Free Newsletters About Feng Shui!

Enter your Email


Almanac

Use the Almanac below daily to help you in selecting the most auspicious days and times for activities and events such as weddings, renovations, travelling, opening a business and even a good day for mending your tools.

A Chinese almanac (Chinese calendar) or ‘Tung Sing’ is based on the lunar cycle, providing a guideline that either promotes or advises against certain tasks being undertaken on certain days depending on the combination of the Heavenly Stem and the Earthly Branch. Virtually every home in Asia will have one of these and refer to it daily, it tells you when to do and not to do certain jobs or events. Sallie will be translating the almanac each month so check back monthly for updates.

The ten Heavenly Stems are the five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal. The Twelve Earthly Branches are the twelve animals of Chinese astrology: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The stem and branches express each other in a 60-year cycle in terms of the five elements in their yin and yang states.

In former times, once the many characteristics of a building site had been considered, auspicious dates had to be chosen carefully for the actual building tasks in order to ensure harmony.

The almanac is published annually and mainly consists of:

  • An update on the annual energies of the Nine Palaces of a property and the three annual afflictions according to the Xuan Kong system of Feng Shui.
  • A ‘Huang Li’ or imperial calendar with recommended days to proceed with or avoid certain tasks or projects during the year. There is a section dedicated to recommended days for ‘spring cleaning’ before Chinese New Year.
Favourable or unfavourable days according to an individual Year’s Pillar of the Four Pillars ‘Ba Zi’.

Xuan Kong Flying Stars

I shall explain a little here what Xuan Kong (flying stars) is in order to benefit our readers who are not familiar with it.

The Xuan Kong system addresses the time dimension of Feng Shui of a given property (home or office). This is an analysis of the interaction of elements (fire, earth, metal, water and wood) within the different sectors of the property and how we may enhance the good energies to give us support or suppress the bad energies by keeping them at bay. Every year we put together an annual cures kit, which cures and enhances good and bad stars; these are essential for every home and office.

If you were thinking of building a house, this is the time when we analyse the natal chart (flying star chart as below) to establish the best locations for all doors and the allotment of important rooms in order to harness the beneficial distribution of energy. Every property will have good and bad stars, the secret is placing the good stars in places like an office, bedroom, lounge or dining room and the bad ones in places like a kitchen, bathroom, en-suite, cloakroom or utility room.

In Feng Shui terms, the interaction between the energies of each sector of a Xuan Kong chart above, "the Heavenly Heart of the House" (centre of home), will affect the well being of the household.

In addition, this interaction is further influenced by the visitation of the Annual visiting energy that represents the potential influence, as well as the Monthly visiting energy that acts like a catalyst. These influences are experienced in varying degrees throughout the month because of the Daily visiting energy.

Feng Shui professional series

You will need some experience of Xuan Kong to fully understand the information below, although the majority of this site is fundamental teaching so do not be put of the complexity below.

If you follow Xuan Kong flying star you should have for the past 19 ½ years have been activating yours or your clients #7 water star for wealth with a water feature, this star has become very weak and will revert to its inauspicious nature in 6 months time. Sallie and Michael have been activating the future # 8 star with excellent results for some time now.

If you have a door in this area it is very good and needs to be activated with water, use the door more often and place objects that cause activity like a radio, electric fan and leave the door open as much as possible. The # 8 water star needs activity so windows should be kept open; wherever your # 8 water star is activate it with water.

Two very important things to consider are:

1) If your #8 water star falls in the north east for 2004 you should be very careful placing water here as this is the "direct spirit" palace and generally should not have water in especially outside, it obviously depends on how will react with the mountain, period and annual stars.

2) If your #8 water star is imprisoned (locked) in the heavens heart (central palace) you will need drastic action to release it otherwise wealth will be very bad for the next 20 years. The only way to do this is to make sure the #8 water star has a direct route to the #5 water star and a water feature needs to be placed where the #5 star is located.

By direct route I mean if your #8 star is the central palace occupying the dining room and the #5 star is in the hallway, the walls and doors will have be knocked down so the 8 & 5 can see each other. This is the only time you should ever place water in a #5 water star and even then you should be 100% sure you know what you are doing.

