Feng Shui is an ancient art and science that teaches us how to balance energies (also known as Qi). It has a rich history dating from 5,000 years ago in China bringing good fortunes in many ways such as better health, successful careers, fulfilling love life, etc.
Feng means wind and Shui means water. In Chinese culture these two are associated with good health, thus we have good Feng Shui (good fortune) and bad Feng Shui (bad luck or misfortune).
How does Feng Shui Works
There are five main Feng Shui considerations that we need to keep in mind in creating a harmonious space. These are qi energy, alignment, earth magnetism, eight compass directions, and the five elements. We need to know the source and nature of the energy, how it would affect us, and how do we prevent it from entering our space. There are 3 simple approaches to managing negative energies; Block, Shield, and Avoidance.
Qi/Chi Energy
Chi energy or Universal energy is the energy that permeates around us; it could be inside or outside our body, houses or buildings. In designing our space we should consider the placement of Feng Shui elements for us to gather positive energies and to channel out negative energies so that we could have harmony in our environment.
Here are some common sources of negative energy around your house:
Bowing or blade-shaped curves
Bending roads or highways is considered bad Feng Shui that would cause bad luck in your health or create a high possibility of bloodshed or surgery. Placing broadleaf plants such as photos, canes and bamboos will help shield your home from negative energy.
Street lights
Looking straight at a lamppost near your house or apartment is also bad Feng Shui. The bright light it produces will affect your sleep quality which would cause health issues. The best way is to keep your curtains down to block the bright light from shining on your home and the negative energy that it would bring.
Pointy objects
Another bad Feng Shui is those pointy objects such as antennas or building corners that are directed at your house. It introduces Sha Chi, a sense of killing negative energy that could bring bad luck to health, relationships, and possible bloodshed. The simplest way is to avoid or block the energy by using curtains and mirrors.
Stairs
A staircase facing the main door or the main door facing another door is bad Feng Shui. The main door is also known as “The Mouth of Chi” and is responsible for absorbing the energies needed by your house. If this kind of situation occurs, the energy nourishment will go directly towards the staircase leaving the main floor without nourishment.
Alignment
Now that we have a basic idea of what Chi is, the next thing to consider is how Chi moves. The natural and most efficient way to move for a healthy Chi is to meander. Its course of action is like a raindrop streaming down a windowpane moving from side to side. In a straight line, alignments can direct the flow of energy from Sheng chi into Sha chi.
Speeding up on the straight stretch
In contrast to our natural way of thinking that moving a straight line would be beneficial, in Feng Shui, this would be a bad thing because it would create a fast-flowing chi that is called Sha Chi. The energy’s unhindered speed along the straight line will give a destructive sense at the end of the alignment. In homes or buildings, long corridors should be broken down by strategically placing plants or wind chimes.
Streets and railways
One classic example of this is the “T” junction. If you are offered a house in this situation, you shouldn’t buy it. In any case, one can minimize but not eliminate the downside by putting up hedges, high fences, and fountains.
Poison Arrows
“Poison arrows” is a name given to a long alignment, which enables the energy flow to speed up to a point of impact upon a person or building. It is also called “secret arrows” as it can’t be seen but could be blocked using walls, trees or embankments.
Spiked shape features
Excellent examples of this are church spires and very large buildings that overpower your own home. The former produces poison arrows that are very aggressive facing towards heaven. On the other hand, the latter will give destructive energy flowing along the walls of large buildings toward its neighbours.
Magnetism
The third important core concept is magnetism. The Earth is a huge magnet, and its magnetic field affects everything around us unknowingly. In Feng Shui, the eight cardinal directions namely North, South, West, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest were derived from earth’s magnetism. When you open the door of your house, energies will enter and will be drawn by a magnetic field depending on how they react to the eight cardinal directions. Once they enter in various areas they will be trapped there by the walls and ceilings of the house.
The Compass
The invention of the compass is attributed to the Chinese and Feng Shui. In a normal compass, you will find 4 primary and 4 secondary directions for a total of 8 directions. However, the Feng Shui compass has a total of 24 directions. Each direction of a normal compass is subdivided into 3 parts. You will need the help of the compass to easily measure the earth’s magnetic field for us to allocate the space of our house in tune with the flow of energy to the eight cardinal directions. Feng Shui is tied to these directions. For instance, the North benefits your career and business opportunities while the East is for health and family relationships.
Five Elements
One of the key principles in understanding and practising Feng Shui is the five elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Wood and Metal). These elements interact themselves in certain ways that could be used to enhance your life at home or at work.
The five elements are associated with different aspects of life and have different colour symbolism, with the help of Feng Shui, you can bring the specific energy essential to your life. For example, wood means growth and renewal. It is symbolized by the colour green or columnar shape, so having living plants in your space will give a feeling of a beautiful season of new beginnings.
Productive and Destructive Cycles
As we learned about the five elements of Feng Shui, it is also essential that we should know the Cycle of Elements. These elements are interrelated in two ways, these are the productive and destructive cycle.
An example of the productive cycle is when we create a fire by burning the wood. The wood element produces the fire element, then fire, in turn, produces ash which symbolises the earth element and so on. On the other hand, the destructive cycle can be visualized by melting metal by fire or extinguishing fire by water.
Now, using these methods you will have a basic understanding of how to easily enhance the space in your inside or outside your house. Proper placing of furniture, aquariums, walls and metal objects will ensure the productive cycle of elements that could fill your home with positive energy bringing harmony, peace, prosperity, and good luck.
