Valentines Day Show Up For Love

Posted on February 13, 2023 by bette

“Dreams and dedication are a powerful combination.”

– William Longgood

Love, beauty, bliss, commitment, connection, community, relationship are themes of Valentines Day but they are especially compelling this week. What is even better, and this gets me excited, planetary alignments are conversing in a “love signature” that supports going for what we want, what truly feels good and what makes us happy. We may even get swept off of our feet in the experience. Then on the tails of the great Valentines Day is an auspicious opportunity to seed a commitment that will last a long time. We may be prompted to ask: What will this year mean to me? How will I commit a little deeper to myself? To my dreams? To my resources? To my relationship(s)? As you get clear you may ask what can I do to feel supported in my choices?

Through my own participation and helping clients I have experienced the deep, lasting, positive influence of setting a home in balance. I use the Bagua formation because I find it’s a potent resource for mobilizing and supporting personal growth, healing, generating wealth and enhancing relationships. So whatever you are saying Yes to this year I believe Feng Shui design can open to a world of possibilities.

Before we get started with some out of the ordinary adjustments, if your luck has not been good recently, every nine, eighteen or twenty seven days, change the appearance of your furniture arrangement. You are changing the Ch’i using the sense of touch. Your Ch’i will be redirected and revived. If there is bad luck in the house, put a three inch round mirror on the ceiling above the stove and adjust Wealth.

Career (Water)

A water fountain makes a pleasant sound. Water is associated with our ancestry. Our ancestors seeded our DNA and it is their hands holding us up that support our life’s work. The motor continuously activates this gua. And if you have experience some job related predecessor Ch’i, sit on the purple side of the red and purple cushion from the Yun Lin Temple. If you do not have the cushion, sit on a mat that is purple on the upper side.

Knowledge/Self Cultivation (Mountain)
Place a gong, or a wind chime, or a bell, or an image of an archway into a path on a misty morning, perhaps a photo or painting of a mountain. The mountain is a metaphor for climbing the quiet heights within ourselves, to develop our inner knowing and find nourishment for our soul. From this place insights flow.

Family (Thunder)
Find your voice and express it. Thunder travels on the ground. Be open to surprises. This is the place of initiating change. A wooden windmill fosters new beginnings. Or place three bamboo stalks because this trinity represents happiness, wealth, and longevity. If you add a fourth stalk you add stability and power.

Wealth (Wind)
Are you listening to the messages that ride upon the wind? Be gentle with yourself and success will follow. Besides Family, Wealth is also a Wood gua but water lives happily here too. The peony is a flower of wealth, rank and honor. The image of a peony in a vase expresses the wish for prosperity and peace because the vase symbolizes peace. Its fragrance is considered heavenly and the flower is believed to be of divine descent. An aquarium of eight red fish and one black is the balance of Yin and Yang and the power of nine.

Fame (Fire)
The place of brilliance, illumination and consciousness. Express your artistry. Here is a good place to learn for there is always something to learn. An image of a sunset, a rainbow or paint your wall red in the Fame gua. Embrace spontaneity for it is the gateway to the unexpected where all potential exists. Hang an affirmation on the wall, one that is meaningful and inspires your soul such as “I am inspired and I inspire others.” or “I live my dreams with passion and purpose.” Do good for others and your reputation will light up.

Relationship (Earth)
Earth is yielding. When you are receptive, people and opportunities find you. Find pleasure in the subtleties in life. Express diversity of interests. Gather in your community to support you. Generosity is a virtue to cultivate. Create a radiant space for your heart to feel nourished. If you are seeking a relationship, purchase a silk pear tree for either the bedroom or the Relationship gua, for pear, in Chinese, sounds like “partnership” and symbolizes the act of sharing. Or buy an image of a peach tree for it signifies romantic love. To develop the willingness to be open to another point of view place mirrors opposite one another on either side of the bed. It can be on either side of the bed near the head of the bed or on the walls at the head of the bed and the foot of the bed. As you begin to walk out into the world you more easily feel someone’s Ch’i, be present with them in the moment, understand their point of view, develop the willingness to help and the ability to compromise and develop the compassion that is needed from each and everyone of us to create a brighter world around all of us.

Children (Lake)
In this area lives refinement, fullness, reflection, reason, joy, sensuality and fruition. Where as in Family you began a project, here is in Children you are finishing. If something is left unsaid, a venture is not complete or if you procrastinate, place a white statue in this area for white is the color of the gua. See the maturation of your ideas and the joy of your harvest.

Helpful People (Heaven)
Heaven is effortless. In this by gua is the place of synchronicity. Direct your thoughts in such a way they are without effort. Meditate, chant, contemplate and relax. Dragons are regarded as descending from the Heaven realm. Being a divine, mythical animal, the Dragon, can ward off wandering evil spirits, protect the innocent and bestow safety to all that hold its emblem. The Chinese Dragon is looked upon as the ultimate symbol of Good Fortune. It represents fertility, immortality, happiness, power and wealth. Place the celestial five toed dragon (green or gold) either as a painting in Helpful People or in the Helpful People gua on your desk. Of if you love to travel, hang an image of a place that holds fond memories for you.

The eight trigrams were created as a representation of the thousands of things in the universe. However they still cannot cover everything. What is not covered, is in the center. Go to the center to find what you cannot find elsewhere. As you identify what is needed and the corresponding gua, recall this thought: If you are not sure about which gua, or if you want to be “totally covered”, adjust the center as well.

When you perform a cure, envision that you are at the juncture between heaven and earth and you will receive universal Ch’i to help you overcome all obstacles.

Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link 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.

Photo credit: Oceanside

Chinese New Year Rituals. Renew Abundance.

Posted on January 18, 2023 by bette

“We not not only nurture our sacred relationships through ritual, but we are nurtured by them as well, in ritual, we move and we are moved.”

– Alison Leigh Lilly

Here we go again! Another turn of the wheel to begin anew. Chinese New Year is around the corner. This significant event has the agency to deeply move our Ch’i and elevate our life force. Customs, practiced over thousands of years by millions around the world, reset our homes and renew our abundance for the coming year. It’s a hopeful moment when create an advantageous start with Chinese New Year rituals. You and your family will certainly enjoy the delectable foods, fireworks, laughter and fun. Host a reunion dinner and invite friends to bring a good fortune dish that everyone may take home good luck.

The Year of the Yin Water Rabbit begins January 22, 2023. January 21 the rituals begin. Chinese New Year rituals include color, plants, fruit, foods, good luck clothing and auspicious decorations to enliven home and human Ch’i. These rituals’ power lie in the repetition and sincerity in which they are performed. They are simple and most of all easy. Choose as many or as few as you like. There are some that are new to the list this year.

Begin with your front entry. Design it for success and good health. What you display here influences the entire house so add a red item. Red in the Feng Shui metaphor means: happiness, courtesy, respect, power and strength. Your front door represents career and reputation. With that in mind visualize the red object activates your Fame Ch’i.

