Tag Archives: Quan Yin

Feng Shui Flowers That Whisper Good Fortune

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“Hear blessings dropping their blossoms all around you.”
– Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

If we wish to attract what is good for us, flowers are a direct path to enhancing our feelings and elevating our sense of well-being. Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General. Hospital and her research team investigated the effects of flowers in the home and they concluded 1) flowers influence people emotionally; they foster compassion and kindness. 2) people feel less negative around flowers. Looking at them first thing in the morning dissipates anxiety or feelings of depression. 3) having flowers at home can carry over to work creating a frame of mind for happiness and enthusiasm. 

In the right place flowers in your home whisper their message, be joyful and blessings will fall like blossoms all around you.

Flowers have a long held importance and cultural significance in Chinese culture. They believe they communicate positive messages.

Here are five of my favorites that I give as Feng Shui adjustments and personally display during the Chinese seasonal festivals.

Peony Their elegant, full blossoms and delicate fragrance make them a favorite of bride’s bouquets and with good reason. The Chinese hold the peony in high esteem because it symbolizes prosperity and nobility. It also represents wealth, rank, female beauty and honor. Yellow and purple varieties are the most desirable. According to Feng Shui tradition, cultivate affluence by hanging either an image of a peony in a vase or placing an actual peony in a vase in the living room of your home. Either one expresses the wish for ‘prosperity and peace’, because the peony represents prosperity and the vase is a rebus for peace.

Orchid We all want someone special who is just right for us. The orchid represents integrity, friendship and nobility. Confucius compared the orchid to a virtuous man. In BSTB Feng Shui tradition to attract a refined and cultured partner place a pink orchid in your Relationship corner. The nuance to this relationship adjustment is visualize you are attracting the perfect person for you.

Lotus The Chinese believe the lotus symbolizes purity, long life, humility and honor. In Chinese Buddhism, Quan Yin is depicted seated on a lotus flower because it rises from the mud in beauty and symbolizes perfection and purity of the heart and mind. Mud represents a meaningful part of the lotus flower’s development. In Buddhist teachings, we humans are born into suffering, it is a vital part of our experience. The sacred lotus grows in the deep mud, far away from the sun. But sooner or later, it reaches the light becoming the most beautiful flower ever. If you’ve struggled to accept your fears. If you’ve felt your burdens have not brought you redemption. If despair reminds you that you feel you’ve failed, it may be difficult to see that these muddy waters make you the exquisite human being that you are, but you are. 

Chrysanthemum The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Double Ninth Festival also called Chongyang Festival (this year it is October 17, 2018). Nine is a yang number (symbolizing forever). Celebrating the double nine brings auspiciousness to the household. “Double Ninth” is pronounced the same as the word “forever” so ancestors are also worshipped on that day. Chrysanthemum is a Chinese word derived from “Chu hua” meaning “October flower”. White chrysanthemums represent nobility and elegance and attract good luck to the home and a life of ease. It is revered like the orchid, bamboo and plum. Displaying chrysanthemums in the home and eating Chongyang (double yang) cakes (cake sounds like height so they are regarded as lucky) are popular customs honoring this festival. They lift the Ch’i of, not only individuals, but families and communities too.

Narcissus Narcissus is known as the “water goddess”. It is said this flower can rout out evil spirits. At Chinese New Year (The Year of the Water Pig is February 5, 2019), the Chinese believe daffodil and Narcissus bulbs when in bloom bring good fortune and luck to a home. The modern take: enliven your Ch’i through the sense of smell. This adjustment calms the nervous system and promotes a sense of well being.

The Flower Cure Many times the most unlikely Feng Shui adjustment has the greatest affect. If the valve between the stomach and the esophagus is not opening and closing properly and there is acid reflux, H.H. “Professor” Lin Yun suggested this cure (nine red envelopes requested). The essence of this cure is how the sense of smell affects the body, mind and spirit.

Photo credit: https://www.quitecontemporary.com/2017/01/diy-ceramic-vases.html

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”… start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Sacred Space: Incubate Your Dreams In 2016

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“Sacred space is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.”
– Joseph Campbell

Contrary to belief that winter is a season of sleep, there is evidence it is a transformative time. While plants and wildlife slumber in dormant bliss, celestial events conspire to help us prepare for the deep well of opportunities coming this year. Winter Solstice the light returns to the Northern hemisphere. The days lengthen and swell with the increasing light. January 1, our inner light is ignited with the entrance of the a new year. Midpoint between Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox, February 4, “Lichun”, the light of Spring arrives. Bursting through the frost, the hearty, winter plum blossom exemplifies forging ahead and so we tackle our plans. The timed cues between Heaven and Earth remind our spirit to renew our vow to ourself and the year ahead. 

Our spirit is the mystical, intangible part of our nature and important because it knows precisely when to act and what makes us happy. If we fail to recognize its value, joy remains beyond our grasp. This is reason alone to honor its place within us and create a space of its own. The highly respected Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, says of sacred space, “To live in a sacred space is to live in a symbolic environment where spiritual life is possible, where everything around you speaks of the exaltation of the spirit….This is the place of creative incubation…Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again.”

If you’ve always written out your resolutions it might time to blend them with a spatial solution. Here are some basics to help you create a sacred space that will give you the support you need to incubate your dreams in 2016. You want it to be comfortable and away from noise. It can be a bedroom, study, workspace, a corner of a room, chair or your backyard. Keep in mind it is an intentional space that quiets your mind, frees you from stress and provides peace and healing. 

Create an altar or area where you can place special items to heightened your awareness of withdrawing from the world and honoring time alone. You may place fresh cut flowers, life force such as a plant or plants, an aquarium or a water fountain. Sights and sounds should be pleasing and meaningful. Scent is also a powerful tool to follow a path of awakening. A diffuser or dish of orange or lemon essential oil bring clarity or place a bowl of nine oranges. These add color and good fortune. Burning incense is a form of prayer. These methods engage your five senses and enhance the purification of your mind. If your space only has room for a table with a candle, add natural elements such as a shell from a favorite beach, a rock from a lakeshore or a special piece of wood that you picked up from the mountains. If there is a deity that is near to your heart, a statue or a painting is appropriate. If it is a Buddha statue like Quan Yin, Green Tara or Amitabha Buddha honor it with water offerings, food offerings, incense and candles that are placed on a tier below. Devote 5-30 minutes a day to meditate, journal, read or draw. At first you might feel resistance to getting started but if you select a time each day you can commit to, the demands of the world will vanish as you fall in love with this quiet, still time in your day. And when you leave give gratitude to your space for giving you sustenance and joy.

Have questions about your home? Want to feel more vitality and joy?. There are tried and true Feng Shui design principles that my clients share have garnered them success. I want you too to receive the same opportunity so I created Feng Shui A La Carte to get you there.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.