In this chapter we will look at two methods of evaluating your home. The first is known as the Aspirations of the Pa-kua. This is a simple and convenient method that does not require a compass. Because it is easy to do, you will soon find yourself doing it automatically whenever you walk into someone’s home. The second method, known as the Nine Stars, is more complicated and requires a compass. It also takes practice to become good at it, but you will find it extremely helpful and well worth the small investment of time and energy to master. In practice, I use both methods.

Shape of Your Home

In feng shui, square or oblong houses are more desirable than unusual shapes. For instance, an L-shaped house symbolizes a meat cleaver, which is certainly not desirable. Fortunately, there are remedies for every possible shape. The remedy for an L-shaped house is to place a light on a pole in the garden to symbolically complete the house and make it appear rectangular (Figure 2A). Other remedies are to plant shrubs or erect a low wall to symbolically com­plete the house. 

Aspirations of the Pa-kua

The pa-kua (pronounced “par-kwar”) is an octagonal-shaped symbol of Chinese culture. Each side represents a direction and an important area of life. The pa-kua can be placed over a plan of your house, or a single room, and can even be used on something as small as a desk (Figure 2B). For convenience sake, the pa-kua is often shown inside a three-by-threctangular, the pa-kua can be overlaid on top of it easily (Figure 2C). If your home is more unusual in shape, the pa-kua may cover part of the garden as well as the house. Unless remedied, this indicates that your life is not com­pletely balanced. Figure 2D shows a house lacking a Wealth area. (Notice that the pa-kua has been “stretched” to accomodate the rectangular shape of the house.) The people in this house would find this area of their life restricted until this problem was remedied. Figure 2E shows a house that is missing the Fame area. The standing in the community of the people who live in this house will increase as soon as they rectify this difficulty.

Remember though, that even if part of your house is not covered entirely by the pa-kua, you are not completelyree square. If your home is sq.iare or missing that aspect, as the pa-kua is also placed over each individual room.

The side of the pa-kua that covers Knowledge, Career, and Mentors is placed on the side of the house that your front door is situated on. For feng shui purposes, the front door is the door you use most frequently, or your main entrance. This means that if you walk in your front door and go as far as you can diagonally to the left, you will find yourself in the Wealth area of your home.

Each area of your home represents one of the eight areas of life.

Wealth

The Wealth area naturally governs money, but it also relates to anything that makes your life richer. If you need more money, this area of your home can be activated by encouraging more ch’i to it. There are many ways of doing this. You may increase the amount of light in this part of the house. A mirror, chandelier, or hanging crystal will all help encourage more ch’i. Because water means wealth in feng shui, an aquarium or small fountain would prove helpful in activating this area. Metal objects will also prove beneficial. In the East, it is common to hang coins on the wall to act as a silent affirmation to encourage more money. A friend of mine has increased his net worth several times over since he began displaying a beautiful silver tea service in the wealth area of his home.

Fame

Next to Wealth is the Fame area. This represents your standing in the community. If you want to become better known in the community you live in, you need to activate this area. This area also represents who you really are. We all have goals and dreams. You can encourage these by displaying items in this part of the house that will inspire you to action. Encourage more ch’i, of course, by increasing the light into this part of the houser You may also display trophies, awards and pictures of yourself to enhance the qualities that you desire. You may also display items that you find personally attractive. Use items of the finest quality that you can afford. A round mirror is very beneficial in the Fame area.

Marriage

The Marriage area relates specifically to close relation­ships. This is usually a personal relationship, but you can activate this area to encourage business relationships as well. If you are looking for a new relationship, or want to improve the relationship you are already in, you need to activate this area of your home. Increase the ch’i by increasing the amount of light in this part of the house. Display wedding photographs and any other objects that you consider romantic. A painting or photograph of two lovers walking hand in hand can do wonders for this part of your life. An acquaintance of mine placed two candlesticks in this location of her home. After being on her own for eight years, she found a new life partner in less than two months. She still lights her candles every night to keep the love alive.