Traditionally Chinese knots were expected to ward off evil spirits and act as good luck charms. At Chinese New Year Chinese knot decorations are seen hanging on walls, doors of homes and as shop decorations to add some festival feel. Their significance is deeply rooted in Buddhist and Taoist tradition. The Pan Chang knot, for example, is inspired by the Eternal Knot, the Buddhist symbol of the ultimate unity of everything, and one of the “Eight Auspicious signs.” Just like the Eternal Knot, Chinese Knots are made with one single thread; are symmetrical in all directions and have no distinctions between head and tail. Though they are often consider folk art, they embody the fundamental principles of Chinese’s aesthetic and philosophy: symmetry, balance, unity, and interconnections. These qualities are auspicious to bring good fortune into your life.

Display a bowl of oranges in your home and money will come easily. The word for orange (Chengzi) sounds like gold (Jin) in the Chinese language.

Place a platter of tangerines on your dining room table for the saying, “Da ju da li” translates as “May you enjoy an abundance of fortune and profits.” In Asian countries it’s auspicious to place two tangerine trees at the entrance of a home or business but adding the tangerines to your dining room table stimulates your income for the table is the secondary source of your income.

Surround yourself with colorful fruit so that you will have a fruitful year. Pomelos are large pear-shaped grapefruits which mean “to have”. Pineapple sounds like wealth but its real strength is fame, promotion and excellent fortune. You can display the fruit at the front entry, the dining room, even the kitchen.

Brighten your home and your luck with narcissus (daffodils). The Chinese affirm that daffodil and Narcissus bulbs when in bloom during the New Year, bring good fortune and luck to a home. They enliven our Ch’i through the sense of smell. This adjustment calms the nervous system. With a clear mind we gain clear access to our decision making center (intuition).

Prepare a reunion dinner on Chinese Lunar New Year’s eve. The image of the circle is used in food dishes like fish balls. The circle is associated with family. This creates unity, support and continuity. This sense of family unity is called Yuan and underlies all festivals. Yuan means roundness and it suggests the attainment of the Five Fold Happiness (good luck, prosperity, happiness, wealth and longevity). Veggies embody the freshness of “evergreen” and store good fortune in their roots. Support your vitality in the Year of the Water Tiger when you include them in your first meal of the new year. Make a feast and have left overs because left overs symbolize that you’ll have money rolling into the next year. Add a little laughter! Shrimp in the Chinese language sounds like Ha, Ha, Ha and translates as merriment and well being. Joyfulness brings a future of limitless possibility. Cook a whole fish and leave some. Serve longevity noodles and eat them in one long strand (try not to break one or it will shorten your life). Add lettuce for it translates as “growing wealth”. Dumplings, jiao zi look like golden ingots. They promise wealth and prosperity. Serve nian giro, a sticky rice pudding cake which is symbolic of helping people “advance toward higher positions and prosperity step by step”. Make the evening uplifting and happy; include music and play games with your children, tell jokes and laugh.

Serve an even number of dishes (like eight) to bestow “double happiness” on the family.

“Avoid cutting the luck of the year” by putting your knives and scissors away before Chinese New Year eve evening, January 21. Schedule a hair trim or mani/pedi before Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Refrain from cursing on New Year’s Day because letting your tongue fly will affect your luck for the entire year. One day of restraint could mean you’ve mastered your impulses and that can bring more opportunities than you might realize. However if you do inadvertently curse say “Tong yen woo chi!” to reverse the affect.

Slumber not before midnight on Chinese Lunar New Year’s eve to ensure good luck will cross your threshold. The sound of sleepiness in Chinese is similar to trouble. Sleepless means no trouble in the coming year.

Keep the Goddess of Poverty away “Fu” means “good fortune” or “happiness” and is represented both as a Chinese ideograph and its homophone, a bat. Placing the image of a bat (Lan Su Garden in Portland, Oregon was constructed with five bats roof tiles) or the image of “Fu” at your front entry clearly sets the intention to invite good fortune into your life.

Bring one new item such as furniture, décor or art into your home and business to stimulate prosperity Ch’i and to compound your sheng Ch’i (beneficial energy). In addition give away one item or more. This leaves both physical and symbolic space for good fortune.

Throw away china, crockery or glassware that are broken, chipped or have hairline cracks, these augur bad luck.

Break a cup or plate (or anything) during New Year say “Fall to the floor and burst into bloom!”

Dress in “up-beat” clothing or buy new clothes for the first day of the New Year.

Carry newly circulated bills: whatever your pocketbook will allow, either nine new one dollar bills or nine new twenty dollar bills.

Purchase a new bill fold for man or a new pocketbook for a woman. In BSTB tradition, black symbolizes water which is equivalent to money. Red is also auspicious to carry. Add a bit of green that stays in the item so your money doesn’t burn up.

Benming Nian – meeting your zodiac year.
One would think that your zodiac year would be a good one. On the contrary, Chinese traditional belief is that your benming nian is going to be full of bad luck. So if it’s your year (Rabbit. Dragon and Rooster are in offending positions to the Year God so they will benefit too), you need to take a few precautions to ensure that your year is not a bad one.

To ward off any dangers that might befall you in your benming nian, it is traditionally believed that it helps to wear the color red. Red is one of the luckiest colors in Chinese traditions, standing for loyalty, success and happiness. You’ll see red all over the place during traditional Chinese festivals and particularly Chinese New Year: red lanterns, red envelopes, red paper hangings. When it comes to decorations, just about everyone is red and ornamented in gold.

If you believe in this, wear red every day, all year long. You can go big: add red accessories to every outfit. Or you can play it simple, wear a cute bracelet made of red interwoven Chinese knots around your wrist tow ward off bad luck.

Make amends with anyone with whom you’ve had a row or falling-out.

The first New Year Day everyone dines on a vegetarian meal to honor one’s ancestors. Then the family dresses in their finest clothes and visits older family members, paying respect, taking along gifts of Mandarin oranges and sweets of all kinds generally offered in a “tray of togetherness”. It is also customary to hand out hong bao (red envelopes with new bills or coins) to family members and friends of any age, who are single and unmarried.

The devoted Dog is the Hare’s secret best friend. In the Year of the Yin Water Rabbit it is auspicious to carry a three dimensional Dog with you. “Chinese folk culture believes that when Rabbit and Dog meet, it will bring forth wealth and nobility.”
– Khadro Crystal Chu
The ardent Dog favors jade, boxwood or bone. Enjoy the inspiration this match brings!

Kitchen Design Starts With Feng Shui

Posted on November 23, 2022 by bette

“My kitchen is a mystical place, a kind of temple for me. It is a place where the surfaces seem to have significance, where the sounds and odors carry meaning that transfers from the past and bridges the future.”

