Let’s continue with the next 3 guas that I drew up in my sample floor plan for Feng Shui:

The Creativity and Children Gua is located almost completely in the Home Office in the floor plan. The office has a large wooden art object on a large wooden table, the floors are wood and there is a small rattan table with two large wooden chairs. One wall of the room is mirrored and the opposite wall has large mirrored closet doors. There is a large couch, a large wooden armoire and wooden filing cabinet.. There is also an extremely large rose-pink quartz crystal ball in the room. There are also two large french doors on one end of the room and a large window on the other end of the same wall. There is a sheet metal enclosed fireplace in the room. The toilet in the adjacent bathroom is in the gua.

There is an abundance of wood in this gua. There is a lot of water represented by the windows and the mirrors. There is no earth in the room other than the crystal ball. The fireplace represents fire in the room. There is very little metal.

The Health and Other Gu takes up a good portion of the dining room, bedroom 1 and the back hallway. The dining room floor is made of white marble. There is a brick fireplace in the room. A wooden dining table sits in the middle of the room under a small chandelier with plexiglass prisms. One wall of the dining room is painted red. The section of the bedroom in the gua contains a bed on brick flooring. The hallway floor is marble.

There is no metal or water in this gua. The red wall and fireplace represent fire well. The marble floors and the brick floors provide plenty of earth. The dining table and chairs add plenty of wood to the gua since they dominate the room.

The Family Gua encompasses parts of the dining room, kitchen bathroom, bedroom 1, covered patio and all of the laundry room.  The laundry room floor is made of Mexican clay tile. There is an electric dryer and washing machine in the room and two sets of wooden cabinets. There are two small windows in the room. The portion of the dining room is bare with marble flooring and has two large glass french doors. The portion of the bedroom is brick flooring with two glass french doors. The covered patio has brick flooring with glass-topped metal furniture.

This gua has lots of water represented by the glass doors and glass table tops. The brick flooring in the bedroom and the patio  along add a lot of earth. The electric dryer represents fire. There is no wood present in the gua and very little metal.

Next: As I did with the first 3 guas, I will cure (balance) these 3 guas in my next post.

Let’s continue with curing (balancing) the guas in my sample floor plan.

The Career and Lifepath gua:

Deficiency: There is very little metal and wood in the gua.

Cure: Add a large potted Ficus Benjamina  to the gua. It will thrive with the ample light from the skylights and add enough wood to the gua. Ficus Benjamina’s grow into large trees in their natural habitat. The potted Ficus is symbolic of a tree at maturity.

In addition, I would add a metal sculpture or a small scale metal figurine of a large animal or structure. A small, metal pyramid or ziggurat in a prominent location would work in this gua, too.

Skills and Knowledge Gua:

Deficiency: There is no wood present in the gua and the kitchen sink drains need to be cured. Drains of any sort in a gua are not a good thing. They rob the gua of its energy.

Cure: The room needs  wide, unpainted, varnished wood crown molding. Wooden objects like wooden utensils in a wooden jar, wooden pictures or plaques on the walls or wooden figurines of large objects could be added as well.

The sink drains are easy to cure. They can be plugged with stoppers when they are not in use. Or they can be covered with small, round vinyl mats that can be found in most supermarkets. The whole idea is to symbolically seal the drains, so be sure the entire drain is covered or stoppered.

Next: I will discuss the next 3 guas in my sample floor plan.

In my last post I placed a Feng Shui Bagua over a residential floor plan. Let’s take a look at that floor plan gua-by-gua.

The entrance to the dwelling does not have a back door that is in line with it. This prevents natural energy from flowing through the house from front to back. This will need to be cured.

The Helpful People and Travel gua is in the Living Room/Family Room. It contains 4 large windows, a wooden fireplace hearth, a large wooden window seat, a large wooden organ, a cloth-covered couch, wooden floors, wide wooden molding at the floor and at the ceiling, a  5-light stainless steel hanging light fixture and a brick fireplace.

