We are glad to announce that we have relocated to London! We now serve clients in not only Asia but also London and South East England.
It’s been our pleasure to serve our readers and customers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southern China and Southeast Asia. In the future, we will continue working with our partners to meet the growing demand of authentic Feng Shui advice in these regions. Our relocation to the UK is a great step forward to share the knowledge and practice of traditional Feng Shui to more people.
What does it mean to the readers of the blog? We will continue to publish articles to share Feng Shui knowledge. What’s more, we are developing a completely new online Feng Shui course with content that is unmatched by other Feng Shui tutors. More details will be available in the coming months.
According to traditional Feng Shui theories, Spring (the solar term Lichun) marks the beginning of a year. It’s time to have a look at how to get the best Feng Shui in the Year of the Ox.
The Bad Directions in 2021 Year of Ox
The Flying Stars change their whereabouts every year. This year, the Flying Star that represents disaster and illness is in the Southeast. If there is any construction site or building works outside your home in this direction, chances are the health and luck of your family may be affected. Similarly, having building works in the Southeast corner in your house is definitely not a good idea. What’s more, if the entrance door of your home is in this direction, we are afraid that there may be bad happenings. To cure, try putting six metal coins or a metal wind chime with six layers in this direction.
Another bad Flying Star, which also brings bad luck, is in the North. Again, avoid building works in this direction.
The Shui Puo direction, which means against the prevailing energy of the year, is in Southwest. This is definitely not a good location to have any building works.
A final bad direction I want to mention is the East. This is the San Sha direction. If your desk in the East of the office, your office life this year may be a bumpy journey to get through. You should also avoid moving furniture in the East (and building work is certainly bad too).
This seems to be a lot, right? Actually, the major problem is building work. In the past, Feng Shui practitioners seldom renovate their homes. They did good Feng Shui when move in and get the most of it. For this reason, these bad directions are not a big deal. In modern days context, do not carry out building works in these directions unless necessary. In that case, try putting the metal coins in the affected directions and try beginning the works in other directions first and gradually extend to other corners.
The Good Directions in 2021 Year of Ox
The prevailing Flying Star with the greatest power is in the West. Some Feng Shui practitioners believe that it is good to have the entrance door or desk in this direction in the house. This is true in many cases but the best advice is to check with a Feng Shui master, since the power of this Flying Star is so great that it may induce side effects if not properly triggered.
The Flying Star related to study and career is in the East. It would be great if your desk is placed here. Yet, as it is also the San Sha direction, make sure you don’t have too many works done here.
Hope the above helps! Wish you a very happy Year of the Ox!
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Doormat and rug are commonly used in interior design. They serve both functional and aesthetically purposes. A good looking doormat or rug could help to keep your house clean and make it beautiful.
Yet, do you know doormat and rug could also bring bad effects in Feng Shui?
The effects of mats and rugs mainly come from the shape and colour. We shall examine these two factors one by one, but before that, let’s know a little more about Flying Star Feng Shui.
The Bad Feng Shui Flying Stars
Some shapes and colours could contribute to bad Feng Shui that could affect health. It is all related to the Five Elements (WuXing) attribute of the Flying Stars.
According to traditional Feng Shui theories, there are some bad Flying Stars that could affect people if they are located in some critical locations in a house, e.g. the main entrance, kitchen, toilet and bedroom.
These bad Flying Stars belong to the Earth element. If there is any stuff belonging to the Earth element that is co-located with these Flying Stars, the power of these bad boys could be magnified.
In addition, stuff of the Fire element could also have similar effect, since the Fire element generates Earth element.
Another element that may be bad in this context is Wood. If you have some basic ideas about the Five Elements theory, you may wonder why, as the Wood element depletes Earth.
Yes, in a sense Wood depletes Earth. Trees consume the nutrients in soil. However, wood could also penetrate into soil, which is seen as the Wood element adversely affecting Earth.
When doing Feng Shui, if we want to restrict the power of the Earth element, it is prudent to avoid the Wood element. Although Wood could overcome Earth, the vigorous battle between the two elements may cause undesirable effects. It is just like pouring water onto fire, the water may put out fire, but rapid release of smoke and steam, which are also harmful, may be resulted.
