Feng Shui anyone?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Jul 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kistarr	09 Jul 2003
I don't know if it counts as spiritual...but I was wondering if anyone would be interested in talking about Feng Shui, it's uses, and application etc. Or if someone can direct me to a Feng Shui forum or discussion site. I find the subject fascinating but a little confusing at times. Any help would be appreciated.

LittleWing	09 Jul 2003
well i used to try and apply it to my home ....... but in the end i saw no point to it!!! i agree with the principle that a clutter free, healthy home is best - but as for enhancing different aspects of your life through placement - i was not convinced. however - i have heard successful stories

jlbvt	09 Jul 2003
Yes- I wish we had a feng shui board seperate from the spirituality board. Feng Shui has so many schools, and so many facets. Some beliefs directly contradict others! One of the mainstay principles is to de-clutter, but it goes way further than that. Lets have a discussion! Do you use the zodiac/direction/color method or the Tortise-Tiger-dragon-Phoenix method? What are some specific problems you have cured through the use of Feng Shui? Are there any principles you have read about but don't agree with?

Royal Cat	09 Jul 2003
Quote: Originally posted by LittleWing well i used to try and apply it to my home ....... but in the end i saw no point to it!!! Same here. I've read some amazing success stories so I thought it certainly wouldn't hurt to give it a try. I took a short class, read up on Feng Shui in books and set to work on my home and business. The "results" I saw were so minimal/superficial that they really could not be attributed to my cleaning, moving, painting, etc. Cat

LittleWing	09 Jul 2003
In my opinion - I think it is to do with focus of will. I fyou believe in something enough - it will happen. like prayer, rituals, spells etc .....

samantha	09 Jul 2003
"I think it is to do with focus of will ." Littlewing. You could be right here , although I'm no Feng shui expert . My Japanese boyfriend was heavily into this practice ( I would find piles of salt in strategic locations around the apartment after we had quarraled !! And then of course we'd quarrel some more as I swept it up !!) One time I was ill , and was at my wits end as to what I could do about it ( western drugs and acupuncture had not helped ) so ......the same boyfriend felt it was time to do a big feng shui overhaul . He basically re ordered the entire appartment ( the direction that I had been sleeping in being pivotal apparently ) and" added" colours . There was alot of red in the bathroom , and yellow by the porch . I really wanted it to work .....and it did , after about 5 days the symptoms left me . It's strange though , I can't see myself doing this kind of thing in the UK !! It felt right for the location . ( which maybe is futher proof of the self fulfilling prophecy .) Yes . A feng shui board would be great . I'd like to learn some more.

sagitarian	09 Jul 2003
Oh yes, please, I'm all for it. Feng sheui is fascinating me more and more. I haven't been able to find anything about it. I NEED to redo my home, and I don't know the first thing about this technique, only that, you rearrange things so the energy flows through your home. But that's it. What books are good, or available on this subject or reference sites? someone else asked what method you use, astrological or tiger something? Is there a way to see what method would be best for your home? I have three young children, so I HAVE to keep certain things up and out of the way. I'm desperate to learn more!

Kistarr	10 Jul 2003
Quote: Originally posted by jlbvt Do you use the zodiac/direction/color method or the Tortise-Tiger-dragon-Phoenix method? What are some specific problems you have cured through the use of Feng Shui? In my reading I've come across two different kinds of 'schools', the Form school, which deals with land scape and its effect on you, and the Compass school, which deals with dirctections and the use of the Pa-Kua. I prefer the Compass school. I have more control over where I put my things than I do over the geography of my neighborhood. I must admit I was rather skeptical at first, but I've found Feng Shui to be very helpful. As for problems I've solved ... A few months ago my fiance and I bought a wonderful king sized bed with a carved oak headboard with frosted glass cabinets. Unfortunately not long after we got it I noticed that our love life had become, well...non-existant. What was wrong? I went to my sister, who has lots of books on the subject [feng shui not love life lol] and she said 1] It's bad chi to buy a used bed, especially if you don't know why it was gotten rid of. 2] King sized beds have two small box springs instead of one big one, like other mattresses--which causes a split between the two people sharing the bed. 3] The headboard was just asking to become a catch all which leads to clutter, the bad boy of Feng Shui! 4] Besides the problems with the bed, she said my ceiling fan was creating cutting chi and since the front door and my bedroom door face each other, I'd have trouble sleeping and feeling secure. Unfortunately, I couldn't get rid of the bed because I couldn't afford a new one, besides I'd never seen a more beautiful bed in my life dark wood with roses carved in gracefull sweeps *sigh*. She had me turn the box springs sideways so the split ran horizontally and not vertically to 'heal' the rift. I place a red ground sheet over the box springs because red is a very vital color and will boost our interest again. Red is the color of love, after all. I hung a faceted crystal from the light to reduce the cutting chi from the fan and try to keep the bedroom door shut as much as possible. I also went one step further and place a small inside fountain with floating candles in the 'marriage'center of the bedroom. His element is Fire, mine is Water. The results weren't instant, it took maybe a week, but very satisfactory!! We were more affectionate towards each other and more open in communicating and I began to enjoy spending more time in the bedroom whether reading a book or other things. When I move into our new apartment I plan to do my best to make it a happy and prosperous Feng Shui home!! I'd love to discuss more on the subject, perhaps starting with simple things like your personal elements and your best directions. I've been told that I'd be happiest living in a house that 'sits' to the West, Southwest, Northwest, and Northeast.

punchinella	10 Jul 2003
I use a very simple bagua in my house, which I pulled from "Move your stuff, change your life" by Karen Rauch Carter. I know that Feng Shui can get much more complicated, but--well--this bagua works for me! & lately it's even evolved into a favorite spread. I draw one card for each of the bagua's nine areas (top row, left to right: prosperity/illumination/relationships; middle row: family/health & unity/creativity; bottom row: wisdom/life path/external communications.) I'm also particularly fond of Mary Greer's extended 3-card spread (9 cards plus a final 'key' card) & my bagua functions extremely well as a permutational way to read her spread . . . all very, very good! --Feng shui is a great thing!

