A home should be much more than just a place to rest our head at night. The word home conjures up many more pleasant images in our mind than the words house or apartment. When you return from work, does it feel good to be home? Do you start to get this feeling as you come up the street, or into the drive? If so, you already have a great deal of positive feng shui in your home.

The moment we move into a new home we invest it with our personalities. Every piece of furniture has a story to tell. Ornaments and pictures on the walls reflect our tastes and attitudes. The books on the bookshelves reveal our interests. Framed photographs remind us of the people we love and also tell others a great deal about our backgrounds and the people we care about. Even when we move into a temporary home for just a few weeks, we try to make it as pleasing as possible by displaying personal objects that give us pleasure.

Consequently, by making their homes as harmonious and as comfortable as possible, most people intuitively use feng shui all the time without knowing it. I am sure you have had the experience of walking into a room and subconsciously feeling that everything was right. You have doubtless also had the experience of entering a room and sensing that something was wrong. In the first case, the feng shui of the room was good. Most of the time, the second room would also experience good feng shui with just a few simple adjustments.

Ch’i

The ancient Chinese believed that a green dragon or white tiger lived beneath every hill or mountain. Where these two animals symbolically coupled was the perfect location for a home. They also believed that the dragon created ch’i with its breath. In fact, ch’i is often referred to as “the dragon’s breath.”

Ch’i is the universal life force. It gathers near gently flowing water and is created whenever anything is done perfectly. A composer creating a beautiful melody is also creating ch’i. A poet writing a sonnet creates ch’i, too. Someone baking a magnificent cake is creating ch’i. A tennis player scoring an ace is creating ch’i.

To operate effectively we need to encourage as much ch’i as possible into our home.

Ch’i can be both positive and negative. For instance, gently moving water creates positive ch’i, while stagnant water creates negative ch’i. We want as much good ch’i as possible, but naturally want to eliminate any negative ch’i.

Ch’i needs to be nurtured and gathered. It is easily scattered and dissipated by strong winds or rapidly flow­ing water. This is why we want gentle breezes and mean­dering streams near our homes. Both combine to create good, positive ch’i.

Yin and Yang

Ch’i is made up of both yin and yang. Yin and yang are the two opposites in ‘i.e universe. For instance, night and day, short and tall, front and back, and male and female are all examples of yin and yang. None of these can exist without the other. Without night there could be no day, and without black there would be no white. The ancients never tried to define yin and yang, but delighted in col­lecting lists of opposite.1

Yin is represented by black, and yang is white. The concept began many thousands of years ago when the ancient Chinese called the shady, northern slopes ol a mountain yin and the sunny, southern slopes yang.

As a result of this, the ancient Taoists used the familiar symbol of yin and yang to represent completion. This symbol, which looks like two tadpoles in a circle, symbolizes the universe (Figure 1A). One tadpole is black with a white dot in it, and the other white with a black dot in it. The dots indicate that inside every yin there is a certain amount of yang, and inside every yang is a degree of yin.

Everything in the universe is composed of yin and yang energies that are constantly interacting with each other.

In our own environments, we need a balance of yin and yang. If our neighborhood is entirely flat, it is said to be too yin. If it is extremely hilly, it is considered too yang. Thousands of years ago, hills were used to represent the yang energies. Nowadays, we usually look at neighboring houses to provide this. It is interesting to reflect that pagodas (Figure IB) were originally devised to create yang energy. Today, miniature pagodas are often still used as decorative ornaments and to symbolize the yang energies.

If your property is too yin, you can remedy this by planting shrubs and trees or perhaps introducing rocks or a garden shed. It is important to think ahead. Small trees frequently grow into big trees, which can alter the feng shui of the immediate area.

If your area is too yang, you may be able to flatten part of your property to create a balance of yin and yang energy.

Even the house itself is divided into yin and yang areas. The front of the house, which serves to greet people to the property, is outgoing and yang. The farther inside the house you go, the more yih, and private, the rooms become. This is why bedrooms usually feel better if they are situated well away from the front door.

The Five Elements

In feng shui we use the traditional five elements of Chinese astrology: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The Chinese believe that everything in the universe belongs to one of these five elements. They represent the five different ways that ch’i energy is manifested. Your year of birth determines which of these elements is most important to you. Elements for each year of birth are listed in Appendix 1. In fact, if you have a Chinese horoscope prepared, you will find that you have most or all five of these elements in your makeup. A good astrologer will be able to balance and interpret the different weightings of each element in your horoscope.

The five elements proceed in a definite progression. Wood burns and creates fire. After fire has bumed out, the result is earth. From the earth we obtain metal (gold, silver, etc.). Metal liquefies which symbolically produces water. Finally, water nurtures which creates wood (plants). Consequently, we have a circle of energy that continually goes around and around (Figure 1C).

The five elements also relate to different shapes. Fire is triangular, earth is square, metal is round, water is hori­zontal and curving, and wood is rectangular and vertical. Architects make use of this when they want to design a building for a specific purpose. A building designed to deal with financial projects will often be metal-shaped.