Shapes and Feng Shui
So, what are the shapes that could magnify the bad effects of the bad Flying Stars? The earthy shapes do, like square and rectangle.
Another shape that could add to the bad effects of the negative Flying Stars is triangle, which belong to the Fire element.
Since Wood could interact with Earth in an undesirable way, the long and narrow rectangular shape is not preferred too.
On the other hand, circle and shapes with curves and round corners are relatively safe.
Colours and Feng Shui
Similarly, colours of the Wood, Earth or Fire element could also build up the power of the bad Flying Stars. These colours are green (Wood), yellow and brown (Earth) and red, orange and purple (Fire).
On the other hand, white, grey, black, silver and gold are more preferred colours in respect of mats and rugs at home.
A Real Case
I have a friend who moved to a new apartment in 2012. He placed a lime-coloured rug in the living room. He chose this colour because it’s so refreshing.
Not long after he moved into his new home, his wife had started to develop eczema. Medical treatment was applied. At my advice he also removed the rug. The symptoms had finally improved.
The Take Away
I must stress that the above recommendations about shapes and colours could be considered together with an analysis of the natal Flying Star chart of the house. If a red rectangular rug is placed in the living room but there is no bad Flying Star in this location, bad effects may not be observed.
Yet, since most people do not have the ability to analyse Feng Shui by themselves, it is advisable to avoid the non-preferred shapes and colours.
In the case when you cannot completely avoid it, for example, the use of a rectangular rug under a rectangular tea table (it would be strange to use a circular rug here), at least stay away from the colours belonging to the Wood, Earth and Fire elements.
That’s all for this Patreon-only Feng Shui newsletter. See you next time, until then, stay health and happy!
Explaining the bad effects of roads in Feng Shui with a real case. Avoid residences with busy roads nearby!
We examined the nature of roads in Feng Shui in the last article. This time, let’s go into details of the bad effects of roads.
Pollution is Bad Feng Shui
The busier a road, the greater the noise that it brings. We all know that roads are sources of noise pollution. Roads with busy traffic are especially annoying.
Another by-product of vehicular traffic is exhaust gas. Needless to say, the exhaust is bad to health.
According to Feng Shui theories, noise and air pollution are “Sha”, i.e. bad Feng Shui. The presence of noise and bad air could cause bad Feng Shui that affects health. If the source of pollution is located in a direction where the bad flying stars are located, the consequences would be even worse.
A Real Case
I have came across a real case, in which a young guy lived in a housing estate in Hong Kong. There was a busy highway outside his building. This highway was very close to this gentleman’s home, just outside the windows of the living room, and this was where the bad Flying Stars located. He had absolutely no problem with making money after he moved into this home, but his health got worse over time. Two years later, he was diagnosed with cancer.
I think it could be fairly say that, even if the highway did not cause any Feng Shui problem, the noise and waste gas emitted by the vehicles had adversely affected the health of the occupants in this building. From Feng Shui point of view, the power of bad flying stars could add to the adverse effects and may contributed to the health problems faced by the occupants, if any.
Now you know, roads are usually not good for health from Feng Shui point of view. If possible, choose a residence that is not close to any busy roads.
Some say roads mean water and bring wealth in Feng Shui? Is it true? Let me tell you.
Many people, particularly Chinese, consider roads as good things in Feng Shui. Most of them think that roads could bring money, so it is good to have roads near home. Is it true? Let’s find out.
So why do modern people think that roads mean water? I guess the analogy comes from the fact that there are vehicles running on the road, just like boats moving in the water.
This is an unfortunate mistake. The power of water does not come from its ability to move objects. It’s the energy in the water that matters. Roads do not have the same energy, that’s why ancient Feng Shui masters did not regard roads the same as water.
Road Means Water?
In ancient times there was no motor vehicle. Transportation was done either by boat in the seas, rivers or canals or by vehicles drawn by horses. However, ancient Feng Shui books only mentioned the “real” water as a symbol of wealth. The Feng Shui measures implemented by the masters in the past were most related to “real” water, not vehicles or roads.
Water Means Money?
Even for water, it does not mean wealth all the time. In most occasions, water is related to money. However, Water is also a source of power, if it is used improperly, it would bring bad luck instead of fortune.