C.N.	10 Jul 2003
I have had some success with feng shui, clearing clutter works for me, choosing the right color works for me, turning the furniture the right way (phoenix, tiger, dragon & tortoise) works for me. About furniture, I would say that after clearing the clutter, turning your desk so you sit with the back against the wall and see the entrance to the room is the second most important thing to do with Feng Shui, it really helped for me. However I have yet to see a clear correlation between different parts of my apartment and different parts of my life. To those of you that has used a Pa-kua with success, which method did you use, Eight House (north is north) or Three Gate (front door is north)?

DeLani	12 Jul 2003
I've been into Feng Shui for several years now, and have quite a lot of books on it. I really like "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui" by Lillian Too. It puts things into very simple terms, easy to understand. I swear she's the Martha Stewart of the East. I use both the Compass School and Form school, according to the situation. As Lillian Too says, the greatest Chinese virtue is sensiblity! All I know is that what the Chinese were calling Chi and dragons and such, is really about ergonomics and subconscious reactions to visual things. Seeing an "arrow" pointed at you makes your subconscious nervous, as seeing a beam hanging over your head or sensing people walking up behind you. Sitting in a power position (back against the wall, all entrances in clear sight) makes you feel, and look, more in control of things. Arranging your seating in a comfortable circle/square with ample room to walk in & out makes your guests feel welcome and comfortable. Etc., etc. It all seems totally logical to me. Kistarr, I am in the same boat you are! We just bought a used King size. Our love life is fine, but the bed seems too big. We don't cuddle as much anymore, because you have to travel so far to get to the middle, and you can't see the clock from there...etc. I hadn't thought about turning the box springs. That's a great idea. I'm looking forward to more discussion on this thread.

Royal Cat	12 Jul 2003
Quote: Originally posted by DeLani what the Chinese were calling Chi and dragons and such, is really about ergonomics and subconscious reactions to visual things. Seeing an "arrow" pointed at you makes your subconscious nervous, as seeing a beam hanging over your head or sensing people walking up behind you. I agree with you completely on this point. When I first became interested in Feng Shui I bought the book "Move your stuff, change your life", I took a short online course on Feng Shui and also read one other book on the subject. After all that, I found out that my house was really, basically, already Feng Shui'd. Except for a few color changes or addition of certain items I found there was really hardly anything I could do to improve it. I've always been a neat person so clutter is not really a problem. And the arrangement of our stove, bed, etc where already in the best location they could be for the room. I believe there are certainly some houses/businesses that are designed so poorly that the subconscious revolts - those places would definitely benefit from a makeover. However, a common sense or ergonomic makeover may really be all they need rather then placing a dragon here, a candle there, a red wind chime here, etc. I still tend to keep the Ba-gua in my mind when changing the layout of a room and ask myself if it "fits." I usually make sure there is something white in the creativeity area. But I guess it really comes down to what LittleWing said earlier: "if you believe something enough...." - And perhaps what I believe in most is my own innate sense of where things belong. Cat

Royal Cat	14 Jul 2003
I seem to have brought this thread to a halt, but that was not my intention! I'm sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes. Feng Shui is a fascinating subject and although I haven't had much luck with it personally, I'm always interested in reading what others have accomplished with it. Cat

DeLani	15 Jul 2003
Royal cat: I know what you mean. I clean houses, and some of these houses are so horribly designed...I don't see how people can live in them. They were obviously designed by an architect who was trying to stretch their creativity, not design a house that can be lived in! And these houses are worth obscene amounts of money. It's just rediculous.

jlbvt	16 Jul 2003
One thing I did to improve the Chi of my room was to cover the mirror that was facing both my bed and my window. It is attached to a dresser, and it is in the only space where it will fit in my room, so I couldn't move it. What I did was cover the mirror up with a pretty cloth (Batik with butterflies) so it wouldn't have the bad effects. My room is a lot calmer now. I covered it because- The window should not be reflected in a mirror in the bedroom- it stirs up too much energy and you can't relax in the room. You should not have a mirror reflecting yourself when you are sleeping- I think it makes you feel uneasy/unsafe. I have done lots of other things too, but I have been doing it so long, it's like second nature and I don't think about it. I will try to remember more!

Celtic_Dragon	17 Jul 2003
Quote: Originally posted by DeLani It all seems totally logical to me. It is very logical, I'm in arts and animation and I've been studying the theory of color. And it all has an effect on you one way or another, but I've never thought of the arrangements of your house but that makes sense too. Because I'm sure you don't want to have your bedroom in the living room, even without the shui it just doesn't fit. Is there a website where we can look this stuff up or should I just look up some of the books that have been mentioned here?

The Feng Shui anyone? thread was originally posted on 09 Jul 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.