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GHOSTS, LIGHTNING, AND MOTHER IN LAWS
What do ghosts, mother in laws and lightning have in common? On the surface, nothing, but in Feng Shui there are energy / number combination that enhances the possibility that one will be drawn into problematic situations with one or the other. Not every house has them but if yours does it is best to get the proper remedy in place as soon as possible.
Since we are so close to Halloween let’s look at ghostly attractions first.
All societies have superstitions and agrarian cultures are rich in their stories, traditions and beliefs about ghosts, spirits and the other world. Chinese culture seemed particularly abundant in these beliefs and references to them still color our Feng Shui vernacular. Although traditional Feng Shui is able to slice through many of these superstitions we still honor the terms and phrases from the past even if they seem a bit exaggerated to us. For example, the terms “Disaster Room, Three Killings and Five Ghosts Carry Money” mean something to the Feng Shui practitioner and for the first two we neutralize the energy and for the ghosts who carry money, we use them to our benefit.
But is there such a thing as a haunted house? And are there certain things that a Feng Shui practitioner looks for in determining if the house is haunted?
What we do know is that every house is unique and its energy is determined by the year of construction and the sitting and facing directions. These combinations create an energy pattern that can be interpreted. Whether one believes in ghosts and haunting or not there are certain combinations and factors that are more likely to come up for a ‘haunted house’ than one that does not give off that vibration. Some of these are obvious and are factored in every Hollywood horror movies. Houses that are too yin, without life energy, attract ghosts. These houses are cold, damp, and dark with major maintenance issues and overgrown landscapes that often leave you with a sense of foreboding and the creep factor. Houses built on or near cemeteries or old battlefields can attract ghosts as can a property where a violent death may have occurred.
Houses that have long hallways, with doors directly facing each other, factor quite often in ghostly attractions. The incorrect use of wind chimes can also attract a ghost. Although often thought of as a panacea to all Feng Shui problems, a classically trained Feng Shui practitioner knows that wind chimes can often attract a troubled spirit and so uses them sparingly and in the correct location and under the right circumstances. The sound of the metal wind chimes can attract a ghost instead of preventing the unwelcome visitor. Perhaps this fits in with our stereotype of the ghost with the clanking metal chains.
Other factors that are not obvious to the eye but exude a powerful effect in a home’s Feng Shui is the number combination of 2-5. This combination is a double negative earth and needs to be remedied to neutralize its impact on the homeowner. Although having this combination does not guarantee the house is haunted or attracts ghosts, there is a strong correlation between haunted houses, ghosts and this energy combination. And if you have this combination and add a wind chime to the corresponding sector, ghostly mayhem may ensue!
If you enjoyed this article and are ready to see what energies are inherent in your house please contact me for a Feng Shui consultation. In this reading we can determine the energy patterns that may be sabotaging your health, relationships and finances. With the proper remedies life improves. And, enhancing the positive energies can make life go even smoother.
Wealth Is Not Just For The Wealthy
History holds a wealth of knowledge. Even about wealth. Feng Shui has been around for at least 3,000 years or even more. But who had access to it? The wealthy, of course. So important was this knowledge to the emperor and other nobility that it was illegal – under pain of death- to share this knowledge with the common people. Feng Shui was such a closely guarded secret that it was only passed down from father to son (with a few exceptions here and there for a special daughter or apprentice), and, to insure this, it was mostly kept to an oral tradition.
But you can’t keep the truth or a good man down – and in 907 BC, Feng Shui master Jun-Sung Yang escaped from the emperor’s court and traveled the land to spread the word about Feng Shui. So important and risky an act was this that Jun-Sung became revered and honored with the name “Yang, Save the Poor.”
It is difficult for us to comprehend what this act meant to the Chinese culture and how it may have changed the history of China. We just don’t really get it- and perhaps it is because we don’t really get how powerful Feng Shui is. But it is it – Chairman Mao outlawed Feng Shui so these masters and practitioners were forced to flee or be killed. What is it that was so important about Feng Shui that the emperors and rulers did not want to share with the common man? There had to be something there. The emperors strongly believed in it; so did Mao, who had ancestors who were FS masters. He apparently wanted to keep the Feng Shui for himself. And this makes sense- because good Feng Shui can last for 180 years. The Emperors wanted their dynasties to last – and so did Chairman Mao. (This type of Feng Shui is ‘yin Feng Shui’, the burial for the ancestors. It lasts 180 years as there is a powerful 180 year trigram cycle …but I digress…)
When we talk about Feng Shui it is usually yang Feng Shui – Feng Shui for the living. After taking care of the ancestors, the emperors and dictators concerned themselves with yang Feng Shui. Yang the Poor thought it so important to share this information that he was ready to risk his life. It makes one think –
When people tell me that their house is “not good enough to be Feng Shui-ed” or “once we move,” they will get a Feng Shui consultation – I wonder what Yang Save the Poor would have to say.