We have seen many real cases recorded in Feng Shui books written in hundreds or even thousands of years ago, in which bad happenings were brought by water found in the wrong place and in the wrong form.
I hope this article helps to explain why roads should not be considered as water in Feng Shui. In the next article, we shall discuss what roads actually mean in Feng Shui. In fact, roads could be quite bad in Feng Shui. Wonder how and why? I’ll explain in the next article!
Metal bells have been used by monks to treat prayers’ health problems. This article explains why and how you could do it at home.
Have you ever wondered why there are usually big bronze bells in temples in Japan and China? Apart from religious reasons, these bells could also be justified by Feng Shui theories. Let me tell you why.
Metal is Medicine for Many Feng Shui Problems
According to traditional Feng Shui theories, many bad Feng Shui issues are related to Earth, one of the five elements. For example, among the nine flying stars, the two bad stars have the Earth character.
Wood is the element that “attacks” the Earth element. Should we use Wood to combat Earth? The answer is no. When Wood meets Earth, it is similar to a war between two armies. The Wood may be strong enough to combat Earth but just like all wars, damage would be inevitably caused.
This is why the best treatment to the problems caused by these flying stars is to relieve instead of “attack” them. Earth produces Metal, says the traditional Feng Shui theories. Using metal is just like depleting the Earth element. For this reason, many Feng Shui masters suggest their clients use metal whenever Feng Shui problems arise.
Bronze Bells Could Treat Bad Feng Shui
Traditionally, temples were the place where many people pray for good health. As I mentioned in my last article, it would be difficult to do Feng Shui if the orientation and layout of the house was known. The monks wanted to help but they did not know the orientation and layout of the prayers’ houses. So, the monks placed large bronze bells in the temples, so that payers could ring these bells and get rid of their health problems.
Bronze bells in a temple
How to Use Metal in Modern Homes
If you encounter health problems, you should consult medical doctors. Yet, as an additional way to help, you could consider using metal. Try placing metal bells or wind chimes beside your bed, and make them sound frequently. If your health problem is caused by the flying stars of the Earth element, the power of the metal may improve the Feng Shui.
There are many little tweaks that you can apply to your home to make it better. Today I am going to introduce a simple yet important thing, i.e. to avoid sharp edges and corners.
Sharp Corners are Bad Sha
In traditional Feng Shui theories, Sha is how we call bad energy. A very common Sha in modern buildings is sharp edges and corners.
Sharp corner is Feng Shui Sha
In Hong Kong, the city where I live, architects used to avoid sharp corners on the external walls of buildings. The reason was that round corners look better. Besides, pointing a sharp corner to your neighbour was not a friendly act.
Round corner is better
Unfortunately, this is a tradition that is no longer appreciated by modern building designers. Sharp corners do not look good, and they cause bad energy. If you can see a big sharp corner of another building right outside your window, chances are that corner is causing negative effect on the health of your family members.
Sharp Edges are Bad Too
Similarly, sharp edges outside and inside your house are also not good. It is quite common to find beams with sharp edges on the ceiling soffit. This is bad if found in bedroom. Even worse if the beam is located right above your head. Health problem of is prone to be caused.
The Remedies Remedies
So what can you do if you find sharp edges or corners?
Try to cover them up. You may build a false ceiling to hide sharp beams. For sharp corners outside your window, it make good use of window curtains.
Try to avoid sleeping in a room with sharp corners and beams. If it is unavoidable, at least do not allow your bed to be faced by them.
Hope the above tips help! Like our Facebook page to receive more Feng Shui Tips.
Over the years, I have heard so many rumours about how bad Feng Shui at home could cause bad relationship. These rumours sound very reliable because they are usually supported by Feng Shui theories that seem to be correct. In this article, I am going to explain whether these rumours are correct or not.
Feng Shui Myth 1: Wall Cracks = Bad Marriage?
A very commonly heard Feng Shui myth is that if you found cracks on the walls of your house, your marriage would be bad. The advocates of this theory suggest that since cracks mean breakage and separation, more cracks at home means higher chance of divorce.
This is absolutely wrong.
