door entrance and apply them to our hallways and doorways to other rooms in the house. This, too, will bring a positive flow of chi to other areas of our home.

SARA’S FIRST STEPS

I have moved many times and know what a challenging, frustrating, exciting and messy experience it can be. It was the same for Sara. She moved into an older bungalow which promises much charm but needs a bit of work to get her there.

1. MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP OF IT ALL

The first thing we did was to make a big sweep, literally and figuratively through the house.
It takes time to unpack, organize and find a place for everything. And, once you do, and live in your space for a while, even as little as a day, you will know that there are still more changes you want to make. Granted- but it is helpful to make that first pass – Empty the garbage, vacuum or sweep the floor, break down any boxes that have already been unpacked and then consolidate the rest of the boxes to one area of each room.

Not moving or unpacking? The theory is still the same. Make a sweep through each room and deal with the obvious- recycle old newspapers and magazines, compost the dying flower arrangement, and close all cupboard and cabinet doors.

Thank you for reading my blog.

I hope you are enjoying all the Feng Shui information -
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