Wood

Color        Green
Season     Spring
Direction   East
Shape      Rectangular and vertical
Animal      Dragon
Virtue       Benevolence
Quality     Loyalty

Wood is creative. If this is the predominant element in your makeup, you will need to express yourself in some way, ideally creatively. Wood nurtures others and repre­sents humanitarianism, strong family ties, and new ideas.

Live plants, fresh flowers, and green objects represent the wood element.
The Bank of China building in Hong Kong is a spectacular and controversial example of a wood-shaped building.

Fire

Color        Red
Season     Summer
Direction   South
Shape      Triangular
Animal      Phoenix
Virtue       Propriety
Quality      Reason and logic

Fire gives enthusiasm and energy. Consequently, fire people make natural leaders. It is associated with fame and good fortune. However, fire not only warms and invigorates; it can also burn. People with the right amount of fire in their makeup are fair, considerate, and honorable. People with too much fire are critical, foul-mouthed, and resentful of other people’s success.

Candlesticks, incense holders, and red objects repre­sent the fire element.

The pyramid that forms the entrance to the Louvre is an excellent example of a fire-shaped structure. It is in striking juxtaposition to the water-shaped building of the Louvre. Together, they create enormous power and energy that attracts tourists from all around the world.

Earth

Color        Yellow
Season     Indian summer
Direction   Center
Shape      Square
Animal      Ox
Virtue       Faith
Quality     Honesty

Earth gives stability, reliability, and common sense. It is patient, honest, loyal, methodical, and well-balanced. Earth people are sympathetic and responsible. However, the earth element can also be over-demanding and unwilling to make changes or progress.

Yellow objects and any items made of terra-cotta, pot­tery, or ceramics serve to represent the earth element.
Most homes are reasonably squarish in shape, which means that they are described as earth homes.

Metal

Color        White (and metallic colors such as gold)
Season     Autumn
Direction   West
Shape      Round
Animal      Tiger
Virtue       Righteousness
Quality     Clarity of thought

Metal is the element of business and financial success. It represents clear thinking and an upright, moral outlook. However, metal can also indicate a knife or sword, which shows that metal can also be violent. This can be expressed through emotional outbursts and a lack of focus.

Wind chimes and anything else made of metal represent the metal element.

The round dome on the top of the Taj Mahal makes it a fine example of a metal-shaped building.

Water

Color       Black and blue
Season    Winter
Direction  North
Shape     Horizontal and curving
Animal    Tortoise
Virtue     Wisdom
Quality    Persistence

Water symbolizes knowledge, wisdom, communication, and travel. Water can be either gentle (soft rain) or violent (hurricanes). Water is essential for life on earth and nourishes all living things. However, water can also wear away the hardest rock.

A fish bowl, decorative fountain, or anything else that is black, blue, or contains water represents the water element.

The Houses of Parliament in London are a good exam­ple of a water-shaped building.

Shars

Share are frequently known as “poison arrows.” They are created by straight lines or sharp angles. A road heading in a straight line towards your home is creating a shar (Figure ID, next page). A similar shar may also be caused by the path leading to your front door if it is a straight line.

Nearby houses can also create shars. If the house next door to you is at a forty-five degree angle to your home, it is likely to be sending a shar towards you (Figure IE). Roof lines can also send shars in your direction.

Fortunately, in feng shui there is a remedy for every negative thing, including shars. If the shar cannot be seen, it ceases to exist. Consequently, a hedge, fence or tree can be used to conceal the shar and effectively eliminate it.

Mirrors can also be used as a remedy. The perfect mir­ror is a circular one, approximately one to two inches in diameter, centered in the middle of an octagonal shaped piece of wood. Around the mirror are the eight trigrams of the I Ching. (The trigrams are discussed in the next chapter.) The trigrams are important as they make the mirror active, rather than passive. These active mirrors are known as pa-kua mirrors.

The mirror is placed on the side of the house pointing directly at the shar. Symbolically, the mirror reflects the shar back where it came from.

The people of Hong Kong often have “mirror wars.” Someone will see a shar heading towards him and will erect a pa-kua mirror to send it back. His neighbor will notice the mirror and will erect one of his own. Before long, they will have several mirrors each, effectively sending the shar back and forth.

Feng Shui Tips

1 Use your intuition when it comes to arranging fur­niture and ornaments. You will almost always make the right choice according to feng shui.

2 Try to have all five elements represented in your home. Together they symbolize completion and help create a sense of harmony and comfort.

3 Your furniture should represent both yin (curved) and yang (straight). A combination of gentle curves and straight lines helps create balance.

4 Mirrors are useful for reflecting back shars, and can also reflect people and pleasant view, from outside. Mirrors should be kept as clean as possible to help the ch’i flow freely.

5 Chandeliers are a wonderful way of attracting ch’i into your home. The different crystals draw in the ch’i and then reflect it out again in every direction.

6 Crystals and bright objects also reflect ch’i energy outwards. Keep any reflective surfaces clean to encourage the ch’i.

7 Make sure your home is kept in the best possible condition. Keep the paint work fresh, repair any leaking faucets, and replace any blown bulbs as quickly as possible. Keep your windows clean and replace any cracked or broken glass. This is because the health of your home relates directly to you and your health.