Feng Shui Myths (3): Bad Marriage, Bad Relationship

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.

Feng Shui Myths - Wall Cracks

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.

Feng Shui Myths: Feng Shui Kitchen

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.

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.
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