I recall the precise moment I got hooked on the Chinese art of placement, popularly known as feng shui. It was pre-2000 and I was home watching the late news. A TV segment feature on how people could improve their lives by simply picking the right colors and re-arranging their furniture tickled my curiosity. Back then, I was gainfully employed and my life was going well, but I figured that it didn’t hurt to pay attention. Practicing the prosperity techniques in feng shui could turn out to be a positive enhancement in my life.
The news feature included a brief orientation on feng shui. It was too brief... and left me salivating! But it was enough to light a bulb in my head... an inspiration that got me on a mission to quench my thirst for this new-found knowledge. I promptly found myself reading books on the subject by different Masters of the field, even buying a compass to determine my lucky direction. Unfortunately, the information I gathered in the beginning all went past my head. The data that discussed geomancy and other alien stuff were too ancient for my taste and too irrelevant to have any use in my life!
Then I discovered Lillian Too, a long-time (over 30 years) feng shui practitioner based in Malaysia and an expert on the subject. She is reportedly the best-selling author on feng shui and has published over 80 books that have been translated into 30 languages. I found her ideas to be more in tune with my modern day needs. The Flying Star concept is still too alien for me to grasp, but overall, her tips have been very useful in my life.
For instance in “168 Ways to Declutter Your Life,” she hit the nail on the head. Her advice is to keep the staircase free of any junk as this area in the home moves "the energy from one level of the home to the next," therefore "should not be stacked with clutter." She advises that stairways should be clutter-free "so that the flow of chi into the living quarters of the home is smooth" which "greatly facilitates the replenishment of chi throughout the house." The carpeted steps of my staircase has turned out to be the most convenient holding station for little things that I could easily grab at a moment’s notice. For me that was a way of getting “organized.” But I have to admit that looking at that space or simply walking by it had given me a sense of unease, even a little headache. After I decluttered it, I felt instant relief and appreciation. It seemed that my little world suddenly gained brand new light!
In the mid-1990's when I was house-hunting, my broker took me to a showing where every step of the homeowner's staircase displayed a pair of shoes. The footwear wasn't a decorative touch, but an indication that the woman of the house didn't have the space to store her shoes. She might have thought that the shoe display was a refreshing interior decor idea, but it was a feng shui no-no.
Feng shui, after all, is the practice of positioning objects based on yin and yang patterns and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects. Even non-feng shui practitioners will be able to tell when an object or furniture arrangement doesn't feel right because their energy could drop at the sheer sight of it. For instance, when you walk through the front door and you see clutter or items in disarray in that area, wouldn't you get a negative vibe?
Thanks to Lillian, three-legged money toads have become auspicious additions in my home. Following Lillian’s advice to not have more than nine money frogs positioned in the house, I have all kinds of pretty frogs, in various shades and sizes, with coins in their mouths, sitting above-ground level on strategic places in the space behind the front door. There’s a few looking at an angle towards the door (the symbolism of money opportunities) and more positioned going inside (symbolism of keeping the wealth). I didn’t forget to put a few toads right where it really matters: the Wealth corner! It is the space diagonal from the main door of the home.
People who don’t practice feng shui might find the idea of money frogs inhabiting their comfort zone really bizarre, even creepy, but based on my personal experience, my toad housemates (as well as the elephant...dragon... phoenix...fish... horse... tortoise...bat creature symbols sharing my space... but that's a feng shui topic for another day) have brought me unexpected luck and opportunities. Although I believe in the money-magnet power of money frogs, I’m not in the habit of shoving the practice down my friends’ or acquaintances’ throats. Unless people ask me about it, I don’t force my belief on them. You see, feng shui is almost like a religion. People need to have faith in it and believe that it will work wonders in their lives before any magic can happen.
One woman I know recently wondered aloud how her family finances could be improved. Her husband's business hasn't been doing well, therefore becoming a source of financial frustration. She had read about feng shui, but wasn’t exactly doing the positive enhancements needed to cure the problem. That was the cue I needed. I immediately went to work collecting some money magnet symbols that might help her situation. But I emphasized to her the unwritten law of the practice: “You must BELIEVE.” Add to that my personal feng shui mantra: "A good heart is a must." My assumption is that the reason that this practice hasn't worked for some folks is due to the lack of human goodness that merits any reward.
In addition to the prosperity-attracting symbols, I found a major feng shui taboo that might have been at the root of the woman's money woes: Their basement toilet facing the staircase (symbolism: finances being flushed down the drain). We got that taken care of, and hopefully, with the feng shui symbols I have added to her home decor, the family finances will soon see an improvement. All I can do now is to wish her abundant feng shui luck and blessings!