– Pearl Bailey

Growing up the smell of cornbread stuffing buttered the air at Thanksgiving. White flakes of coconut and red cherries buoyed among bits of fruit and cream in Mom’s prized crystal bowl. Good china served up turkey, browned buns from the oven and fresh cooked string beans from the stove. The love poured into this meal made the kitchen hum and warm conversations wafted throughout the house. The kitchen is the hub for all of life’s happenings. We prep our meals and plan our lives here. It is the sacred space where we quietly listen to our thoughts over morning coffee and console the hurts of family members after dinner. We celebrate milestones and receive endearing hugs among the pots and pans and crockery. It is the domaine for all our life’s stories.

Kitchen design has a profound effect upon our emotions, our hopes and our successes. The nature of this room offers opportunities for closeness and having real conversations. The strength of this bonding time creates a feeling of safety and helps us to gather our confidence and walk with our heads held high across the threshold and into the world. To modern sensibility it’s influence is seemingly imperceptible, but it has the power to influence our choices and destiny.

If your past holidays have been peppered with tension, I encourage you to try the following Feng Shui adjustments that, I believe, will help bolster any troubled waters and in the process help you uncover levity too. Not all may pertain, but I still encourage you to note, “the kettle is singing even as it pours you a drink”. Choose what fits your home’s design and decor. I wish for you a very happy holiday.

The best placement for the kitchen is behind the midline of the house. Too close to the front door and a parent may be eating in someone’s kitchen. This placement threatens the family’s stability. If you have this arrangement, a convex mirror placed on a wall behind the front door will pull the kitchen back into the house and your partner will come home. Be sure to use a strong visualization.

Select pleasing colors according to your home’s palette and your personal aesthetics but keep these Feng Shui and Five Element principles in mind while choosing. According to Professor Lin Yun white is the best color for the kitchen. It shows off the colors of the food. White, the color of the Metal element, is compatible with the kitchen’s basic element fire (fire overcomes or melts metal). Avoid all black kitchens because black, the water element, destroys fire. Do not choose red or there will be too much heat and the cook will always be hot tempered. Red and black accents are fine. Apple green is a color that signifies hope and the vitality of spring.

Contrary to what you may have read or heard, the refrigerator has a motor that generates heat, it is not a cooled water element. This does not present a problem to the stove. Best placement for the sink is across from the stove not adjacent.

The stove is the key to family prosperity and harmony. It has a significant role as wealth generator, creating family unity and keeping us free from legal trouble. When we lovingly prepare our food it nurtures us, our lives become fuller and we manage what life delivers with ease and grace.

If you stand at the stove and face a wall then you either turn your head left or right to see what is going on behind you. This takes you off balance. Over time your body will conform to this unconscious posture that influences your attitude where you may feel out of control and ill at ease. You may experience a downturn in finances or plain bad luck. In regards to the stove placement, you want to see what is going on behind you by placing a mirror on the wall in front of you. It should be the width of the stove and ideally doesn’t cut off the top of the tallest person in the household when you look into the mirror. Some stoves have a microwave above, if this is your arrangement then place a convex mirror (which takes in a 160 degree view). Visualize your heart trouble resolving and an upswing in your finances.

When the stove is under a microwave or collection of pots, this not good kitchen design. The ability to make money will be oppressed. Either remove the microwave and pots or place a wind chime over the position where the cook stands at the stove. For the microwave alone, place a three inch round mirror under it with the reflective side facing down towards the burners. It will transcendentally lift the Ch’i.

If members in your family argue a lot, especially about money, you may see your finances diminish. There is a kitchen design detail that influences this conflict: the stove is in line with two doors on either side. Adjust this inauspicious placement by hanging a 40 mm faceted crystal or wind chime on both sides of the stove between the door and the stove.

When there are two levels to a home, there is the possibility that a bathroom can be built over the kitchen, this is typical in older homes. When a toilet sits over the stove, the family’s health and finances are in jeopardy. You can place a mirror, facing down, on the floor behind toilet. It will lift the image of the stove, transcendentally removing the toilet.

If you see a kitchen as you step through the front door there will be digestive upset. This can cause money problems. You can have strange, odd or unexplained diseases/illnesses. Draw the eyes elsewhere with color, art, sound or greenery. Or divert the eyes traveling directly into the kitchen by placing a 40mm crystal hung on a red cord between the front door and the kitchen to lift the Ch’i and the life of the family members affected. To ease the symptoms of a stomach ache: wear the colors red and/or yellow (the colors of Fire and Earth in the Chinese Five Element System).

If the kitchen door is overwhelming the door of the bedroom of a person who is struggling with an eating disorder, that’s a problem. The kitchen can swallow that bedroom and, in a sense, swallow that person’s resolve to get better. That eating disorder can get even worse. The cure may seem odd but it is a mirror on the big door to pick up the image of the smaller door so that you have two bedrooms. Instead of a kitchen swallowing up a bedroom or a bathroom swallowing up a bedroom. If there is no door in the kitchen. Hang a crystal ball. if the larger door is on the bedroom there is not a problem.

A bathroom across from a kitchen is difficult kitchen design. I worked with a client who had this inauspicious kitchen design. She called me because she knew the Feng Shui was “off” in her home. A bathroom is symbolic of a family’s expenses, so it should not face a kitchen which is symbolic of a family’s wealth. The result is money loss of all kinds. Money drains away as if going down the toilet.

My heart is smiling because you give life your best. May love and joy continue to surround you everyday. And keep creating beauty! It feeds our souls in a myriad of ways.

Bedroom Checklist For Back To School

Posted on September 1, 2022 by bette

“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.”

– B.B. King

Curiosity, self reliance and happiness are life long pursuits that will help your child succeed on their journey to adulthood and the space that supports their growth is the bedroom. A child’s bedroom shapes their belief system, their personality, confidence, their relationship to you, their peers, authority figures and how well they project their ideas about success. The key is creating an ambience that supports the 3 Rs: enrichment, relaxation and results. I have shared several of these in Let Your Child’s Genius Out. I have added several more back to school bedroom tips that help your child start the school year right.

Where to begin.
Your child’s bedroom is their personal realm to imagine, sleep, study, play, entertain their friends and discover who they are. Because they spend a good portion of time here, creating a meaningful arrangement will help them feel optimistic and realize their potential. Help them go back to school the right foot with these bedroom tips that enrich their space.

What to arrange.
Where your child’s bed is placed influences their ability to wake up alert. When the bed is in “command position” it is on the opposite diagonal corner to the bedroom door with the door in clear sight. This bed arrangement offers an overall view of the space, giving them a sense of control. It encourages relaxation, feeling safe and protected.

Theme bedrooms are fun however make sure there is space under the bed. Ch’i needs to circulate. A bed on the ground conducts yin Ch’i and the potential for unexplained illness.