Family

The Family area means family in a wide .sense of the word. It includes all the people you care about and love. This area is a good place to display family portraits, bronzed baby shoes, and family awards. Inherited items, such as antique furniture or a family Bible, all serve to stimulate the Family area and contribute to feelings of continuity. However, it is important that you find these inherited items attractive. It is bad feng shui to display items that you do not like. The Family area also relates to health. If you, or someone you care about, is ill, this area should be activated by using crystals or additional light.

Children

The Children area relates mainly to your children, but also includes creativity. If you want children, or are having problems with your children, you should activate this area of your home. This is also a good place to display photographs of your children and to display artwork that they have produced. In this area, you can also store toys and other objects that are special to your children. This is a good area for creative work. A desk placed here would provide an excellent place to work on any creative interest. An artist I know keeps his stereo system in this part of the house, even though he works in the Fame area. He says that the sound of music coming from the Children area enhances his creativity.

Knowledge

The Knowledge area relates to spirituality and learning. It is a good place for bookshelves, and could not be bettered as a study area. This area should be activated if you, or anyone in the family, is involved with study of any kind. A painting in this area showing high mountains and a river or waterfall can symbolize your unlimited potential. Glassware, especially crystal, can serve to place you in closer contact with youi* spiritual self.

Career

The Career area is a good place for a home office. It should be activated if you are trying to progress in your career. It is a good place for a fax machine, computer or anything else that relates to your career. This area can be activated by displaying a mirror, wind chimes and an attractive table lamp.

In the East, it is common to have affirmations, drawn in beautiful calligraphy, on the walls. These affirmations look like works of art and remind the occupants of where they are heading in their careers. A man I know did not want to hang affirmations on the wall, but instead keeps a photograph album in this area of his house. In the album are displayed photographs of where he wants to go in his career. He credits the photograph album with a series of rapid promotions he has enjoyed in his career.

Mentors

The Mentors area relates to people who can help you. If you wish to attract someone like this into your life, you can activate this area by hanging a crystal. For many peo­ple, mentors relate to spiritual help. Consequently, this is a good place to display anything that relates to your faith or philosophy in life. This part of the house also relates to travel. Again, activate this area if you have dreams of traveling, especially travel overseas.

These areas spread out beyond the home indefinitely. If you are wanting to become famous and make a name for yourself, you should seek these things in the direction indicated by the placement of the Fame area. Likewise, the best direction for a school or college is in the direction indicated by the Knowledge area. If you are trying to find a new relationship, the best direction is the one indicated by Marriage.

Confusions can arise, though. You may be happy in your job and have good prospects for the future, but the place where you work may not be in the direction indi­cated by the Career area. In this instance, you should head off to work in the morning by driving in the Career direction for half a mile or so, and then turn back and head to work. This means that you are symbolically head­ing in the Career direction.

I have an acquaintance who is fortunate enough to have an apartment overlooking the ocean.

“I can’t find a relationship,” he told me a year ago. “My Marriage direction is on the other side of the ocean!”

This is not really the case. I told him to walk down to the seashore, then return and head off in any direction he chose. This meant -that he symbolically started his quest by heading in the right direction. Incidentally, within six months of doing this he met someone, and they are now engaged.

“I was about to give up,” he told me. “It seemed silly walking down to the beach every morning, but it became a habit. I’m glad I stuck with it!” 

Clutter

In feng shui, clutter should be avoided as much as possible. We all collect and gather items that we do not want or need. A friend of mine cannot turn down anything that is cheap or free. Consequently, her home is full of things that she does not need. An acquaintance of mine finally sold some old furniture that she and her husband had been given when they first got married.

“I always loathed it,” she says. “It was big and ugly, but it was free. Our house feels so much better now that it’s gone.”

Clutter can be almost anything that is no longer needed. It makes good sense to get rid of the old, outmoded and unwanted to make room for something new and desirable. Every so often my wife and I have a clean-out at home and toss out all sorts of things that we no longer want. Even though I’m inclined to hoard things, I feel a tremendous sense of release each time we do this.

Clutter in any of the eight areas of the pa-kua creates problems and obstacles. For instance, if the Wealth area of your home is cluttered, you would experience feelings of negativity and confusion concerning your money. Money would be hard to find until the clutter is removed.