If you know a little bit of home decoration, you would know that the plastering on wall is prone to cracks due to natural shrinkage. And if your house is more than 10 years old, most probably there would be one or two cracks on the wall, not to mention those on the ceiling and floor. Basically, it is impossible to find a house without any cracks.
So cracks by themselves would not cause bad marriage. But if the cracks are the result of defects in the building structure, say ground settlement, the defect itself may cause Feng Shui problems. And certainly, even if you don’t believe in Feng Shui, you would not want to live in a house with structural problems, right?
Feng Shui Myth 2: Bad Kitchen Design Brings Two Wives?
Traditionally we believe the Feng Shui of the kitchen affects the housewife of a family. This is why many Feng Shui myths related to bad marriage concern the kitchen design.
A very common Feng Shui rumour is that if there are two stoves the husband may have an affair with someone else, because the stove means the housewife, and if there are two stoves there would be two housewives in this family, meaning that the husband would fall in love with someone else.
A similar rumour is that if there are mirrors in the kitchen, when the housewife works in the kitchen the mirror would produce a duplicated image of the housewife. There would, again, mean that there are more than one housewives in this family.
You may also have heard of that if there are two refrigerators in a kitchen, the chance of the husband having an affair would be high. Basically, all these rumours are supported by a fundamental belief, that there should be only one kitchen and everything in the kitchen should be the only set in that kitchen. Following this principle, you may even say that there should not be two ovens or wash basins in a kitchen.
These are all nonsense.
Firstly, it is not uncommon to have two housewives in a house. If there are three generations living in the same house, it is just normal to have two or three housewives under the same roof! And you can tell by common sense that, unless you live alone there are usually more than one stoves in your kitchen! Don’t believe in these bullshxt theories!
Feng Shui Myth 3: Ivy Causes Bad Marriage
Some people believe that ivy, or hedera, hedera helix, etc., planted inside a house may cause bad marriage. The idea behind may be that ivy is a climbing plant that is attached to a base structure, so it carries the meaning of having a third person clinging to a family member’s marriage. And the stems of ivy is not straight but curved, so it may mean hiccups in a marriage.
Again, this myth is totally wrong. In contrast, ivy is a good Feng Shui plant that may bring wealth if used properly. While analogy is widely used in Feng Shui, it does not mean that you can arbitrarily make a conclusion simply because the shape of something looks like something else.
To conclude, Feng Shui has an effect on relationship and marriage but it is not the only factor. The key to a successful marriage is the efforts that the couple made to maintain a good relationship. If the love is real, it is unlikely that a plant or two stoves at home could cause any damage.
For most of the time people study Feng Shui for their homes or offices. The topic of this article is a bit different. I would not tell you what constitutes a good Feng Shui home or office. Instead, I will teach you how to choose a Feng Shui hotel room. In other words, after reading this article, you would know how to select a hotel room with good Feng Shui when you are on vacation or business trip.
Does it really matter to find a Feng Shui hotel room? It depends. If you have just a short stay for one or two nights, the Feng Shui of the hotel room does not really matter. But if you have a long stay or you are having a business trip for an important business meeting, a good Feng Shui room could how to bring good luck.
If you studied my Feng Shui Master Class, you would know how to choose lucky floor level. Even if you don’t, here is a quick tip.
In 2014, the luckiest floor levels are those ending with 6, i.e. 6, 16, 26, 36, 46, etc. If possible, when you check in at the concierge, tell the hotel staff that you want a floor level ending with 6. Unless the hotel is really fully booked, usually the hotel staff would be able to fulfill your requirement.
There is one thing to note. We need to count the actual floor number. Sometimes the floor levels are not in simple 1, 2, 3, 4… sequence. Instead, the floor levels may be G, UG, Podium, L1, L2, etc. In Feng Shui, we count the real floor number only. So the ground level is 1/F, 2/F is one floor above, 3/F is next… all the way to the highest floor. We do not skip unlucky floor numbers like 13. The 6, 16, 26, 36, floors here refer to the real floor number.
Feng Shui Hotel Room
Now that the first requirement is met, it is time to examine the hotel room. Firstly, avoid choosing the last room in the corridor, i.e. the room at the dead end. We believe that the energy, a.k.a. Chi, needs to flow. The Chi at the end of a corridor is stagnant, so a room located there is usually not preferred.