There is another way it becomes unlocked if the building can see real water close by, again this requires careful evaluation and confidence.

Fu Dogs position for your home or office

Also know as guardian Lions, lion dogs, or temple lions. We consult on hundreds of homes and business each year and in my opinion 70% will have Fu Dogs either placed by the door or windowsills, I would also say that 50% are placed in the wrong order.

You will find many variations on web sites, some will have a globe under one paw others will have a Cub under another paw, the most significant thing to remember is the order placement and not which foot the globe or cub is under.

The male lion, holding a globe under his left or right paw should be placed on the left side (as you are looking out of a door or window).

The female lion, holding a cub under her right or left paw is placed on the right side.

Fu Dogs are an extremely powerful protection for your home or business, you will find nearly every home or business in Asia complemented by a pair either inside or outside. Out of all the cures and enhancers in Feng Shui Fu Dogs in our opinion are the most essential.

Feng Shui and Numerology

The Chinese are very superstitious when it comes to figures, they choose telephone numbers, house number, business numbers, car number plates and anything that has numbers in very carefully.

Every month we get to visit several homes and businesses on consultations and it amazes us as how far our clients take Feng Shui almost to paranoia, which is not good. If you have bad numbers do not worry about it, as I will show you how to eliminate the inauspicious effects.

A little story to begin with, last Friday night I was parked outside the cinema waiting to pick up my two boys and as much as I hate to admit it I was listening to BBC radio 4. I know you always think of the Archers or such like and this is what my Grandma used to listen too, they have some great debates on some nights.

Anyway this program was about superstition, and one of the interviewers was saying how she was not superstitious but had spent the last 30 years saluting magpies or never walking under ladders or the cracks of pavements. Well numbers and Feng Shui, are more superstitious Chinese folklore than anything else, do I take it seriously? Yes and no, if I found the perfect Feng Shui house with a good facing direction and it was good for my family but the house number was number 4, I would still buy it although I have to admit I would use the counter measures listed below.

The main reason these numbers are considered unlucky is because the way the numbers sounds when spoken especially to the Cantonese. An example in western numbers would be the #11 could sound like heaven or #8 sounds like weight or #1 sounds like son, do you see what I mean? So if you have an unlucky #4 and you are from a country other than China. Think of #4 as sounding like "more" which is great.

Numbers considered unlucky:
#4 (Sei) the worst number, why? Because in Cantonese when spoken sounds like the word death. #13 because if you add 1=3 = 4 as above. #24 #104 are also considered unlucky

Numbers considered lucky
8, 18, 28, 38, 48, 54, 68, 80, 84, 88, 99, 168 & 108 are all good numbers, the reason #8 is so lucky is because if you say the word (patt) it sounds like "faat" which means "prosperity & abundance"

There are many other numbers I have read about that are considered unlucky in my opinion this is "cannon fodder" and just written about to fill books, if you think about it you could go on for ages, #4 when spoken in English sounds like door, more, store, bore, jaw, paw and "SAW" which out of all of these sounds the worst

The cure:
If you own a home or business with a 4 or 13 is to draw a circle around the number, seriously it is that simple. The circle is extremely powerful and encloses the inauspicious effects of a negative number. So if you have a house number 4, a cheap way of curing is to go outside and draw a circle around your number or if you have time and money pop down to your local hardware store and find one of those ceramic door numbers that you can customise with a circle around the number, all this time you were worrying about nothing.

How seriously do we take numbers? I would be over the moon if we found the perfect house with great flying stars and it was #8 or 88, but I would not be put off buying it if it were #4 or 13, I would use the cure as above though or change it to a house name like "rose cottage" etc.


Shapes and the five elements

This part is for the professional Practitioner and gives advice each month on how you can use traditional cures and enhancers for your clients.