Clutter in the Fame area would tend to indicate that you have doubts and confusions about your standing in the community.

Clutter in the Marriage area indicates the potential for problems in your relationship. At the very least, your relationship would not be developing in the way you would wish.

Clutter in the Family area can lead to family disagree­ments and a desire for individual family members to do things on their own, rather than as a family.

Clutter in the Children area creates worry and uncer­tainty. It can affect communication between parents and their children.

Clutter in the Knowledge area makes it hard to learn, and difficult to retain what you have learned.

Clutter in the Career area indicates uncertainty about your chosen career.

Clutter in the Mentors area makes it hard to attract the right person to you. You will either find it hard to attract anyone, or will attract the wrong sort of person, until the clutter is removed.

I have been in homes where there is clutter everywhere. You can imagine the difficulties these people experience until they finally gain control of their homes.

Clutter blocks and constricts the beneficial ch’i from spreading easily throughout the home. It is often caused by people’s insecurities or fears at letting go. I knew a lady , who would not even toss out the daily newspaper once she had read it. When she died, her double garage was full of old, rotting newspapers while her expensive car sat outside exposed to all the elements!

The Good Luck Center

You may be wondering what the center of the pa-kua indicates. This area is known by a variety of names. In the East, it is usually referred to as the Good Luck sector. However, it is also known as the Spiritual Center, Soul Center, Ch’i Center, and Happiness Area.

The center of your home needs to be looked after. If it is well tended, you will attract good fortune and luck into your life. You will also experience spiritual growth.

It is often possible to hang a chandelier or crystal in this area of the house. Any attractive lighting fixture will suffice. This attracts beneficial ch’i and reflects it out to every other part of the home. You may not be able to place a chandelier in this position, but activate this area in some way. You will find that your insights and personal growth will be a joy to behold.

A ceiling fan in this position helps to keep the ch’i flowing to every part of the house.

Individual Rooms

The pa-kua can be placed over individual rooms just as over the whole house. Place the bottom side of the pa-kua over the entrance of the room and then check out the eight areas. You may find, for instance, that your bed is placed in the Career area. This may not be a problem, but there is likely to be conflict if, for instance, you are wanting to start a family.

Check for clutter in each area of the room. A friend of mine has a tidy house, but was finding it hard to progress financially. I could find no signs of clutter in the house, which was well-balanced from a feng shui point of view. I puzzled over this for some time, until his wife mentioned that when he undressed for bed he simply dropped all his clothes to the floor in the wealth area, where they stayed until morning. As soon as he started putting the dirty clothes in the laundry and hung up his other clothes before going to bed, his finances improved. In effect, the wealth area in their bedroom was cluttered for some eight hours every day, and this is what was holding my friend back.

Directions and Elements

Each of the eight sides of the pa-kua also indicates a direction and an element. The need for directions may sound surprising when you consider that the pa-kua is laid down using the position of your front door, which could theoretically be facing any one of the eight directions. The compass directions are not used when performing the Aspirations of the Pa-kua. However, they are used inside the house for determining the best rooms for different family members.

Nowadays, the traditional family terms are not always appropriate. Consequently, the southwest direction, which is perfect for the mother, could nowadays represent an older woman. Likewise, the adult son could represent any young man, arid the eldest daughter could indicate any mature female who lived in the house.
These directions are determined by using a compass inside the door or entrance to the different rooms. A room that has the door opening to the northeast would make a good bedroom for a young boy or the youngest son.

In the East, houses are frequently designed with the front of the house facing to the south to attract as much sunlight as possible. This means that the directions given above also determine the’best areas of the house fo~ dif­ferent activities. For instance, the southeast is the ideal place for a study or office, as this is the wealth area. The south is also a good place for a study, office or workrooms, as it is the fame area. The daughters of the family should use the rooms in the southwest as this area relates to marriage. Young children should use the rooms in the west as this sector relates to them. Older children should use the rooms in the northwest to attract mentors who can help them. Teenage children should use rooms in the north to help them focus on career. The east is a good direction for the master bedroom as this is the family sector.

In traditional feng shui, houses always faced south and the front door and most important rooms faced in this direction, also. The kitchen traditionally faced east, and the rooms of the older members of the family faced southeast. 

