The ancient Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui (pronounced fung-shway) caught on like wildfire in the United States, and the phrase can be seen and heard in books, magazines, on television shows and from the lips of interior designers. In Asia, the practice is known as “geomancy,” one of several methods of divinity.
For centuries, Chinese people have used these methods to improve the quality of their lives. The refined art of Feng Shui is used these
days to enhance luck and influence well-being and prosperity through modifications in layout of home and office space. Its aim is complete harmony with the natural order of things. Chinese calligraphy for the words feng shui mean “wind and water.”
These elements both flow in currents.
The flow of ch’i, or life force energy, should be balanced to circulate throughout the home, and not just move in from the front door and go straight out the back. Feng shui offers ways to remedy the detrimental movement of ch’i, using five natural elements, or wu xing. The five qualities representing ch’i are: water, wood, fire, metal and earth. Water moves downward and is unrestricted; wood grows upward and endures; fire spreads in all directions and is hot; metal pierces in one direction and is sharp; earth attracts and is stable.
Is there one room in your house where arguments tend to occur most frequently? That room is said to have a metal influence, and water would be its remedy.
Feng shui principles recommend that a water fountain be placed in that type of room because moving water is essential to the remedy. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate or expensive. For example, if you had a metal vase or flower pot that you really liked, you could polish it up and set it on a wooden stand in the room, attach a fish tank pump to circulate the water, then add decorative stones or colored floating candles in it to conceal the pump. Even the placement of furnishings can affect the movement of ch’i. If the front and back doors of your space face each other so that you can stand in one doorway and look straight through to the outside, then you need to create barriers to make ch’i circulate through all the rooms. An arrangment of potted plants, a bookcase or a room divider screen between the two doors would channel the energy and make it move around.
Basic common sense is the key to utilizing feng shui and your intuition will make it work. As in life, balance within the home is a necessary component to maximize the flow of ch’i.
