Feng Shui Dictionary. Lillian Too
(the east or southeast). In the destructive cycle metal destroys wood; the elements are in disharmony and the painting is creating problems for the wood corner. If you occupy a room in this corner you will suffer from the clash of energies.
• If you wish to hang portraits of the monarch, or perhaps the founder of your company, the best wall would be the northwest, since this activates the luck of the Chien trigram. This trigram represents the patriarch, or leader, and hanging a painting of a leader in the northwest creates exceptionally good mentor luck.
• The best art to have in the office is landscape art, because Feng Shui is about the landscape. If you can fold landscape into your office in an unobtrusive manner, you will enjoy harmonious Feng Shui. A mountain painting behind your seat symbolizes support. This is one of the best features to create for good Feng Shui in the office.
• A painting of water or a stream in front of your desk at work effectively simulates water bringing great good fortune to your office. Paintings of rivers, lakes, and waterfalls are therefore to be hung in front of you and never behind.
• Similarly, a painting or a picture of a big, open field in front of you symbolizes the bright hall. This symbolism is enormously lucky, whether real or as a painting, since it suggests a complete and total absence of obstacles. A big, open field suggests that everything will be smooth in your business and in your career.
• Make use of the good fortune symbols of Feng Shui by hanging paintings of fruit and flowers that symbolize abundance and auspicious fortunes.
• Avoid paintings of wild animals such as lions, tigers, leopards, and eagles inside the home or office. They serve you excellently outside, to protect you and your family, but inside the home they can turn against you and bring illfortune, illness, and bad luck.
• Avoid so-called character or intellectual art that shows wizened old men or art that records the tragedies of our age. It is far more auspicious to hang paintings of new life and happy occasions. Remember that everything hung on the walls of your home or office affects the Feng Shui of your home or office.
The Harmony of Yin and Yang Energies
At its most basic, Feng Shui is a question of balance, but this balance is related to the complementarity of opposites, expressed in terms of the Yin and the Yang. According to the Chinese, all things in the universe are either the female Yin or the male Yang, the dark Yin or the bright Yang.
Yin and Yang together make up the wholeness of the universe, which includes heaven and earth. Yin and Yang breathe meaning into each other, for without one, the other cannot exist. Thus, without the Yin of darkness, there cannot be the light of Yang; without the cold temperature of Yin, there cannot possibly be the warmth of Yang, and vice versa.
When there is balance between Yin and Yang, the wholeness of the universe is represented. There is good balance and prosperity, health, well-being, and happiness. Feng Shui practice always includes a Yin–Yang analysis of room space, land configurations, sunlight and shade, dampness and dryness, bright and pale colors, and solids and fluids. Rooms that are too Yin are not auspicious; there are insufficient life energies to bring prosperity. Rooms that are too Yang are said to be damaging because there is too much energy, causing accidents and huge losses. Only rooms – and homes – with balanced Yin and Yang can be auspicious, and will be made even more auspicious if there is a good balance of Yin and Yang outside.
See “Rooms That Are Too Yin” and “Rooms That Are Too Yang”.
Astrology
Chinese astrology, or fortune-telling, is often confused with the practice of Feng Shui. This is due to the overlap of basic concepts, such as those of Yin and Yang, and the theory of the five elements used in both sciences. Also, many practitioners of the art of divination, especially in Hong Kong, incorporate Feng Shui advice in their recommendations, notably those who use the Four Pillars method of divination.
This method is also known as the Paht Chee, or Eight Characters, and is based on the element that is discerned to be “missing” from one’s astrological chart. The fortune-teller will advise siting a main door or a sleeping direction that energizes the element that is missing. This method thus uses the Five-Element theory exclusively and is also based on the subjective judgment of the person undertaking the astrological reading.
A second method of Chinese astrology is the Purple Star, said to be especially accurate in predicting good and bad periods of one’s life. It is the nearest thing to Western astrology but the “stars” it uses in the chart are imaginary stars. Unlike Western astrology, Chinese astrology does not chart the movements of the planets.
Auspicious Feng Shui
This means enjoying various types of Feng Shui luck. Good fortune in Feng Shui usually refers to eight categories of luck and these include:
• enjoying wealth, success, and prosperity;
• having good family life and relationships;
• enjoying good health and having a long life;
• enjoying a good love life/marriage;
• having good descendants’ luck, i.e. children who bring honor to the family;
• enjoying power and the patronage of mentors;
• having a good education; and
• enjoying a good reputation and becoming famous.
Specific Feng Shui measures can be energized to encourage each of these eight different types of good fortune. All the different schools of Feng Shui stress these eight types of human aspirations, and if even one of these aspects of good luck is missing, life, and therefore the Feng Shui, is deemed to be incomplete.
Bad Feng Shui
The antithesis of good luck. Misfortunes caused by Feng Shui often occur frequently and come so thick and fast that you will not fail to see a pattern developing. Thus, if everyone in the home takes turns getting sick, encountering loss, accidents, and problems at work, you should consider if some structure or alignment may be hurting your home. Almost every kind of negative Feng Shui feature can be diffused to some extent. Certain configurations and arrangements may be harder to deal with than others but all negative arrangements can be ameliorated.
Balance
Means applying the Yin and Yang concept to Feng Shui. Feng Shui is about balance. This balance is struck between two cosmic forces, Yin and Yang. These two opposing yet complementary energies shape the universe and everything in it. Together, they form a balanced whole known as the Tao – or “the Way” – the eternal principle of heaven and earth in complete harmony. Achieving good Feng Shui has much to do with balancing the concepts of Yin and Yang. One should never forget, when practicing the science of Feng Shui, that balance is everything. Without balance, your Feng Shui will not be auspicious. See “The Harmony of Yin and Yang Energies,” Yin Energy, Yang Energy.
Balconies
Must be oriented correctly vis-à-vis the entrance. It is not a good feature to have balconies that open in a straight line from the front entrance of the home. This creates an inauspicious flow of energy.
Bamboo
An excellent Feng Shui plant signifying longevity. It is also an extremely useful Feng Shui tool. Bamboo stems can be used in the same way as windchimes, with hollow rods or wooden flutes, to counter the heavy killing breath of an overhead beam. They should be hung in pairs, slanted toward each other at the top, in such a way as to allow the auspicious Chi to rise up to counter the killing breath being emitted from the overhead beam. Because bamboo stems emit no tinkling sound to provide