The Eight Trigrames Method

The Eight Trigrams Method also makes use of the pa-kua. The eight trigrams come from the 1 Ching1 and each relates to a different compass direction. This method is sometimes known as the Nine Stars, and is named after the Big Dipper, which indicates the North Star in the northern hemisphere. The Big Dipper consists of just seven stars, but the ancient Chinese added two symbolic, imaginary stars to indicate good and bad omens. Hence, there are the nine stars.

The eight trigrams are made up from three lines that are either broken or complete. There are eight possible combi­nations, one for each direction of the octagonal pa-kua.

The Individual Trigrams

Chien — The creative

Direction   Northwest
Symbol     Heaven
Keyword   Strength
Element    Sky

Chien consists of three unbroken lines. These lines are known as yang lines. Chien relates to the head of the family, which is usually the father, and the rooms that he is most likely to occupy, such as the study, den, or main bedroom. Chien represents energy, determination and persistence.

K’un — The Receptive

Direction   Southwest
Symbol     The Earth
Keyword   Obedience
Element    Earth

K’un consists of three broken lines (known as yin lines), and represents the maternal qualities. Consequently, it usually indicates the mother and the rooms she is most likely to occupy, such as the kitchen and sewing room. K’un symbolizes close relationships, particularly that between husband and wife.

Chen — The Arousing

Direction     East
Symbol       Thunder
Keyword      Progress
Element      Wood

Chen is composed of two broken (yin) lines above an unbroken (yang) line. It represents the oldest son. As Chen’s direction is in the East, this makes a good position for the oldest son’s bedroom. It relates to decisiveness and forward progress.

Sun —The Gentle

Direction   Southeast
Symbol     Wind
Keyword   Pentration
Element    Wood

Sun consists of two yang (unbroken) lines over a yin (broken) line. It relates to the oldest daughter. Conse­quently, her bedroom should be located in the southeast part of the house. It relates to wholesomeness, percep­tion, and inner strength.

K’an — The Abysmal

Direction   North
Symbol     Water
Keyword   Entrapment
Element    Water

K’an is made up of a yang line between two yin lines. It relates to the middle son. His bedroom would ideally be in the north side of the house. K’an relates to ambition, drive, and hard work.

Li — The Clinging

Direction    South
Symbol      Fire
Keyword    Magnificence
Element     Fire

Li consists of a yin line between two yang lines. It relates to the middle daughter. Her bedroom should be located in the south part of the house. Li relates to happiness, laughter, beauty, and warmth.

Ken—Keeping Still

Direction    Northeast
Symbol      Mountain
Keyword    Pause
Element     Earth

Ken is made up of two yin lines beneath a yang line. It relates to the youngest son. His bedroom should be in the northeast part of the house. Ken relates to stability and consolidation.

Tut —The Joyful

Direction    West
Symbol      Mouth
Keyword    Joy
Element     Lake

Tui consists of two yang lines beneath a yin line. It relates to the youngest daughter. Her bedroom should be in the west part of the house. Tui relates to pleasure, joy and satisfaction.

Personal Trigrams 

Your personal trigram is based on the year of your birth. You can look up your personal trigram in Appendix 2.
Your home also has a personal trigram depending on which direction the back of your home faces. In feng shui, this direction is known as where the back sits. For example, a Tui house faces east, but the back sits to the west.

Name               Back sits             Front faces

Li                    South                North
K’un                Southwest          Northeast
Tui                  West                 East
Chien              Northwest          Southeast
K’an                North                 South
Ken                 Northeast           Southwest
Chen               East                  West
Sun                 Southeast          Northwest

The perfect home for you is one where the trigram of the house is the same as your personal trigram. Fortu­nately, the eight houses can be divided into two groups, the East Four Houses and the West Four Houses. The East Four Houses are Li, K’an, Chen, and Sun. The West Four Houses are Chien, K’un, Ken, and Tui. Each of these form a harmonious grouping based on the cycle of elements. The East Four Houses are made up of the fire, water, and wood elements, and the West Four Houses all belong to the elements of earth and metal.