One point that is regularly overlooked by many Practitioners is with using the five elements as a cure or enhancer you should also combine shapes as a cure. An example: If you want to activate a #8 mountain star, as you know this is an favourable earth star that would need fire to activate it and more significantly a mountain outside, it would be nice to have an actual mountain but as you know this is not always possible, so you need to create a mountain. When you recommend a mountain to your client ask them to make a pointed shape (triangular) mountain as the point is fire element, do you see what I mean? Use the shape of the element you need that way you are reinforcing the activation of the star.

Another example: If you had a #6 (metal) mountain star that you want to activate for your client use an earth shape mountain (oblong) as earth creates metal.

How do you use shapes inside the home or office? Simply apply the same technique, if you need to activate #1 water star obviously you would recommend metal but you can also combine this with some metal shapes (round) on the wall or a picture of water in the shape of a round pond. If you need a fire element recommend a painting or picture of a triangular shape volcano.

Let your imagination run wild, think about your cures and your enhancers from every angle, if you need to activate a #4 wood mountain star and you are using a line of trees outside to support it ask your client to have them shaped at the top so they are wavy (water) and uneven heights. If you want to activate a front door area that has a #8 mountain star erect a side gate in this area to create more mountain and have the top of the gate with a point on it as this is a fire element and obviously paint the gate red (fire colour).

Feng Shui tips for your home

1) There should be no shoes or slippers lying around outside the main door of your house. Remove it if you can. Allow that space at the main door to be free and clear. The chi (energy) rides with the wind and will collect all the smell of those shoes and slippers into your house causing sickness. Ch’i then travels about in your house looking for water to stay but if there are no water fountains or fish tanks, then the Ch’i will be dispersed by wind.

2) There should be no television sets in your bedrooms: If you cannot get rid of that habit then after watching the television cover it with a plastic table cloth. Remember it has to be plastic and not simply cloth.

3) There should be no mirrors opposite your bed or at the side of your bed. Mirrors opposite the bed can attract a third party to the relationship. Therefore, do not place mirrors anywhere you like and especially in your bedroom.

4) Place an indoor water fountain in your home, position in a favourable area to attract whatever you want in your life.

5) If you already have a fish tank in your house, be careful. A fish tank placed correctly can bring about greater fortune, as you will tap on the "Divine Water Dragon's Den". But if you tap wrongly, it can cause you to have lawsuits, bankruptcy, work pressure, troubles and problems. If you noticed any of these after placing the fish tank for approximately four months, shift your fish tank to another location.

6) In your kitchen, ensure that opposite your stove there is no refrigerator, washing machine, washbasin and toilet. The fire and water crash causing family members to have disagreements.

7) Try not to allow children to sleep on mattresses on the floor. Yes, this allows young children not to fall off beds but it also causes young children to fall sick frequently. The reason is: chi is not able to flow underneath the bed. Ideally, chi should circulate around the mattress where our children sleep to allow them to be healthy.

8) For young children, try to have their back to the wall when they write. It is important there should be a solid wall behind a children's writing table. This allows the child to have support so that he can sit there and study longer rather than for only half an hour and then they tend to move about because there is no solid wall behind their back. Adjust your writing table.

9) Do not allow children to sleep on double bunk beds even if it means saving space. The child sleeping underneath will not have "fresh chi" and so his health might be weak. But if due to space constraints, then monitor your child's health if not add in a metal 6 rods wind chime or a crystal sphere, to break up the "stale chi" around his bed.

10) Your bed should always have a solid wall behind you. This is important if you wish to have a good rest. A solid wall simply means that you can go into deeper sleep and therefore enabling you to have good rest so that when you wake up in the morning, you will feel fresh and well rested. This also allows you to be able to concentrate on your work better.

11) There should be no beam on top of your bed. The beam above causes chi to be pressured thus enabling you to have pressures in life. Therefore, don't place furniture underneath it or alternatively level the beam. But make sure if you choose the latter, it is important that you have enough height for that space.

12) If you have a lot of work pressure, maybe it's the marble table that you have in your dinning room that causes you to have those problems. Remove that marble table and change to a wooden one or alternatively live with that work pressure!

13) If your child usually falls sick in that bedroom: Then either change them to another bedroom or simply hang a six rod metal wind chime as the metal element will break all the earth energies in that room. After hanging, if the wind could not do the job for you then you will have to "chime" it yourself and then watch for the good results.

