Tag Archives: Red Envelope

You Can Have Your Super Bowl And Chinese New Year Too!

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“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.”
–Confucius

Super Bowl and Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve are Sunday, February 7, 2016. What to do? Celebrate both!
With Super Bowl kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET there is plenty of time to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year after the game. Just set the timer and let the crock pot cook while you watch the playoff, you do it every Thanksgiving. And during the commercial breaks you can display your good luck fruit, hang your couplets, enjoy the wafting daffodils you purchased from the nursery, hand out red envelopes to your children and stay up past midnight (the sound of Sleepiness in Chinese is similar to Trouble), because really no one wants more trouble.

The Five Fold Happiness
4000 years of celebrations deepen a culture and create a legacy of endurance. Chinese Feng Shui customs honor the most celebrated festival of the year, Chinese Lunar New Year. Ending with the Lantern Festival on the full moon, the two week celebration represents a fresh start. It is hope and the promise for something better. It is the belief that dreams come true. In the west we focus on achievement but success doesn’t happen “in spite of” but “because of” the people who are in your life. Chinese Lunar New Year is the most supreme time to gather family together. The success of the individual is because of Yuan–family unity. And so the image of the circle, which you see in many of their food dishes like fish balls and oranges, is associated with family. This creates unity, support and continuity. Yuan means roundness and it suggests the attainment of the Five Fold Happiness and those qualities are luck, prosperity, longevity, happiness and wealth. The following celebrations, symbols and motifs ensure timeless wishes for harmony and goodwill among all.

Here are folkloric customs to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve. If you want to perform transcendental Chinese New ceremonies, like Changing the Ch’i of the House and Transforming the Fortunes for Individuals and Residences, get in touch with me, bette@shenmenfengshui.com

Sweep Away the Old The New Year provides an opportunity to send away misfortune that has accumulated and to start fresh. The 20th day of the Twelfth Moon is set aside for the annual housecleaning and clearing the dust of the past year. Every corner of the house must be swept and cleaned. 

Display Good Luck Fruit The Chinese love their play on words. Tangerines are symbolic of good luck. Oranges are symbolic of wealth. Orange “sounds” like gold. Pomelo means “to have.” Pineapple sounds like wealth but its real strength is it means luck and excellent fortune. You can display the fruit at the front entry, the dining room, even the kitchen.

Bloom Good Luck Enliven your Ch’i through the sense of smell. The Chinese believe daffodil and Narcissus bulbs when in bloom during the New Year, bring good fortune and luck to a home. This kind of adjustment calms the nervous system and gives you a sense of well being.

Avoid Cutting the Luck of the Year On the last day of the old year, prepare your food for the next two days so that all sharp instruments, such as knives and scissors, are placed in the drawer to avoid cutting the “luck” of the New Year. The kitchen is not to be disturbed on the first day of the Year.

Stay Away From The Barber Don’t schedule your hair to be trimmed on New Year’s Day or the day after.

Honor The New Year With Foods Of Good Fortune New Year’s eve dinner is called the family reunion feast. Not only the family is united, Heaven and Earth are honored, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. Everyone’s speech is peppered with auspicious words. Almost every dish has a symbolic meaning that sounds like the Chinese characters for fortune, happiness, longevity and prosperity. KATU AMNW Foods of Good Fortune

Sleepless In The New Year The Chinese stay up for 12:01 a.m. The sound of Sleepiness in Chinese is similar to Trouble. Sleepless means no trouble for the coming year.

Hand Out, Hong Bao, Lucky Red Envelopes The custom arose that children were easily susceptible to harm during the changing of the year and that money would protect them from evil spirits. This lucky money also serve to bring good fortune for the coming year. During New Year, coins or notes, are placed in red envelopes, hong bao. Children and unmarried adults receive the red packets from elders or married friends. The red envelopes are a wish for good health, good fortune, peace and safety for the coming year.

The following is a very precious cure from the BSTB School of Feng Shui. If you do nothing else, this is the adjustment to perform. It comes from His Holiness, Grandmaster Lin Yun and it’s a great secret to a successful life: perform a good deed every day. By helping another person, you shift, not only their reality, but yours as well. A kind deed will improve your luck, circumstances and income. Kindness is the antidote to the economic down turn. With your sincerity you will find the most exquisite reception for the year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! May you experience supreme good health, boundless good luck and infinite wealth!