If the desk in the designated area for your child’s studies faces a wall, their back is to the door. This shifts their attention to what is going on behind rather than on the homework in front of them. To remedy the distraction, place a clear (not smokey) one piece framed mirror on the wall in front of their desk. They will have a sense of focus and that will spur them to pay attention to what is going on in front of them. This mirror placement also expands the space reflecting back a positive self-image. And when it’s bedtime, check that the computer is covered.

Why keep the space in front of the bed clear.
The space in front of your child’s bed represents their future. Remove tall footboards, chests, chairs, even a couch. This establishes at an early age confidence that the future is bright and promising. Keep this area clear as much as possible.

Which colors work best.
If you want your child to feel calm yet energized, light blues and greens are soothing, restful colors. Green specifically stimulates growth, health and focus. Your child can look at green for a long time and not get eye strain. Blue emits a sense of well-being. It cools down energy. If your child cannot settle down before going to bed or they are prone to feeling frustrated or angry, paint the walls soft blue or add accents in their room. Earth tones help your child’s emotions come to rest if they experience mood swings.

What to do to encourage a positive outlook.

Electronics are an inevitable part of modern living but long exposure to a young, developing brain can affect a good night’s sleep and create mental stress plus nerve damage that leads to more serious consequences. A distance of four feet reduces the effect of harmful EMF energy (electromagnetic field). If you want to be completely electronic free you can purchase a kill switch that turns off all electronic devices.

Designate a space for achievement by hanging up your child’s awards and certificates where they can easily see and enjoy them. Admire their artwork with them. Place a poster board where it will be seen upon entering the room for your child to pin their artwork, cherished posters and photos with friends from favorite events.

Sha Ch’i aka knife edges are corners and angles that point at your child when they enter the room, study at their desk or sleep in bed. The brain and body’s reaction is one of feeling criticized or in danger. A faceted crystal will soften a jutted corner of a wall and if the corner of a desk is directed at your child’s head while they sleep, soften the corner with a scarf or a plant that trails (a philodendron works well).

How to calm your child’s nervous system.

If your child has attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity disorder, the following may calm their nervous system and reduce stress.

– Tone down the light in the room.

– Use color, specifically light brown, gray, dark purple, deep red or green. Keep the colors “mild”.

– Add nine pots of plants and perform the Flower Cure (for 27 days; red envelopes requested).

– Use the sense of touch by placing an object that feels different and will be felt throughout the day. It may wake up your child’s Ch’i.

– Play mellow music continuously.

– Play gentle chanting in the background.

– Or create something that when touched will create a sound. The sound may actually calm the child.

What creates a feeling of being stuck.
Should there be a wall when entering their bedroom (from the closet jutting out) a child may feel blocked, lose confidence and situations in their life become difficult. It feels like they are working hard and seeing no results. Place a full length mirror or a mirror that covers the head to the chest of the tallest person in the house on the wall to expand the space.

When your child feels unstable
If your child’s bedroom is over a garage, reach out to me, bette@shenmenfengshui.com

How to help your child feel safe (a secret method) when going back to school.
Cut a red string 9,” 18,” or 27” around the neck, wrist, or other part of the body, making sure the ends are tied together. Place under your pillow for nine nights and each night set your intention for this protection cure. Red is auspicious.

Bedroom Design by B. Burns Design

How To Choose Good Feng Shui Real Estate

Posted on August 8, 2022 by bette

“A house is built with walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good Feng Shui real estate will bring you wealth, good fortune and an auspicious life in any financial climate. If you are looking to purchase a home for your family or invest in real estate during this inflationary time your best choice is to find a house that either faces or is embraced by or is backed by water. It can be natural or man made. From the beginning water has served land and mankind. A river enriches the land and brings profits to the landowners. On the energy level well circulated Water Ch’i enhances the livelihood of the residents because it symbolizes money. When you choose to build or buy near water you are choosing an auspicious relationship. However if you are wealth building minimize your risks by enhancing your structure with a BSTB Feng Shui adjustment that draws money into your residence and expands your finances. It is a water cure that brings the power of water right into your dwelling and into your bank account (nine red envelopes requested to share the cure).

But not all water configurations are auspicious, some relationships between a home (this includes a condo or office building) and water are detrimental. Use your intuition and act wisely. Stay away from those, they will rob you of your earnings. Take note, if you are in a situation and you are experiencing a huge outlay of capital, I invite you to familiarize yourself with these Feng Shui features and reach out to me to correct the inauspicious relationship these generate.

If a home:

• faces a river, this is good and the residents will enjoy wealth.

• the distance from the river and the height of the house should ideally be twice the home’s height. If the house is small, the foundation may be undermined by the river Ch’i and the occupants will be affected by illness. If the house is large and high, this is considered well balanced with the river.

• faces a waterfall brings good fortune.

• faces a river that creates a u-shape around it will enjoy wealth, the house is embraced by water.

• faces away from a river is not fortuitous. The residents may see opportunities but will not be able to grasp them.

• front door is facing a river this is good. But if it predominately flows away, the residents will suffer financial losses.

• faces an embracing river that has an equally strong tributary flowing away is unstable Ch’i. On the one hand, the occupants can see success, on the other they cannot reach it. The embracing river brings luck however the occupants will have to struggle, yet in the end they will succeed.

• sited above a convergence of streams with an island in front (should the house be backed by a gentle hill) this is good. However a steep hill will alter the occupant’s luck.

• in a bay is best. Money will flow in. If a home is sited on a peninsula it will be good for family wealth, but if it’s overly exposed to the elements, money will be hard to hold on to.

If you have no desire to buy nor move, there are water adjustments that will help you stay afloat. Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported, where money flows and where happiness grows. I am available for a full consultation service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

Photo credit: www.susanteare.com

Feng Shui Self Care. Create An Oasis Of Calm.

Posted on July 12, 2022 by bette

“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings you joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”
– Jean Shinoda Bolen

It’s Cancer season and this July 13 super moon is marinading us with extra emotions and super sensitivity. If you are empathetic to the feelings of persons in your circles in general and susceptible to your loved ones’ moods especially in close quarters of your home, this may deplete your personal resources. Focusing on your well-being will recover your inner harmony because let’s be real, prolonged periods of stress will permeate other areas of your life like your career and relationships. Self care is making your body and mind pleasant places to inhabit by filling your cup first and the season is calling for extra self care. These simple, quick Feng Shui tips unify your mind, body and emotions. May these adjustments help you create an oasis of calm to get you through.

Transform your entry.
Emotions can run away with any member of the household when these features are at the front door: a blocking wall; a contrary door; a Mandarin Duck Stairway or split at the front entry. Stairs leading out the front will lead to health issues (especially the heart) and financial stress. If one of these details are present in your front entry, adjust it first so when you place an enhancement it offers optimal refreshment. A water feature is ideal especially if your front door is in the middle. “Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.” – Lao Tzu. The sound of water trickling, ions permeating the air, the lilting movement of Ch’i will soothe tense nerves. Its music can permeate the household spreading joy and ease.