You are likely to be happy in a home that belongs to the same grouping as you. If you are a Li, for instance, you would be happy living in any of the East Four Houses (Li, K’an, Chen, and Sun). You would also be happy living in a home where the front door opened to the east. Likewise, if you belong to the West Four Houses you would be happy living in a house where the front door ‘faced the west.

An immediate difficulty may h.ave occurred to you. What happens when you belong to, say, the East Four Houses, but your partner belongs to the West group? In the past, the trigram of the man of the house was always the deciding factor. Nowadays, it is usually the trigram of the major breadwinner. Individual rooms are arranged according to the trigram of the person using them most.

It has always been considered extrernely fortunate when a husband and wife share the same group of houses. This means that the same directions and positions will be beneficial for both of them.

Positive and Negative Directions

In every home there are four positive directions and four negative ones. These are determined by the way the house sits. For instance, in a Chien house, northwest, northeast, southwest, and west are considered positive directions, while south, southeast, north, and east are considered negative directions. The positive and negative directions for each type of home are shown in Figure 2F (next page). Each direction refers to a different area of life.

Prime Location

The Prime location is a good one. It is always in the same direction as the house sits towards. It is sometimes known as Fu Wei, which means “good life.” This area is always sited at the back of the house and is a good place for bedrooms.

Health Location

The Health location is a good area that provides energy and good health. It is an excellent location for the master bedroom and the dining room. This area should be stim­ulated to help anyone suffering from ill health.

Longevity Location

The Longevity location provides peace, harmony, and good health. This area should be stimulated when family life is not going as smoothly as it should be. It can elimi­nate marital discord and family problems.

Prosperity Location

The Prosperity location is the most positive area in the house. It represents progress, financial success, enthusi­asm, and vitality. This area is good for the front door, kitchen door, study, or home office. The Prosperity loca­tion is often known as Sheng Chi, which means “generat­ing good ch’i.” The direction indicated by the Prosperity location is your most fortunate direction. If you can orient the most important things in your life in this direction, while avoiding shars, your success is assured. You can enhance this area by having your bed point in this direction, and by traveling to work in this direction.

Death Location

The Death location is related to accidents, illness, and other misfortunes. It is a good place in the house for the toilet. (In fact, all of the negative directions are good locations for the toilet as this is where bad ch’i is “flushed” away.) This is the worst location in the house and your front door should not face in this direction.

Disaster Location

The Disaster location is related to disputes, legal problems and arguments. It is a good place for storerooms and for the pantry and toilet. Your bed should not be aligned in this direction.

Six Shars Location

The Six Shars location is related to procrastination and loss of reputation and money. This is a good location for the kitchen or toilet.

Five Ghosts Location

The Five Ghosts location is related to fire, theft, and money difficulties. If your front door faces in this direction you are likely to suffer from fire or theft. This location is a good position for storerooms and the toilet.

To determine the exact areas of your home that relate to these locations you need to overlay a pa-kua over a floor plan of your home. You can use either the octagonal form or a square or rectangular version. If your house is an unusual shape, you may have to use two or three pa-kuas to cover the entire house. If you are using the octagonal version, the central position of the pa-kua is placed over the Good Luck area in the center of the house.

Imagine that you live in the house shown in Figure 2G. This is a Chen house, which faces west and sits to the east.

For ease of explanation, we will use a square-shaped pa-kua that fits over the floor plan of the house (Figure 2H).

This means that the four positive directions are: Prime in the east, Health in the north, Longevity in the southeast, and Prosperity in the south.

Naturally, there are four negative directions as well: Death is in the west, Disaster in the southwest, Six Shars in the northeast, and Five Ghosts in the northwest.

Now that we have this information, we can interpret the results. I usually start with the Prime direction as this is always the same direction that the house sits towards.

In this house, the Prime direction is in the east and takes up part of both the master bedroom and the hallway.

This location is the perfect site for bedrooms. The Prime location is also known as Fu Wei (literally “good life”), and bodes well for the master bedroom. In the East, they believe that if your bedroom is located here you will have more male descendants than female ones. This is good if you happen to be wanting a boy. However, if you are wanting a daughter, you will have to display some items relating to baby girls on your dressing table.