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.
You Dont Have To Be A Feng Shui Practitioner To Know About Clutter
It’s a funny thing actually; most people I meet are slightly obsessive about their clutter. Even those who don’t appear to have a clutter problem love to talk as if they do. I’m not sure what this is all about but I do have my suspicions. After all I have written, listened and talked about it for years. And I know that despite all the words and all the talk and all the best laid plans and solutions on how to get rid of clutter we are still a nation of people fascinated with clutter. And it is not just us – all over the globe people define their status and their place in the world by what they have. And the more we have the more of what we have is clutter.
Neither I nor most Feng Shui practitioners stand in judgment of those with clutter. After all, for years I delighted in going to The Container Store until I really got that all these fun, cute, wonderful containers were just providing more space for my clutter. My house was organized yes, but still cluttered.
I have learned to let go of most of my clutter. It was a very conscious journey and I found almost everything I read about clutter to be helpful. Every book, every magazine article, every conversation with people about their clutter seemed to shine a light on my own issues. After all, it is a complex subject.
But there is one thing that had the strongest effect on me and it may help you, too, so I am passing it along:
Feng Shui exists. Each house has its own energy blueprint, potential and nature, both for good and for bad. And with knowledge we can manage our Feng Shui so it supports rather than sabotages us. Each individual has their personal trigram based on their birth date; each house has its own ruling trigram based on its birth date and the direction it is facing. These trigrams have a direction. These directions support us. So use this support and start there – By choosing to support these directions, by keeping these respective areas in our homes clean and clutter free we are in turn supported. We get stronger, things get better and we let go of that which no longer serves. And this includes clutter.
Because, and this is my suspicion about clutter. We want, we do want. It is human nature to want to be expansive. But, it is not really things that we want. We want to feel expansive, to be creative, supportive, free, powerful and useful. We want to be more than we feel we are. We want more money, better health, relations and well being. Don’t clutter this up with clutter!
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.
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.
The Anatomy of Emotion- Joy
Joy is not a word I hear too often.
It appears on Christmas cards, in the writings of therapists and coaches, in spiritual and religious sermons but I can’t remember the last time I heard the word spoken in everyday conversation. We say things are great, we’re happy or even cool. But we don’t often say we feel joy.
It makes me wonder- can joy be secular as well as sacred?
The Anatomy of Emotion- Anger
Anger affects our bodies very differently. When we hold onto anger or take offense we lose this feeling of flow and instead feel tight, inflexible and constricted. We build a shield, a coat of armor to protect us from what has attacked our sense of happiness. But this shield is not protecting us. Internalizing anger makes us feel stuck, hard. The feeling of space disappears and we become smaller, isolated. Even our breathing, once effortless becomes difficult.
My little neighbor came home from school fuming over something her best friend did to her. She told me she would never talk to her again but the next day found them together playing in her backyard. Later I asked her what happened. She told me, with quite a serious look on her face, that being angry at her friend just hurt too much.
Holding onto anger is holding onto another piece of clutter, of past energies, of feelings that no longer serve. When we are angry we actually relinquish our power because the focus moves quickly beyond the issue to the holding on of emotions that do not make us feel good. Nothing takes us further away from being in the moment than the holding on of anger.
Feeling anger is natural. It is an emotion, a feeling, a barometer that helps us stay true to ethical and moral convictions. Anger is a message that something is not right. We need anger but we do not need to stay in anger. Anger is not foreign to love. We are only truly angry when we feel we are not being heard, when communication is being blocked. Staying in anger fuels these blockages.
Righteous anger can be used for the positive. Seeing an injustice and choosing to do something about it can be healing and life affirming. But holding the anger inside and not having the ability to create movement with or beyond it, is self-destructive. The anger becomes the issue rather than the act that caused the anger. The person we are angry with may feel the effects of our anger but never as strongly as we do!
The Art of Blessing
Take a breath, sit back, relax and enjoy this inspirational journey of love, beauty and blessings. Let the words and images flow through and over you. A simple blessing is more than a promise, it can the power of transformation. Bless and be blessed.
The words are by Pierre Pradervand from his book “The Gentle Art of Blessing”
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