Obviously, there is way too much wood in the room. The windows add a good amount of water to the room.  The fireplace and the light fixture (electricity) add a good amount of fire to the room. The light fixture adds a little metal to the room, but, not enough. The couch is covered with synthetic fiber so it adds nothing to the room. There is no earth in the room whatsoever. This room needs a metal and earth cure.

The next gua to the left of the Helpful People gua is the Career and Lifepath gua. The owners of this house use this room as a sitting area. It contains 3 large leaded glass windows, two white love seats, two Rosewood chairs, one wall has wooden chair molding, a small wall space painted red, two large hanging glass light fixtures,  3 4-foot indirect fluorescent lights, 3 medium sized skylights and the floor is bricked. The dining room protrudes slightly into this gua. That portion contains marble flooring.

The love seats are upholstered with heavy cotton fabrics. There is a small amount of marble flooring and the floor is brick (clay). All three add earth to the gua.  The windows and the glass light globes add water to the gua. The chairs and the chair molding add some wood to the gua. The red wall and the hanging lights add a good amount of fire to the gua. The sky lights are plastic and add nothing to the gua. There is no metal in the gua except for the lead in the windows. This gua needs a metal  and wood cure.

The next gua to the left is the Skills and Knowledge gua. It is mostly contained by the kitchen. There are wall to wall wooden cabinets, two large clear glass cabinet fronts, a double sink, granite counter tops, an island with granite counter tops, 2 small windows, 4 appliances, a counter top gas stove and built-in oven enclosed in brick, a stainless steel refrigerator, another large cabinet with a granite counter top and glass fronts, a bathroom sink, two large glass french side doors and brick flooring.

The granite counter tops and the brick add a lot of earth to the gua. The glass fronts, small windows and the glass french doors add a good amount of water to the gua. The gas stove and oven add a good amount of fire to the gua. The kitchen appliances and the stainless steel refrigerator add a good amount of metal and fire (electricity) to the gua. The sinks add water to the gua but they have drains. Drains are bad guys in Feng Shui. They rob the gua of energy by allowing it to “go down the drain”. The cabinets are made of vinyl covered pressed sawdust. They do not add wood to the gua. The gua needs more wood and the drains need to be cured.

Next: The next three guas will be discussed.

Now that we have laid out some Feng Shui basics it’s time to start putting them to use.

First you must draw out a floor plan of your home or place of business. Although the floor plan does not have to be exactly to scale you should get as close to scale as possible. When that is done you need to create a bagua grid that matches the outside perimeter of the structure that you are going to Feng Shui.

Here is an example of a floor plan for a residence with a matching bagua:

(Click Image to enlarge)

 Explanation of Symbols on the Floor Plan:

• The small circles represent drains. Anything that allows water to drain must be identified. This includes sinks, toilets, showers, bathtubs, floor drains and washing machines.
• The diagonal slashes represent doorways that lead to the outside of the structure.
• If there is a covered outside area, such as a patio, the posts that support the cover must be indicated so that we know it is not a missing piece. Missing pieces will be discussed later.

Placing the Bagua Grid:

Draw the bagua grid over the floor plan or, if you are using some drawing software, drag and center the bagua over your floor plan. In Western Feng Shui the front door of the structure determines  the orientation of the grid. Place the grid as shown in the example below.

Here is the example floor plan with a matching bagua grid placed over it:

(Click Image to enlarge)

Next: I will discuss the floor plan that I created with the bagua grid placed over it.

Here is the remainder of the list of basic items that you may need from time to time to balance any of the guas in your home or place of business.

The Feng Shui Toolbox (Continued)

Tools for Career/Life Path Gua:

Element: water
Colors: black
Shape: undulating or freeform.
Creative Cycle items: metal, white, round.
Destructive Cycle items: earth,yellow, flat or square.
Numerical Vibration: 4

Tools for Skills/Knowledge/Wisdom Gua:

Element: none
Colors: blue, black and green.
Shape: none
Creative Cycle items: none
Destructive Cycle items: none
Numerical Vibration: 7

Tools for Family Gua:

Element: wood
Colors: green
Shape: rectangular, columnar or vertical.
Creative Cycle items: water, black, undulating.
Destructive Cycle items: metal, white, round.
Numerical Vibration: 6

Tools for Health and Other Situations Gua:

Element: earth
Colors: yellow and earthtones.
Shape: square, horizontal or flat.
Creative Cycle items: fire, red, pointed.
Destructive Cycle items: wood, green, columnar.
Numerical Vibration: 9

Next: How to place the Feng Shui bagua over a layout of your home or business.

