Do You Know Doormats and Rugs Could Bring Bad Feng Shui?

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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.

Feng Shui effects of door mats and rugs

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!

Door Facing Door Feng Shui and Remedies

The topic of this article is door facing door Feng Shui.  I think many of you have heard of a saying that a door facing another door is bad Feng Shui.  Do you know how bad this situation could be and what adverse effects it could bring?  Read on to know more.

 

The Significance of Door

Before we analyse the different door-to-door situations, let us first learn why door Feng Shui is important.

Feng Shui is basically the examination of energy and Chi.  The flow of energy and Chi is therefore a critical part of Feng Shui.  According to Chinese Feng Shui theories, the openings of a house are where the Chi flows in and out.  We call these openings “氣口” in Chinese, which literally means “the mouth of Chi”.

Door is the most common kind of Chi opening.  This is why when we determine the orientation of a building, we use the main entrance door as a reference.  When we say a building faces North and backs South, we mean that the main entrance door is located in North of the house when measured from the center point of the building.  The Flying Star Map of the house is drawn according to this orientation, and we base our interpretation of the building’s Feng Shui 100% on the Flying Star Map.  So in summary, the direction of a door is critical to the Feng Shui of a building.

This is why door is important to Feng Shui of a building.  Just consider it as the mouth of yourself, what you eat and drink could have significant impacts on your health, isn’t it?

Continue reading “Door Facing Door Feng Shui and Remedies”

Door Threshold for Good Feng Shui

Door threshold is common for doors separating the external and internal areas, as well as for those doors between the kitchen/toilet and the living room.  But do you know it is also a Feng Shui tool?  Yes it is!

In the past, door threshold was mainly used for protecting the house from ingress of water in Chinese societies.  This is why door threshold is particularly common in Southern China, because the average rainfall in this area is more than Northern China.  No matter rain drops or water flooding, a high door threshold could serve as a very good protection.  Sometimes a door threshold at the entrance could be as tall as a feet (i.e. around 330mm).  These thresholds are not good for people’s use because you may be knocked down by it easily.  However, the risk of flooding was high in the past, so people had to design such tall thresholds.

Door Threshold in Fodbidden City

A door in Forbidden City, Beijing (CC Licence: Mary Leonard)

Nowadays, door threshold has less practical use in modern residential units.  Many people live in multi-storey apartments where the common corridor/lobby on each floor is also an internal area where no rain water could get in.  Even for detached houses, the risk of water flooding in modern cities would be low.  So the door threshold is seen by many as having decorative use only.

 

Ancient Door Threshold Feng Shui

However, from a Feng Shui master’s point of view a door threshold has a very important role.  It is to curb the loss of wealth.  We believe that the door threshold could separate the internal and external area so that the movement of good Chi (energy) out of the house could be reduced.  Similarly, we also believe that the threshold could bar the ingress of negative Chi (a.k.a. Sha, 煞 in Chinese).

You may wonder how the door threshold could be so magical that it could detect the type of Chi and block negative Chi while allowing good Chi to move in.  Could the little door threshold be so powerful?  Yes, but not without something else.

Five Emperor Coins for Door Threshold Feng Shui

There is a Feng Shui tool called “Coins of the Five Emperors” (五帝古錢 in Chinese).  This set of coins are old coins that were produced when five particular emperors were running the Qing Dynasty (清朝 in Chinese).  This period was regarded as the most thriving period in that Dynasty.  These coins were used by numerous people, so that have the Chi and power of people.  According to Feng Shui theories, these coins has the power to purify the energy in the space.  They could also filter out bad Chi.  In the past, when people build the door threshold they would firstly lay these five coins on the ground before covering them up with the threshold stone.  With these coins, the threshold would have the power to filter out negative Chi and retain positive Chi.  Simply put, door threshold Feng Shui is not about the threshold itself but how we make it powerful by using Feng Shui techniques.