Center yourself.
Worry and stress are sometimes beyond our control. If you give too much you may not feel supported. Go to the center of your home to regain your inner composure. Adding earth colors like yellow, orange or brown to the center of your home creates stability, focus and calm. These colors cultivate a sense of trust in yourself, your ideas and feeling supported by those you love. As the well of trust deepens you become trustworthy. Rapport among family and friends becomes unified and you might find harmony abides more easily.

Replenish your soul.
Claim an area in your home. Make it just for you. Size does not matter. It could be a room or a chair, it’s your sacred space to get away from everyone and everything and let go, let down, retreat into your inner sanctum to recharge. “Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again.” – Joseph Campbell. Choose soft fabrics to hang or drape. Create an altar with candles, incense burner, essential oil diffuser and natural objects like feathers, rocks and shells. Choose what is meaningful to you. Consider placing an object that is related to your spiritual practice. Color is essential. What will you choose? Purple transforms on a higher level. It relaxes the nervous system and has a calming mental effect. Pink opens the heart. Green refreshes your body and spirit. It can help you feel grounded, creative and calm. Yellow enlivens your health. Display an image or images of the ocean, mountains, lakes, meadows, gardens, spiritual teachers, mentors, deities or angels and you’ll create an ambiance for harmony and reverence that will help you cope.

Grow your relationship with extra oxygen.
A plant’s life force is their gift to us. The respiration they share is subtle but palpable. Sit in a room where there are plants and get quiet. They emit sweetness. Their community is dependent on the interchange of energy among each other. Ever notice that a grouping of plants thrive better? It is a value we humans also share. Needing help with your relationship? Want better communication and more love? Place fruiting or flowering plants in your bedroom. Nine is a favorable number, it’s a synonym for longevity in the Chinese language.

Freshen the airways of your home.
Another self care favorite to bring more Ch’i into my space is citrus for its bright, clarifying qualities. A natural citrus (orange or lemon or lime) air freshener can shift your mood immediately. And if you are having a discussion that is getting heated have a bowl of oranges on your dining room table or nearby. Orange has a hint of auspiciousness and brings good fortune. When you slowly peel the orange, the zest will emit its essential oil from the skin and lift emotions that are spiraling.

Photo credit: Vitacost

Stepping Back To Feng Shui Basics

Posted on June 30, 2022 by bette

“Your Feng Shui consultation has been life transformative. I feel a deeper connection with place, space and nature than I ever have before. It’s helped me make decisions – from picking a color, deciding on placement, what to prioritize. And it’s helped me build a relationship with my space. I’ve treated this place like a rental for close to a decade, and I am just now realizing that when I make home improvements, I am also improving myself.”

That person in you who dreams I am talking to you. I want to help you unpack your future as I helped this client. I want to help you shape a relationship with your home that supports the outcomes you desire. I want to help you design your space with beautiful color, amazing decor and transcendental adjustments to balance those pesky angles, out of command stoves and ill-placed doors, where your home will feel unified, whole and balanced.

I’ve discovered the easiest way to begin is to step back to basics so you can unlock the energy in your home’s key features and step into the future that you designed. Let’s start living creatively.

We can find answers to our worries at the front door. The front door, symbolic of the head, affects how you think and act + what you accomplish. If you have dead or unhealthy plants at the front door, replace them with new and vital ones. Your decision making will improve, your mind will be clear and you can move forward with confidence. The front door also represents your career, your future, your reputation, your head, helpful people and your health. The condition of the door and lighting at the door are important for focus.

• If you need more clarity a brighter light bulb at the entrance will help your head and help you get clear.

• If you can’t use the front door very often or don’t use it at all or come through the garage it can cause a sense of suffocation in the house. You will lack of all kinds of Ch’i, health Ch’i and wealth Ch’i included. You want to use it now and then. If you do not use your front door it creates a sense you have no place to go nor will you have a sense of yourself. Use your front door at least once a month, a least open it either once or nine times a month.

• Hidden front doors steal your voice from the world. Where as a Contrary door (opens to a wall) may block the progress of the entire family. Hang a mirror on the wall to expand the space or a chime to sound when you open the door.

• A split at the front door can adversely all areas of the home. The brain is stimulated unevenly. Left and right sides begin to lack coordination. You may think more and act less, or the opposite might be true, you may act more and think less. Either way, this imbalance creates illness along the midline, confusion, and an inability to make decisions; any one of which could hurt a healthy family dynamic. Correct the split by drawing the attention of both eyes simultaneously to an object such as a mirror, the Ten Emperor Coins, or a beautiful picture.

• A front entry stairway will leak Ch’i from the house. This feature depletes the body’s midline. Heart disease is a common affliction. Hang a mirror, facing the door, at the top of the stairway to lift the energy up the stairs.

Look to your desk, bed and stove for motivation and feeling empowered. If you cannot see what is behind you; or the placement of the desk, bed and stove line up along the door wall or you are in direct line of the door, you are out of command (if you don’t know if yours is out of command, send me an email). Your brain and body do not feel safe in these placements. The amygdala, which is in the limbic brain (fight or flight assessment) processes strong emotions such as fear. Your brain dials into survival mode and all your internal resources are directed at defending an unknown threat. It’s not a time to create (your future). From the BSTB Feng Shui standpoint your body responds in the following manner

• Headaches result including migraines

• Restless sleep, insomnia is covered in this

• Failure to regulate emotions such as anger

• Elevates mood swings

• Depletes the body’s Ch’i and you may develop illness along the midline

• Prone to accidents and injury

• Launches neurological disorders

• Obscures the ability see both opportunity and trouble coming

Move the desk and bed so you can see the door but not be in line of the door. Best to face your desk out in the direction of the door. Move the first two as long as they do not back up to a stove or a toilet.

• If the desk cannot be moved, place a large mirror on the wall in front of you.

• A large mirror may turn your life around 180 degrees. Add that visualization and intention to strengthen the adjustment.

• Adjust a stove out of command by placing a mirror that is the width of the stove and the height to where it doesn’t cut off the head of the tallest person in the household. If there is a microwave consider moving it. The energetic weight it places upon the burners depresses the income of the entire household.

Discover where the placement of your bathroom may have you feeling drained. In the Feng Shui metaphor the bathroom represents a correlation between our expenses and our internal plumbing. In turn its placement will affect the fortune, health and wealth of everyone living in the household. If it is directly over a “gua” it depletes the potential of that gua. Same if it is in an extension, it will deplete or negate all good fortune of the extension. The worst places for the bathroom are the center of the house. Here is depletes all eight guas, draining all of life’s resources. Poor health will affect every occupant year after year, generation after generation. Wealth, Helpful People and Children are the other unfavorable places in the home. However when a bathroom is on top of any of the eight guas as you look at your floor plan, it will deplete that gua.

