Does one room in your house make you feel relaxed and at ease -- while in another you feel nervous and tense? According to the ancient Chinese philosophy of feng shui, the layout of your home and the placement of furnishings affect the movement of ch'i, or life-force energy, through your home. Balancing the flow of energy in your living or working space is said to promote happiness, good health and even prosperity. A home in which you can look through the house from the front door out the back door is said to have detrimental feng shui. The ch'i goes in the front door and straight out the back instead of circulating through the house. Channel the energy by creating a buffer, such as an arrangement of plants or trees, a bookcase or a wall screen, to move the ch'i around. To find out more about feng shui, check out the wide variety of books and Web sites on the subject. Many are do-it-yourself resources. Deal with problems in your own home intuitively by determining areas of your living space that make you feel anxious, uneasy or argumentative, and use general remedies (see below) for balancing the ch'i. These general remedies come from the earth's five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. A water fountain helps energy flow and improves ch'i wherever it is placed. It is an especially good remedy for an area of hard or argumentative energy. Water Fountain Materials:
Container
Fish-tank pump
Floating candles
- For an average-size room, select a container large enough to hold at least 10 gallons of water. Metal enhances the energy of the water, making it the best choice for getting more ch'i into the space (figure A). Earth-based containers, often chosen for fountains, are not a good choice in feng shui because in the five-element theory, earth muddies water.
- Fill the container with water, and insert the pump (figure B). The pump will make the water bubble and keep it moving.
- Add floating candles to hide the pump (figure C).
- Put the fountain on an attractive stand, if desired, to make it a focal point as well as a remedy.
RESOURCES :
Feng Shui Revealed
Model: 0609602942
Author: R. D. Chin and Gerald Warfield
June 1998
Clarkson Potter/The Crown Publishing Group/Random House
Website: www.randomhouse.com
Home Design With Feng Shui
Model: 1561707880
Author: Terah Kathryn Collins
Hayhouse 2001
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