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.
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.