14) Do not use a red sofa set: The colour red represent the element of fire. And for Feng Shui, some places simply cannot have the colour red in that sector. For example: the wealth area or some other sectors which without a Feng Shui check would be unable to tell you where it is. A red sofa sets gives rise to heavy work pressure, troubles and obstacles.

15) Always open your bedroom windows at least once 20 minutes a day to allow fresh chi to come in, we do this so that it allows fresh new chi from outside to come into your bedroom, if not you will be sleeping with stale chi every night. And if that happens, then how can you expect your life to bring in more good fortune to come to you? So open that window and never mind if dusts comes in! The great good fortune that you can have will far exceeds the time you take to clean off the dust.

INDOOR WATER FEATURES

Water is used to activate or slow down Ch’i in a room, being highly beneficial for health, wealth and relationships. These beautiful fountains copy the natural flow of water in a harmonious way creating the energy of Ch’i. Placing a tabletop fountain in your home or office is the easiest way to add Ch’i into you life and will significantly enhance the desires you are working for. They can have an amazing effect on your wealth, romance and general well-being. To enhance your wealth and prosperity, position your indoor water feature in the southeast element of your home or office. For career luck, place in the north.

Fountains also add the relaxing sound of a babbling brook to your environment and are recommended for homes that have central heating, as they increase the humidity level which in turn decreases dust, pollutants and static electricity. Flowing or moving water also increases negative ions in the air. Excessive amounts of positive ions (which are created by pollution and other factors) can result in sickness and depression. Water Fountains can help by balancing the negative and positive ions in the air. These high quality fountains all have the same effect and your choice of fountain should be one that appeals to you personally. Every home and office should have one.

Wealth & luck = south-east.
Good marriage = south-west.
Career = north. Helpful friends = west.
Good health and family relationship = east.
Study & education = north-east

All fountains come complete with pumps and polished stones where indicated, and are easy to assemble within minutes. All these fountains are designed so you can add crystals or suitable plants.

THE FIVE ELEMENTS

The elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are the foundation for Feng Shui balance and play a very important role in creating the perfect environment.

This is the productive cycle
Wood feeds Fire, Fire feeds earth, Earth feeds metal, Metal feeds water, and Water feeds Wood. This is known as the Sheng cycle.

Destructive cycle
Metal destroys Wood, wood destroys earth, earth destroys water, water destroys fire, and fire destroys metal.

Controlling cycle
Wood controls metal, metal controls fire, fire controls water, water controls earth, earth controls wood.

Dissolving cycle
Wood dissolves water, water dissolves metal, metal dissolves earth, earth dissolves fire, and fire dissolves wood.

THE FIVE ELEMENTS

Wood
The first element is wood because it is the beginning of new life; it is the creator of the five-element cycle. We have heard many times that people use wood furniture as a wood element, this is not a good substitute to use as furniture is dead wood it is lifeless and contains none or little Ch'i, although it can contain positive energy, if it has had a good history, remember furniture, books, virtually anything can contain bad energy from previous owners or even someone who has handled it, that is why we cleanse all our products we sell before we send them out, because we do not always know the history behind them whilst they were being manufactured.

You need to use live wood in the form of a bushy plant similar to a "money plant" as it holds so much live Ch'i and also retains it. Plants also filter the air we breathe; it is so much better to use a natural form when it comes to the wood element. Remember to feed and water it, because if it dies it will hold Sha Ch'i, even on any dead leaves, so keep it in good condition.

The wood element can be replaced by the colour green. I find that the colour is not as effective as the element of live wood though. There shouldn't be many times that you need to use a colour to replace live wood as there are so many plants that we can use indoors. You can of course use both together.

Wood represents the directions of East and the Chen Trigrams 3. It also represents the South East and the Sun Trigrams 4.

Fire
Fire Element is the most "Yang" of the elements. Because fire is so Yang, this is the one instance where colour does work well. A tea-light or table lamp with a red shade make excellent fire remedies, please be very careful when using candles.

