Thank you for reading this article. You may have noticed that the topic begins with “Feng Shui Myths”. It is my new attempt to write a series of blog posts surrounding a common topic. I have chosen the “Feng Shui Myths” theme because I found that there are many commonly discussed Feng Shui ideas that people usually assume to be correct without trying to verify them. I want to use my blog as a platform to clarify these ideas. You will find that some of them are correct while some are actually wrong.
I will begin this series with a frequently asked question. Many, seriously many, people ask me what is the lucky color for a particular year. Their questions are not what is “my luck color” in this year. They simply ask for the lucky color of a particular year, a “universal Feng Shui color” that is lucky for everyone on earth. For example, many people think that the 2014 Feng Shui color is green. Do you know why?
Feng Shui Color for A Year
The common saying that the lucky color for a year is xxx originates from the Five-element Theory (五行理論 in Chinese) in Feng Shui (there are similar theories in other traditional theories of other societies such as India, the difference is just that the number of elements and the type of elements are different.). According to this theory, there are five elements in this universe. Everything belongs to anyone of the five elements. They are “Wood”, “Fire”, “Earth”, “Metal” and “Water”.
In Chinese, there is a system to represent a year. It comprises of two Chinese characters. For example, 2014 is the year of 甲午 (Jia Wu Year). The second character is directly related to the zodiac sign of the Year. 午 (Wu) is the Zodiac Horse. The first character of 2014, 甲 (Jia), belongs to the “Wood” element. This is why people say 2014 is a Year of the Wooden Horse.
(Image via Wikipedia, CC Licence)
According to the Five-element Theory, there are “Generating Interactions” among the five elements. Every element is generated by another element. For example, “Wood” is generated by “Water”. In this sense, “Water” is a good element for “Wood”. For a “Wood” year, “Water” is a lucky color.
Besides, the element of the year is also good in that year. Obviously, “Wood” is a good element for a “Wood” year.
Lucky Colors for 2014 Year of Horse
So, for 2014 Year of Wooden Horse, any color belonging to “Wood” or “Water” elements are lucky. Green color, in any intensity, belongs to “Wood”. This is the reason people say green is luck in 2014.
(Swedish Dala Horse, image via Wikipedia, CC Licence)
Why don’t we use “Water” colors? In fact you can, but it is most powerful to use the color of the same element as the year, so green is preferred to blue.
The Use of Lucky Colors
Usually when people ask me what is the lucky color for that year, I would say that the luck color of the year is less important. What really matters is your own personal color.
There are two reasons. Firstly, to match the lucky color of each year means that you need to repaint the walls of your flat, buy a new car and replace all shirts before a new year begins. It is impractical. Secondly, your personal lucky color is more powerful. It affects you for your entire life. What bother to use the yearly lucky color if you already have a powerful personal lucky color?
I have previously written a post about Feng Shui color. You only need to know your year of birth to find out your personal lucky color. Check it out!