One thing 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.

Her House Not Only Talked, Her Feng Shui Got The Last Word.

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“A house is very much like a portrait, it gives an indication of the character at the heart of it.”
–Anonymous

“Your House Is Talking!” is an metaphor I use to explain the impact architectural details have on our health, family, career, happiness and degree of success. It never occurred to me that I might have the pleasure of hearing that a client’s house actually talked, let alone getting the last word. Dee called me last November and explained her home was a Feng Shui nightmare. She said, “Don’t get me wrong. I love my house. It sits on a quiet street, has a lot of light and the yard is a bird sanctuary but I cannot make out the Feng Shui. I need help!” I came over and saw straight from the curb the issues she was facing. Missing street numbers, missing front door from the street and the master bedroom three feet from the front door entry to the house. She admitted she was feeling vulnerable with this last arrangement and was losing sleep.“Could we make it work?” She really detested the idea of moving her bedroom upstairs. She also confided that she didn’t feel welcomed in the neighborhood. I could see in her eyes this was her dream home and the relationship wasn’t off to a good start. She had found my Chinese New Year segment on KATU AMNW and felt confident I could guide her out of her Feng Shui mess. She believed in Feng Shui and knew she needed my assistance but also yearned for reassurance that Feng Shui would be the answer. I assured her the changes would be reasonable, efficient and help her feel at peace. She nodded, took notes and as we moved through each room became more and more confident how Feng Shui would help her. When we finished she was beaming.

Whether it was her excitement to see the magic of Feng Shui work or the consultation inspired her to be her most creative, or both, Dee was zealous. She was proud of her accomplishments. She shared stories that were funny and amazing like after painting the bedroom and bathroom (her wealth gua) she received a lucrative contract for her business.

Dee worked tirelessly too, to make her home “Feng Shui” ready for the holidays. In celebration she invited her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren over for a little party. During the festivities, Matt, a big, husky guy, was standing in the kitchen and noticed the wind chime over her stove. As she told it, he screwed up his face, mimicking a comic he had seen on T.V. and said, “Oh, Feng Shui is stupid!” As quickly as he said it, a thunderous clap shook the entire house. He ducked, looked about frantically as if the walls would come down over him and said, “I promise, I won’t say that again.” Dee is a petite, demure woman with a wry sense of humor. And though she knew the house sent a message to Matt, she added with a shake of her finger, “Don’t you go saying bad about my Feng Shui.” 

Since this episode and my January follow up, Dee’s neighbors have cleaned up the jungle in their back yard and she became treasurer of the neighborhood association. She planned to refinance her house to a lower rate which meant having her home appraised. She completed all the rituals at 11 p.m. which corresponded to Chinese New Year ceremonies as well. As she described it, “Orange peels were everywhere. I was given a target and hit it out of the ball park which I owe much to you, so thank you again!” Her next agenda item is to triplicate the success and I will consult for her on her new office which is the realization of her goal to work in the city in which she lives. Dee’s story is anyone’s story and a great story: she moved into a home with Feng Shui design challenges but with perseverance, enthusiasm, TLC and Feng Shui cures, she’s feeling happy and right at home.

Epilogue:
H. H. Lin Yun would teach that every object, utensil, appliance, every furnishing in our homes are animate. “Every thing in the house and every part of the house has its own spirituality. This is true of every piece of furniture, and every system in the house.” So here is a ritual to perform in your home. “Touch the stove and visualize that the God of the Stove has become aware of you and raises its head to look at you. The God is “energized.” Then request the God of the Stove to bestow blessings upon your family, that everything you require will be made available and your resources will be abundant. You can do the same for the God of the Desk and ask for blessings for your career and that your dedication to your work will yield fruitful results. Go to the God of the Bed, touch it and visualize it listens to your request. You can ask for more restful nights or good health. If you have clutter, you can tell the object you are sending it on and thank it for serving you well. This precept gives you access to communicating with the Gods wherever you may travel, albeit your home town or a far away land. When you energize these Gods, in turn they will offer you abundant good energy.

If you feel you have benefitted from this teaching, please support the tradition of receiving transcendental cures with a red envelope. Email me bette@shenmenfengshui.com for details.

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.