 

Modern Door Threshold Feng Shui

Nowadays, you can buy these coins from Amazon.  However, it would be quite troublesome to take down the threshold, add the coins and re-install the threshold.  Still, we could use “modern Feng Shui” skills to make the threshold complies with Feng Shui principles.

Firstly, ordinary threshold should have at least 1 inch tall.  If your entrance door faces the stair or elevator, you should heighten the threshold to enhance the power to curb the loss of wealth.

Secondly, check the threshold to see if there is any cracks or damages.  It would be very bad Feng Shui if the thredhold has cracks or damages on it.  You should immediately replace it.  So, if possible, you should choose hard and rigid materials to make the threshold.

Finally, do not choose dark color for the threshold.  You should use bright and light colors.  Red color should also be avoided because it resembles fire.

 

Feng Shui Interior Design (1) – Door, Bedroom and Kitchen [Master Class Lesson 5]

Welcome back to the Feng Shui Master Class, this is your lesson 5, Feng Shui Interior Design.  In this lesson, we’ll look at how the general layout of your house affects all people living in it.

 

Feng Shui Interior Design Critical Elements

There is a traditional saying about Form Feng Shui: “The 3 most important elements of Feng Shui are door, bedroom and stove” (陽宅三要門、房、灶).  We shall have a look at the guiding principles around them, with particular focus on the modern society, i.e. how these principles about the door, bedroom and stove could affect Feng Shui interior design for a modern house.

 

Door to Door

Architects like symmetrical designs and sometimes this cause troubles.  Door-to-door is one of the most commonly found bad Feng Shui interior design in modern buildings.  In apartments, if the entrance door of your flat faces straightly to the door of another flat, it is a bad Feng Shui.  According to traditional Feng Shui theory, it looks like two people confronting face to face.  People living in both flats are prone to having quarrels with others.

5-Feng Shui Interior Design - Door to Door

Remember in the last lesson we said that Feng Shui theories contain a lot of analogies?  The reason of door facing door being bad Feng Shui is because it looks like two people confronting each other face to face.

The same also applies to door within the same flat, say, bedroom’s door facing the main entrance door.  The person who occupies that bedroom has a higher chance of having quarrels with people around him/her.  In the following example, bedroom 2 and bedroom 2 suffer from this problem, occupiers of both rooms would have higher chance of having disputes with others.

Feng-Shui-Interior-Design-In-House-Door-to-Door

What if the doors are not in exact opposite but only overlaps partially?  Well, in this case, if we door a straight line passing through the center of both doors, we would get a line not exactly in 90 degree (i.e. not normal to) either side, but somehow an inclined line.  You may think that this is a weaker “sha”, but unfortunately it is not.  In fact, this is an even worse situation, meaning that the magnitude of dispute would be greater.

Another variation is door facing the door of kitchen or toilet.  So it is not simply door to door but door to kitchen/toilet in effect.  What’s wrong with it?  Well, in these cases the bad effects would mostly be about bad temper and/or health.

If this is the case of your house, don’t worry. Try putting something in between two doors, say a tall plant, fence or cupboard.  For entrance door to entrance door case, hang a curtain or blind in front of your door.  It works like covering your mouth by a mask, thereby reducing the chance of direct confrontation.

 

Door to Window

According to traditional Feng Shui, it is not good to have the entrance door of a flat faces a window opening into the external air.  It may be difficult to understand but let me explain.

5-Feng Shui Interior Design-Door to Window

Feng Shui is about managing Chi.  The ultimate aim is to bring in good Chi and store it (聚氣) in your house. This gives energy and wealth to all people in the house.  Doors and windows are openings that could let Chi go in and go out.  Door and window along the same line means the Chi flowing in could leave immediately.  It’s like a company that makes a lot of money but soon spend it all.  Money comes and go and nothing is left.

Of course, in the eyes of modern architects cross-ventilation is good for health.  Therefore, to have the best of both worlds (health and wealth) it is better to have door and window on opposite planes of a house but NOT directly face to face.
Continue reading “Feng Shui Interior Design (1) – Door, Bedroom and Kitchen [Master Class Lesson 5]”