Fire represents the South and the Li Trigram 9.

Earth
Earth element is often confused with soil, which is only part of the element, it needs to be combined with rock, clay, and stone etc. i.e. a terracotta pot filled with soil is a perfect earth element, or a clay statue. Earth colours are yellow, beige but not as effective as the real element itself.

Earth represents the North East or the Ken Trigram 8. It also represents the South West or the Kun Trigram 2. In addition, it represents the "Centre" of the Master Trigram 5.

Metal
Metal can be found in many forms. Silver, Gold, Copper, and Bronze are just a few of the Metal Element. You can also be creative when using this element; you could use a brass Kwan yin, three-legged toad or a nice Dragon. When choosing an element try to look at the shape, don't use sharp points or unattractive objects just because they have the element you need, Feng Shui is about creating a harmony and balance and it should look attractive in the environment.

The colours you should use are white, gold, and silver. Metal is the Tui Trigram 7 in the West. It is also the Chien Trigram 6 in the North West.

Water
Water is the key element; we would not exist without it, our planet as our body is made up of mainly water. It is a very powerful element to use, it should always be clear and free flowing, never let it go stagnant, as this will create many problems.

A fountain or aquarium is ideal or a simple fishpond in the garden. Water has always been associated with power. It has been used for thousands of years by Kings and Emperors in the form of protection as in a moat, or a powerful attraction for abundance. If you look at most Cities today, they are either positioned near the water or have large lakes or rivers close by. Most ocean-side and lakeside homes are also sought after. The colours blue or black can replace water. Water represents the Kan Trigram 1 in the North.

You should be careful when using the elements in certain areas, Ideally you should have a consultation for best advice, although in future issues I will be covering this again in even greater detail, because if used correctly they can have a major impact on wealth, health, relationships etc.

TRIGGER AND ENHANCE YOUR LUCK WITH FENG SHUI

Feng Shui theories stem from what the Chinese refer to as the Trinity of Luck: the Heaven Luck , the Man Luck and the Earth Luck .

You might be very ambitious, hard working and willing to tirelessly pursue goals – an order for a consignment, a million dollar contract or the evasive `letter of approval` or MOU - but someone else, a laidback nincompoop doesn’t seem to worry and yet, gets the nod! This is his Heaven Luck . We can’t control the Heaven Luck. We are born with it. It is believed that the Heaven Luck affects 40 percent of our life.

The Man Luck is when you exercise your free will. The Man Luck controls 25 percent of your life. Your success is even more defined if your Heaven Luck is in your favour.

The Earth Luck is the domain of Feng Shui. The Earth Luck controls 35 percent of our life. Feng Shui can enhance, augment and trigger the Earth Luck.


Feng Shui & Fortune 500 Companies

Many companies across the United States, Europe & Asia have been incorporating Eastern practices to have a financial edge over their business rivals. The list includes several companies listed in Fortune 500 and names like Chase Asia, Paine Webber, McKinsey and Company, the Morgan Bank and even the offices of Asian Wall Street Journal.

Chase Asia now strictly follows Feng Shui advice but only after a bad experience they had a few years back. A Feng Shui master they had consulted because of a suggestion from some local people thought that the office of the manager was unlucky.

He saw the coffin shape of the windows of his cabin as an invitation to tragedy and suggested changing the shape and design of the windows. Feng Shui advice also was to have a cure as the building overlooked a graveyard! Seeing the expense and inconvenience such an exercise would require they didn't follow the advice of the Master. Within three months the manager was killed in a plane crash in Kuala Lumpur. Chase Asia decided to shift from the premises!

The Asian Wall Street Journal moved in but only after all the Feng Shui protective measures were taken. Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank paid a handsome amount for Feng Shui advise on the design and location of a `temporary` office for its Chairman even as the new headquarters were being constructed.The first Indian business house that successfully tried Feng Shui was Khaitan. It happened a few years back. The toilet of this company was in the Wealth & Good Fortune area! It was immediately shifted. To the delight of Khaitans the business zoomed. 300 Percent Growth In 120 days!