I am back from a short vacation trip to Northern California for my Niece’s beautiful wedding. Here is the post on the Feng Shui Toolbox that I mentioned in my last Feng Shui post. This is a list of basic items that you may need from time to time to balance any of the guas in your home or place of business.

The Feng Shui Toolbox

Tools For Prosperity Gua:

Element: none
Colors: purple, green, gold and red.
Shape: none
Creative cycle items: none
Destructive cycle items: none
Numerical vibration: 8

Tools for Fame/Reputation Gua:

Element: fire
Colors: red
Shape: triangular or pointed
Creative cycle items: wood, green, columns.
Destructive cycle items: water, black, undulating shape.
Numerical vibration: 1

Tools for Relationship/Love Gua:

Element: none
Colors: pink, red and white
Shape: none
Creative Cycle items: none
Destructive Cycle items: none
Numerical Vibration: 2

Tools for Creativity/Children Gua:

Element: metal
Colors: white
Shape: rounded, mounded
Creative Cycle items: earth, yellow, flat, square.
Destructive Cycle items: fire, red, pointed.
Numerical Vibration: 3

Tools for Helpful People/Travel Gua:

Element: none
Colors: gray, white and black.
Shape: none
Creative Cycle items: none
Destructive Cycle items: none
Numerical Vibration: 5

Next: Tools for the remaining 4 guas.

In Feng Shui you apply cures to fix the deficiencies in your life. You may, for example, need to attract money. The cure for this would be to place a lot of purple in your prosperity corner. Here is a list of 8 traditional Feng Shui cures:

Eight Traditional Feng Shui Cures

1. Light; adding light to an area adds energy and gets things moving again. Light can come from candles, electric light sources, oil lamps and fires. Anything that reflects light, such as a mirror, is also a light cure.

2. Sound; appealing sounds can create a shift in energy vibrations. Natural sounds work the best. Try any number of new age cd’s to quiet or balance something in one or more of your home’s gua.

3. Living things; also great energy enhancers, but make sure that you keep their areas clean. Clutter and litter add negative energy.

4. Weight; add heavy items to a gua when you need to be grounded in that area. They may be small symbols of weight, rather than the real thing. For example, you might want to place a small statue of an elephant or a whale in an area where you need help.

5. Color; each gua of your home responds to a specific color. See the Feng Shui toolbox in my next post for corresponding colors.

6. Moving objects; objects that seem to be alive can add a lot of energy to a gua. This can be accomplished by adding things like fans, moving curtains, butterfly wings, chimes and mobiles.

7. Electric power; electric appliances of every sort generate electrical fields which energize the gua they are located in. Be careful where you place them in any gua. Cover or conceal them when not in use.

8. Symbolic objects; the bamboo flute is a good example of a symbolic object that can cure an area. Leave it lying around the area of your choice and wait for the good news to come.

Next: The Feng Shui Toolbox

There are five elements that are used in Feng Shui. Everything on Earth belongs to these elements. They are to be be found everywhere in our homes and places of business. Too much or too little of these elements in the guas of our buildings leads to imbalance. We add  or subtract these elements in each gua when they are out of balance. This is done to create harmonious vibrations in our personal environments. The following chart lists the elements and how they are used to add and subtract elements to create balance.

The 5 Feng Shui elements:

1. Wood – as in furniture, walls or art objects.

2. Earth – earth colors and live or artificial potted plants.

3. Metal – as in furniture, art objects and building construction.

4. Fire – as in a fireplace (artificial works okay here) and the color red.

5. Water – as in fish tanks, art objects or clear glass.

These basic elements can be used to balance each of the Nine Feng Shui guas. When this is done it is known as a “Cure”. Cures can be accomplished by adding one or more of the Five Elements.