The list is longer than there is room to share but here are a few examples of other dissipating details that are common.

• Bathrooms that face each other can create an massive drain on family finances. Hang a mirror on both bathroom walls or hang a 40 mm crystal hung on a red cord between the two bathrooms.

• Bathrooms that are too small will affect everyone in the households’ digestion. Expand the space with mirrors or paint the bathroom a lighter color like gray.

• When a toilet and bed back up to each other (the wall is in between) health and financial problems will suffer. Illness could be develop in the head. For example a brain tumor. If you are a student, it is difficult to study because the brain is affected.

• Your money can be flushed away. To adjust, move the bed away from the wall. Or mirror the wall behind the bed from floor to top of the headboard. The mirror should face the bed. The width of the mirror should be the same width of the headboard. The reason you put a mirror there is you have in a sense two beds. Your bed and the reflection of the bed takes over the reflection of the toilet

that is behind it. Or place a convex mirror behind the headboard. The size will depend on the size of the bed. The convex mirror must take in the entire headboard.

• Master bedroom with a bathroom that has no door can pull two partners apart. The circumstance that causes the separation may be a disaster. This disaster could be one that one of the partners may go away, be lost, or even die.

Either (not all)

– Put in a door to separate the two rooms.

– Hang a 40mm crystal in the middle of the empty door frame.

– Hang a bamboo curtain in the empty door to separate the two rooms. This is a very desirable cure for bamboo symbolizes peace, safety and can ward off evil forces.

12 Feng Shui Prosperity Cures For Demanding Times

Posted on May 5, 2022 by bette

“Where you find peace is where your home is.”

– Chinese Proverb

Split second changes in the economy, world affairs and especially our personal relationships can utterly alter our sense of security. It’s in demanding times like these that Feng Shui rises to the top to offer a unique moment to stage our homes to offset instability. The natural world has always befriended mankind. Flora and fauna are no stranger to textiles, art and home furnishings in Chinese Feng Shui. Surrounding ourselves with robust creatures and auspicious greenery invoke their highest strengths that help us claim our prosperity and sense of well being. Strategically placed plant and animal symbols garner opportunities, bless our dwellings and uplift the Ch’i. Representations of dragons, horses, peonies, orchids, bamboo… on our walls, hallways and lawns suffuse our spaces with joy, luck, prosperity and safety. In this May blog discover how to attract a partner with an orchid, where to place a horse to create success, what tree will improve your children’s education and much more. Selectively placed, these Black Sect Feng Shui cures, I believe, will help you and your family to flourish.

If you daydream about a partner look to the orchid to find the individual who is just right for you, for the orchid symbolizes refinement, friendship and beauty. Enhance this adjustment when you place a pink or purple orchid in the Relationship gua (Kun – far right back of the house or the bedroom). Pink is the color that represents Kun. Visualize the perfect person walks into your life. You will know they are the one.

The magnificent horse has advanced human civilization for countless centuries. When you place an image of a horse galloping into your home, this suggests “you may advance speedily to your goal”. Because the Chinese language is layered with homonyms, puns are used with fervor. The number eight rhymes with the word ‘to prosper’ or ‘to attain wealth’. When you place eight horses in a framed image or a sculpture of eight horses in the Helpful People Gua, you call upon horse’s energies of power, endurance, firmness and strength.

A tree shaped like a pyramid is auspicious in Knowledge for it reinforces the shape of the trigram- mountain. Plant this tree shape in the front left corner (facing the house from the road) to ensure your children absorb the knowledge that will help them advance in their studies.

Animals that live in or along the ocean contain the vastness of Water. And Water symbolizes wealth. Wealth is desirable because it correlates to freedom, freedom to choose how you want to live and go where you want to go and do what you want to do. Landscape the front corners of your property and you create a rounded shape like a crab shell. This auspicious shape will bring:

Great wealth and prosperity.

Blessings and success to the offspring

Enhance fame and spread one’s good name far and wide.

The gracious bamboo with its ability to bow in the wind represents vitality and flexibility. And as long as it remains healthy it showers the recipient with its blessings of peace and prosperity. It teaches dignity, wisdom, longevity and fidelity. Three bamboo stalks in the Wealth gua are auspicious. Three stalks represent the trinity of happiness, wealth, and longevity (also represent past, present and future). Adding a fourth stalk represents stability, strength and power.

Flowers and their meaning are deeply embedded in Chinese culture and they serve to convey epic messages that express powerful positive emotions. A peony, the national flower, stands tall and symbolizes prosperity, happiness and peace. A peony in a vase expresses the wish for prosperity and peace because the vase symbolizes peace. Pictured with a lotus, chrysanthemum and plum blossom, the peony symbolizes “peace and fortune in the four seasons.” An auspicious placement for one’s bedroom or the Wealth gua.

Divine beast, the imperial dragon is regarded as descending from the Heaven realm. Its intense power delivers great good fortune. The Dragon brings upon the essence of life, in the form of its celestial breath, known as ‘shing ch’i’. It yields life and bestows its power in the form of the seasons, bringing water from rain, warmth from the sunshine, wind from the seas and soil from the Earth. Being a divine mythical animal, the Dragon can ward off wandering evil spirits, protect the innocent and bestow safety to all that hold his emblem. Displaying a five toed gold dragon (not red for that is a cooked dragon) in your Helpful People area of either your bedroom, home or office petitions the creative force of Heaven to enhance your life.

When the voluptuous persimmon appears as a symbol it denotes an energy which would remove the obstacles and allow things to proceed smoothly. When the cypress, ganderma and the persimmon fruit are combined it implies that things should be not just unobstructed but also as ‘willed’. Your business will bloom during demanding times when you plant a persimmon tree for in the Chinese language persimmon sounds like “booming market”. Place an image of a persimmon in the Children gua and be ready to receive winning ideas to bolster your business.

If you are a coach, a mentor or wish to teach, place an image of a plum tree in your home in most any area of the house. But if you want to share your wisdom effectively place it in the Knowledge gua. Here it will foster the qualities of a charismatic teacher and student relationship. The metaphor of plum means students everywhere (around the world).

Associated with luck, long life and the divine fruit of the gods, the Chinese believe the peach can make people perpetually young and peach petals create an intense trance of love. The peach tree represents longevity and the peach wood wards off evil. If you are searching for a partner place peach blossom petals in a bowl in the Relationship gua of your bedroom. Once you have found your beloved remove the petals (for you might attract another suitor) and replace them with an image of a peach tree to create a long lasting relationship. When you are certain of your partner take the image down and either plant a pear tree in your back yard or hang an image of a pear tree in your Relationship gua. The sound of pear in the Chinese language is the same as sharing.