We also do not prefer a door to door situation. This happens when the door of your room faces the door of the opposite room. Nowadays hotel doors are usually positioned alternatively for better circulation so this should not be a big problem.
Preferably, your hotel room should not be adjacent or directly opposite to the elevator. The first reason of this requirement is that the elevator could be noisy, either due to the mechanics (doors opening and closing) or the elevator passengers who produce noise. Secondly, the Chi around elevators could be messy.
Finally, the directions of the hotel room must be good. For this, you should refer to my free Feng Shui guide, which explains the good and bad directions in this year. In 2014, South is the best direction, so if the door of the hotel room opens to South, the room is not bad. Besides, the bed is preferably be in a good direction as well, such as South, North, Southwest or West.
With all these criteria met, the hotel room should be a Feng Shui place to stay for a few nights.
Mirror is a common furniture in almost everybody’s home. We usually have a mirror in the toilet, a mirror in the wardrobe and sometimes even one in the kiving room. If mirror has an impact on Feng Shui, its effect would inevitably be felt by almost everyone of us.
Feng Shui Mirrors – What Do They Do?
A few weeks ago I came across a term called Feng Shui mirror. Somebody was selling such kind of thing in a local market. The seller claimed that by hanging the mirror on the wall you would get better luck.
Does Feng Shui mirror ever exists? Before I answer this question I should explain the effects of mirror in Feng Shui.
We all know mirror reflects light. If you switch on a torch and point it to a mirror, you will see the light being reflected back to you. The stronger the light of the torch, the stronger the reflected light.
Mirror has the function of a reflector in Feng Shui. If there is good Chi in a particular corner of your house, it reflects the good Chi. On the other hand, if there is bad Chi it brings it out. The stronger the Chi the bigger the impact. If there is a mirror in a sickness direction, the mirror will bring out the bad energy.
You may consider mirror a amplifier of energy. It does not filter the energy, i.e. it would not block out bad energy or convert bad energy into good. So in practice there is no such thing as Feng Shui mirror because every ordinary mirror can do everything a Feng Shui mirror can do.
The Best Practice of Using Feng Shui Mirrors
So the truth about Feng Shui mirror is that it has good effect only if you place it in he right place. If you are not sure where the good / bad directions of your house is, my recommendation is to avoid putting mirrors at unnecessary locations. Only put them in the toilet and where you make up and dress.
If you can get an expert’s help, mirror could really be used for good Feng Shui. For example, many Feng Shui masters use Feng Shui to magnify the positive effects of the good Flying Stars in good directions.
Besides, sometimes Feng Shui masters would use convex mirrors to reduce the bad effects of external “Sha”. “Sha” is something bad in shape that could constitute a threat to the Feng Shui of your house. A typical example of external “Sha” is a sharp angle pointing to your house’s door or window. In this case, some Feng Shui masters would hang a convex mirror facing the “Sha” in hope of reducing the bad effects experienced.
In the last article in this Feng Shui Myths series, we have discussed the use of lucky color to boost luck. This time, we shall examine another popular topic in Feng Shui, i.e. the use of Feng Shui products. Do you really believe that these stuff could bring better energy?
Most of the time when you seek help from a Feng Shui master, he would suggest that you place some Feng Shui accessories at home or in the workplace. There are a large variety of Feng Shui accessories used by Feng Shui practitioners, the most commonly used ones include water fountain (this one is extremely popular), water column, wealth ship, wealth fog, Ba Gua, Feng Shui coins and Wu Lou. Let me explain their effects.
Water Fountain / Water Column
These two are perhaps the most commonly used Feng Shui accessories. Whenever we talk about using Feng Shui to bring wealth, we inevitably talk about the use of a water feature.
The logic behind using water fountain / water column is that water represents wealth. So once we identified the direction where the”wealth star” locates, we should place a water feature there to enhance the power of the “wealth star”. Both water fountain and water column are features with running water, so they are considered bring a dynamic stream of wealth.
Is this true? Yes. Water features, if placed correctly, could bring better luck in wealth growth. According to the Five-element Theory, the “wealth star” has a “water” characteristic, so placing water in that star’s direction could strengthen the power of that star.
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.
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!