The Elements as They Relate in the Creative Cycle:

1. Water feeds wood (Trees and woody plants get their water from the soil via their root systems.)
2. Wood feeds fire (Adding more wood to the fire prolongs it.)
3. Fire makes earth (This is every powerful. Think of a hot lava flow that creates more land when it cools.)
4. Earth creates metal (A lot of our metals were created in the soil of the earth.)
5. Metal holds water (A metal bucket traps water in itself.)

Think of the creative cycle as one that adds rather than subtracts. For example, if you have a room that has too little water then you may add glass to compensate.

The Elements as They Relate in the Destructive Cycle:

1. Water douses fire
2. Fire melts metal
3. Metal cuts wood
4. Wood pierces earth
5. Earth dams water

In the destructive cycle your goal is to reduce the effect of too much of one element. For example, if you have too much wood in a gua, you can reduce it by adding metal.

Next: Basic Feng Shui Cures

Here is a brief description of each of the 9 sections in a Western Feng Shui Bagua:

1. Prosperity Gua

This area relates to all matters of wealth. It especially affects the money we receive for the luxuries of life that we all want. This is also your corner of power. Remember, money is power in that it can free you from the stress of always needing to create more money.

2. Fame and Reputation Gua

This area supports you as the person that the rest of world perceives you as being. It particularly affects your own honesty and integrity, as well as how your relationships work out.

3. Relationships and Love Gua

This part of the bagua is very important. It must be kept in balance at all times. This will ensure that there will be a lot of harmony in all relationships including romantic ones.

4. Creativity and Children

All of your creative thinking is affected by this area of your home. This is where your inner child is located. Children think much more creatively than adults do because they don’t have a lot of prior knowledge hampering them. This is the best location in your home to interact with children if it is possible.

5. Helpful People and Travel Gua

This area affects those in your life who may be able to help you through a tough situation when one crops up unexpectedly. Think of this area as your guardian angel’s area. Also, you may create or block travel here.

6. Career and Life Path Gua

Your career path and your life path are affected by this area. Keep it balanced so that you may stay on the right path in business and in your personal life.

7. Skills and Knowledge Gua

This area affects how you process and use knowledge as you receive it. This gua is directly affected by the prosperity gua and vice versa.

8. Family Gua

Your family and all of its issues are affected in this area. This is the area that creates all of the money needed to support the house and the family. Keep this one balnced so that it doesn’t negate the prosperity Gua or the skills and knowledge gua.

9. Health Gua 

This is the center of the bagua and contains all of the energy combined of the other eight gua. Because it is in the center it affects all of the gua around it. Keep this one balanced always!

Next Up: The Five Feng Shui Elements and how they can be of use in the Creative or Destructive Cycle

Before we can begin to use Feng Shui to cure situations in our lives we need to understand the basics of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is one of the Five Arts of Chinese Metaphysics. The Feng Shui practice discusses architecture in terms of the invisible force that binds the universe, earth, and humanity together. This force is known as Qi, Chi or Ki.

The history of Feng Shui covers over 3,500 years. It originated in Chinese astronomy.  The art of Feng Shui was essential in the orientation of new buildings in China. Eventually Feng Shui was developed to orient the contents of the buildings, too. It is now a system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the proper flow of Qi.

Applying the art of Feng Shui to your dwelling, whether it be your home or place of work, begins with laying a grid over a scaled drawing or blueprint of the building that shows the boundaries of  each room as well as all of the doors that lead out to the exterior of the structure. This grid is known as a Bagua.

The Chinese Feng Shui Bagua consists of 8 sections. Each section of the Baqua represents a singular energy. They are the energies of Heaven/Sky, Lake/Marsh, Fire, Thunder ,Wind, Water, Mountain and Earth. In Western Feng Shui we use a Bagua that consists of 9 sections. Here is an example of the Western Bagua that covers all of the important areas of our lives:

(Click to Enlarge Image)

I will discuss each of these 9 areas of the Bagua in my next post.