More than just prized for its eminence, the tiger in China is considered the king of all beasts as it symbolizes power and a great deal of nerve. Traditionally it is a symbol of luck, success and achievement. The embodiment of ‘yang’ enery the tiger is a ‘solar animal’ and associated with the sun, summer and fire. It represents protection, generosity, illumination, but also unpredictability. It is revered as the symbol that wards off the main disasters of a household – ghosts, fire, and thieves. Tigers are also associated with the God of Wealth, who is often seen sitting on a tiger in Asian art. In ancient Chinese myth, there are five tigers that hold the balance of cosmic forces and maintain harmony. Place an image of a tiger in your Fame gua (center back section of the house) if you are looking to enhance your career. But never place two tigers in your bedroom for you may destroy your partnership as it is known that tigers will claw each other to the death.

If a deer crosses your path you are lucky. This gentle ungulate is an omen for happiness and riches. Its name is a homonym for the word abundance and it is known for its endurance, grace and long life. Deer is regarded as a symbol for longevity in China. The God of Longevity is often shown with a deer and it is reputed to be able to locate the herbs of immortality. Deer statuary will bring happiness and good fortune. If you have an inauspicious pillar placement in your home, hang images of dragons and/or other auspicious animals on the pillar such as a deer, a phoenix… and visualize that these images will bring you wealth and status.

Thank you for taking the time to come here! Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

Feng Shui: Design A New Love Story

Posted on February 12, 2022 by bette

“As the wind loves to call things to dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace…”
– John O’Donahue, To Bless The Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

Love showers the world in February. In the northern hemisphere the return of longer days brightens dreams and invokes a renewal in the heart. Our homes are the perfect space to create new beginnings. It is especially fortuitous to design a new love story. In the place of Wind we can call things to dance; in the place of Earth we can restore who we are; and in the place of Water we can shape our futures. In this blog I share reminders and you’ll receive new insights to take your creative genius to your home and author a distinct living space with Feng Shui.

Love Yourself First
Let your personality shine in your bedroom’s decor while giving it a Feng Shui make-over. Place your bed in command. Move feet from pointing out the door. Think of color as something to savor. Reds are exciting but short lived sending you to exhaustion. What are your favorite colors and foods? Lavender, daffodil, meadow green, whipped creams, dreamy mocha and rich chocolate brown? They will soothingly stimulate your senses. Accessories with accent colors add joy. Leave the laptop out of the bedroom and relegate the TV, exercise equipment and computer to their respective places. Minimize cell phone/blue light activity. Your nervous system will relax and you will sleep better at night. Remove boxes or benches, (there is an adjustment for a foot board that is too high. Nine red envelopes requested if you ask for the cure) in front of the bed or you may find yourself in one accident after another. The space in front of your bed is your future and should be deep. Gather in good luck by placing a large rectangular mirror across from the bed. Don’t cut off anyone’s head or chin while sitting in bed and the road ahead will be bright and promising.

Invite A Partner
Now that you have a baseline of self care here are a few adjustments to attract a partner. Make sure there is a door between the bathroom and bedroom or you might not be able to find a partner. Want a variety of suitors to choose from? A convex mirror takes in a wide view so hang it in the Partnership corner of your bedroom. Not fond of pink? Design your bedroom with the Five Element colors (green, red, yellow, white and black) in balanced proportion – you will have your bases covered. Go out of the house for this one. Find a wedding and grab the rice that has been thrown onto the ground (work but worth it) insert it into a red envelope. Place this in your car or on your desk. It is not only auspicious wedding Ch’i but auspicious Ch’i of all kinds. Visualize creating the good fortune, health and abundance that shine forth on a wedding day. Select a healthy pink or purple orchid (silk might be even better because it is ever blooming) for your Partnership gua. The orchid symbolizes a partner who is refined but more important just right for you. The nuance is that pink, the color of the Relationship area, adds emphasis, you know, mojo.

Cherish Your Beloved
You’ve got this. Here’s how to keep the chemistry flowing. King size bed? Wrap the mattress in a red sheet (measure from the head to the end of the bed then down to the mattress. Double this then round up to a multiple of nine when measuring the fabric). This joins the mattresses transcendentally. Watch discord melt away. Support your relationship with strength and safety, add a headboard if your bed is missing one. It holds the two sides of the bed as one improving communication. Nine lush plants will invigorate your life force and love life. In the I-Ching the Partnership gua is about receiving, being open, surrendering and allowing. To empower your love make the trigram for “The Receptive’ (the name for the Partnership gua). Cut out three broken (two lines across and three down) lines on red paper. Adhere these to a solid piece of paper and place on your altar for nine nights. On the tenth day place between your mattress and box springs in the top right corner. If the path to the bedroom is difficult (cluttered, dark, narrow or blocked) there may be lethargy and arguments. Do what is required to open the pathway and add beautiful items along the way like rose petals or an image of a place that you both love. Adding a complete color system to your room, for example, the rainbow colors, (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet), you carry the frequencies of these seven colors. This spectrum mirrors the chakra system, the life force centers and creates homeostasis, giving you and your partner the energy to explore all possibilities in and outside the bedroom.

Quell Conflict
You love each other but have difficulty living under the same roof? Feng Shui indicates design and lot shape plus landscaping influence your love life. If the kitchen is in front of the front door, you or your partner may be away a lot or distracted by things outside the house, (soccer mom, playing golf). Or one of you might be eating in someone else’s kitchen. Place a convex mirror in the back of your home to pull the kitchen to the back. Place bamboo anywhere in the house to promote fidelity. Piercing Heart Doors are three or more doors that line up. You can recognize them as entrances to different rooms in the house. A couple may be sleeping in the same bed but dreaming their own dreams. Use color to break down the barrier, like paint the interior door frame a different color or hang two 40 mm crystals, one in each room, along the visual line created by the three doors. Plant a pear tree for it sounds like “partnership” in Chinese and symbolizes the act of sharing love. A beam over your heart crossing the bed places pressure on the heart that can lead you and your partner to argue, even over seemingly insignificant details. Move the bed if possible or hang nine 40mm crystals (either 9 or 18 inches from the bottom of the beam) to lift the beam off of the bed. Sound can be very effective where there is conflict. If your relationship has escalated to feuding, place a wind chime in the bedroom to get the “sounds” of conflict and discord out of your systems. If your home office is in Partnership, it can harm both your relationship and career. You might work too much and not pay attention to your partner. Business may suffer because, as Professor said, “others may come to tell you how pretty you are rather than concentrate on business”. Place a vase and flute (together these are a rebus for peace and prosperity) in the office. Make sure the root end is in the vase and the mouth piece at the top. Visualize that business is business and partnership is partnership. Avoid planting a weeping willow in the backyard. In Wealth money may be lost. In Fame power may dissipate. In Partnership a marriage may come apart. In Chinese weeping willow sounds like “to slip away”. Your wealth or spouse may exit the back door.