The Health location is situated in the north in this house. This location is considered a good one for the master bedroom and the dining room. We have neither of these in the Health location in this house, but the second bedroom is here, which is almost as good. This is the area of vitality and good health. The occupant of this bedroom will benefit from this.

The Longevity location is in the southeast. This area is taken up with the third bedroom and half of the bathroom. This bedroom is the ideal one for any elderly people living in the house. In China, this area is known as Men Yi, which means “a long life with many heirs.” It is unfortunate that half of the bathroom is included in the Longevity location as it means that some of the benefits of this location are being “flushed” down the toilet. A large mirror on the wall that divides these two rooms would make a good remedy for this.

The Prosperity location is in the south and includes the kitchen and half of the bathroom. This direction is usually the most auspicious direction in the whole house. Unfor­tunately, water gets drained away in both the kitchen and bathroom, making this the worst possible placement for these rooms. These two rooms would need a number of remedies to offset the negative aspects of the bathroom and kitchen. The most important would be to ensure that none of the pipes that drain the water away are visible. Hanging a crystal in both rooms would encourage the ch’i to flow upwards and away from the downpipes. Both rooms should be decorated in cheerful, positive colors to encourage the ch’i to come in and stay for a while.

The Death location suffers from a bad name, and is the first of the negative locations that are present in every house. In China this area is known as Chueh Ming (”total catastrophe”) and it relates to accidents, illnesses, and other disasters. It is the perfect spot for the toilet.
Unfortunately, in this house the Death location takes up the half of the living room that includes the front door. This is the worst possible place for the front door, because it relates to ill health and loss of money and reputation.

To make matters even more difficult, the other half of the living room is in the northwest, which represents the Five Ghosts location. This relates to fire, theft, and finan­cial problems. Consequently, the living room in this house will need a number of remedies to protect the occupants.

The front door would need to be well-lit and appear attractive to visitors. The chairs where the occupants sit should ideally be in the part of the living room that relates to the Health location, to ensure their vitality and health.

The Disaster location is in the southwest. This area relates to arguments, disagreements, and anger. Unfortu­nately, the dining room is in this location. A chandelier or other form of bright lighting would be needed in this room to avoid disputes while entertaining guests.

The Six Shars location is in the northeast and incorpo­rates some two-thirds of the master bedroom. Six Shars relates to procrastination, loss, and scandal. Consequently, the bed should ideally be sited in the part of the room covered by the Prime location.

I have deliberately chosen this particular house as many of the positive areas are in negative locations and vice versa. No home is perfect, and you will probably find one or two areas in your own home will be in the wrong locations. There is no need to be alarmed by this. Simply make the necessary remedies, and you will find life going more smoothly for you. (Chapter 11 contains all the feng shui remedies that you will need for any problem area.)

As you can see, both the Aspirations of the Pa-kua and the eight trigrams give us a good picture of the entire house. However, neither gives us all the information we need to provide a complete picture. To do that we have to look at the front door and each of the rooms. We will start on that in the next chapter.

Feng Shui Tips

8 Avoid clutter. Make a concentrated effort to discard anything that you are simply storing and not using.

9 Help your forward progress by activating your home using the areas indicated by the Aspirations of the Pa-kua.

10 Single-level homes produce more ch’i than split-level homes. Split-level homes also confuse the ch’i when it comes in the front door as it does not know whether to head up or down. It is also believed that if your living room is on a higher level than the dining room and kitchen, all the good ch’i will leave the house with your visitors. Bedrooms, studies and recreation rooms also should not be on a higher level than the dining room. Finally, it is considered negative to enter a house on the higher level and then go down some stairs to the rest of the house. This is because going downward signifies a demo­tion or loss of status.

11 The house should face the south.

12 The front door should face the south.

13 Kitchens should face east.

14 Bedrooms should not open directly onto the kitchen.

15 The ratio of windows to doors should not exceed three to one.

16 Long, straight hallways should be avoided.

17 There should not be three or more doorways a straight line.

18 Single-level homes are better than split-level homes.

19 Spiral staircases should be avoided.