The Wind loves to call things to dance…place a windmill or large pinwheel in your yard in the Wealth gua to help get things moving. Place a bench or a lovely container with seasonal pink flowers in the Partnership gua, the Earth gua. Spend time there and you will reinforce your grace and connection to yourself. Place a fountain in Career gua (Water) in the front of the house with the water facing inward (into the fountain). Shui, water, stimulates positive Ch’i and this attracts opportunities for your you, your partner and family.

Chinese New Year Rituals. Attune To Prosperity.

Posted on January 20, 2022 by bette

“Rituals are the formulas by which harmony is restored.”
– Terry Tempest Williams

You know the feelings when you’ve spruced up the house. You feel refreshed, revitalized, rejuvenated and your home beams with cleanliness. Well it’s that time again when the Chinese New Year offers the opportunity to clear last year’s dust and opens the doors to radiance and good fortune. With that spirit of inviting positive Ch’i and abundance into our homes before the year gets underway, here is your comprehensive guide to 18 Chinese New Year rituals you can easily perform on Chinese New Year eve and day (February 1) to attune to prosperity and joy in 2022.

Sweep away the old. The Chinese have long held the belief that a fresh start is essential to a successful year. The 20th day of the 12th lunar month is set aside for the annual housecleaning. January 22, 2022 brooms will come out of the closet, every corner is thoroughly cleaned and misfortune is sent flying. As you sweep imagine illness, obstacles, bad luck, negative attitudes and emotions are swept away. The meditative rhythm of sweeping draws in possibilities of a auspicious new year.

Place something at your entry that is red. Red in Feng Shui symbolism means: happiness, courtesy, respect, power and strength. Two of the front door’s attributes are your career and reputation. With that in mind visualize the red object activating Fame Ch’i.

Display a bowl of oranges in your home and money will come easily. The word for orange (Chengzi) sounds like gold (Jin) in the Chinese language.

Place a platter of tangerines on your dining room table for the saying, “Da ju da li” translates as “May you enjoy an abundance of fortune and profits.” In Asian countries it’s auspicious to place two tangerine trees at the entrance of a home or business but adding the tangerines to your dining room table stimulates your income for the table is the secondary source of your income.

Surround yourself with colorful fruit so that you will have a fruitful year is one of the well known Chinese New Year rituals. Pomelos are large pear-shaped grapefruits which mean “to have”. Pineapple sounds like wealth but its real strength is fame, promotion and excellent fortune. You can display the fruit at the front entry, the dining room, even the kitchen.

Brighten your home and your luck with narcissus (daffodils). The Chinese affirm that daffodil and Narcissus bulbs when in bloom during the New Year, bring good fortune and luck to a home. They enliven our Ch’i through the sense of smell. This adjustment calms the nervous system. With a clear mind we gain clear access to our decision making center (intuition).

Prepare a reunion dinner on Chinese Lunar New Year’s eve. This is one of the most joyful (besides setting off firecrackers) Chinese New Year rituals. The image of the circle is used in food dishes like fish balls. The circle is associated with family. This creates unity, support and continuity. This sense of family unity is called Yuan and underlies all festivals. Yuan means roundness and it suggests the attainment of the Five Fold Happiness (good luck, prosperity, happiness, wealth and longevity). Veggies embody the freshness of “evergreen” and store good fortune in their roots. Support your vitality in the Year of the Water Tiger when you include them in your first meal of the new year. Make a feast and have left overs because left overs symbolize that you’ll have money rolling into the next year. Add a little laughter! Shrimp in the Chinese language sounds like Ha, Ha, Ha and translates as merriment and well being. Joyfulness brings a future of limitless possibility. Cook a whole fish and leave some. Serve longevity noodles and eat them in one long strand (try not to break one or it will shorten your life). Add lettuce for it translates as “growing wealth”. Dumplings, jiao zi look like golden ingots. They promise wealth and prosperity. Serve nian giao, a sticky rice pudding cake which is symbolic of helping people “advance toward higher positions and prosperity step by step”. Make the evening uplifting and happy; include music and play games with your children, tell jokes and laugh.

Serve an even number of dishes (eight) to bestow “double happiness” on the family.

“Avoid cutting the luck of the year” by putting your knives and scissors away February 1. Schedule a hair trim or mani/pedi before Chinese New Year’s Eve. This admonishment is one of the most often overlooked of the Chinese New Year rituals.

Refrain from cursing on New Year’s Day because letting your tongue fly will affect your luck for the entire year. One day of restraint could mean you’ve mastered your impulses and that can bring more opportunities than you might realize. However if you do inadvertently curse say “Tong yen woo chi!” to reverse the affect.

Slumber not before midnight on Chinese Lunar New Year’s eve to ensure good luck will cross your threshold. The sound of sleepiness in Chinese is similar to trouble. Sleepless means no trouble in the coming year.

Keep the Goddess of Poverty away “Fu” means “good fortune” or “happiness” and is represented both as a Chinese ideograph and its homophone, a bat. Placing the image of a bat (Lan Su Garden in Portland, Oregon was constructed with five bats roof tiles) or the image of “Fu” at your front entry clearly sets the intention to invite good fortune into your life.

Bring one new item such as furniture, décor or art into your home and business to stimulate prosperity Ch’i and to compound your sheng Ch’i (beneficial energy). In addition give away one item or more. This leaves both physical and symbolic space for good fortune.

Throw away china, crockery or glassware that are broken, chipped or have hairline cracks, these augur bad luck.

Break a cup or plate (or anything) during New Year say “Fall to the floor and burst into bloom!”

Dress in “up-beat” clothing or new clothes. Wearing red underwear creates a favorable beginning.

Make amends with anyone with whom you’ve had a row or falling-out.

Carry the Water Tiger’s secret friend (talisman) the Pig. “When the Tiger and Pig come together, the joy of this encounter is enough to offset any evil that the moment may harbor.” (This is one of the most important of the Chinese New Year rituals.) –HH Grandmaster Lin Yun
The exception is if your Chinese animal protector is a Snake then carry Horse and Dog as a pair.

After you have played games and eaten foods that attract fame and fortune, perform BSTB ceremonies to invite bountiful blessings. How to receive these ceremonies of the “Three Lucky Feng Shui Secret Traditions Packet” is below.

After you have played games and eaten foods that attract fame and fortune, perform BSTB ceremonies to invite bountiful blessings. How to receive these ceremonies of the “Three Lucky Feng Shui Secret Traditions Packet” is below.

Enjoy A Year of Good Fortune!
The “Three Lucky Feng Shui Secret Traditions Packet” is back! $27 + nine red envelopes. Email me at bette@shenmenfengshui.com for payment options. Nine red envelopes must be received by mail on or before January 23, 2022 to ensure your mailing will arrive in time. Revel in “Welcoming the Wealth Gods” into your home. Delight in peeling away bad luck during “the Golden Cicada” ceremony and jump up for joy when you throw the orange peel as the clock strikes 12:00 during “Changing the Ch’i….

Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation Service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

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