Your Windows are Your Eyes!

Feng Shui is full of metaphors and says that windows are the mouths of the children living in the home and the eyes of the adults.

Here are some things to think about: Are your windows in need of cleaning? Are you not seeing something you should? Wash your windows and "see" if you get an answer.

Are any of your windows cracked and broken? How are your children feeling? Do they feel that their "voice" doesn't matter or that you are not listening to them? Is their voice not being heard? Get those cracked windows replaced and "see" if your children feel you care more about what they say.

It's autumn and time to open our windows and get them clean and shinny to let in the winter sun. Time to take the air conditioners out of the windows. Time to do some repair work and putty to keep the warmth in and keep the cold out.

Open your shades and blinds. If they are closed you are not seeing all there is to see. Let in the warmth of the Autumn sun. Do the curtains need washing after the heat and dirt of the summer? Clear and clean your windows and you will also see more clearly the opportunities and Chi coming your way. You will be more prepared to make clear choices and decisions.

Blessings,
and Happy Autumn Cleaning!

First Appointment (final Installment)

Family:

The Family area represents the family you came from, ancestors and relatives, any group with a common purpose (like your coworkers, a book club, knitting group, scrapbooking group, etc…) and even authority figures. The color is Green, the corresponding Element is Wood, the body part is the Feet, and the area belongs to the Oldest Son.

Mary Kathleen's concern for her family is for continued health and happiness. We didn’t talk too much about this however her parents are getting older and with age, comes health concerns. Mary Kathleen is very close to her family and they are a big part of her life. She has support from them and offers support to them. Mary Kathleen’s Family Gua falls in her hallway and bedroom. There are five doors in this area. That is a lot of doors in a small area! Now, remember that doors are the mouth of the adults living in the space. Right now, it is only Mary Kathleen, but she is preparing for a Partnership. I feel very strongly that she make one important adjustment to keep the Family Chi calm and content. I suggest she get a small 20mm round faceted crystal to hang in the hallway. This will give the energy something to do, circulate around and will help to keep it calm. If she puts a rug in the hallway, it should be an oval shaped rug or one with swirls or circle shapes. The oval shape and swirls and circles will help to support her Partnership energy!

The last thing we did at the appointment was to take measurements and draw out a formal floor plan of the apartment. That is the floor plan we will use throughout this project. In the new floor plan, a two foot section of the living room is Fame/Reputation. This area is ruled by Fire. Incidentally, Ron the Bird is of the Fire element! This is where Ron's bird cage is. A perfect spot! Her bathtub also falls in the Fame area. We will be sure to look at that during our second appointment.

Mary Kathleen's "homework" was to work on the bedroom. She is to remove books, clear out the dresser and any other clogged areas, and to rearrange the furniture. Our next appointment is Sunday, July 19, 2009. We will be concentrating on the Partnership area, working on "tweaking" the bedroom, and the living room.

I'm looking forward to seeing the changes Mary Kathleen has made in the past month and curious to find how she is doing.

Blessings,

Dorine King

Career:
Career is your journey in Life and activities you love to do. The color is Black, the corresponding Element is Water, the body part is the Ears, and the area belongs to the Middle Son.

Mary Kathleen really likes her job. It is a job she upgraded to when she moved into this apartment. However, she feels she has gone as far as she can with it and is stuck in her career. It is not moving forward.

Kitchen: Mary Kathleen’s Career Gua falls in her kitchen. By nature, the kitchen is a mixture of Water and Fire. I’m going to add some Wealth/money suggestions to this Gua. In ancient times, if one had fire to cook food, to nurture the body, to gain strength and endurance to go out and work in the fields and to hunt and fish the food; that person was considered well-to-do. Fire came to represent money. Likewise, water is needed to supplement the food and/or to contain the fish to eat and it also can take you and your wares to market to sell them. Water also came to represent money. The kitchen is an important room in regard to money and Mary Kathleen’s kitchen just happens to be in her Career Gua. To metaphorically “double her money,” Mary Kathleen should hang a mirror above the stove. She was not too keen on that idea so I suggested she place a small 1-inch mirror behind the stove. When you make Feng Shui adjustments, you should like the adjustment and be comfortable with it. If you don’t like it or are uncomfortable with it, don’t do it – if you do, the adjustment will not work well for you. Intention is about 90% of the adjustment and the adjustment itself, is about 10%. Her “intention” for the placement of the 1-inch mirror behind the stove will be very powerful even though she will never see it. She needs to tend to her Fire to keep it burning. In today’s world that means she needs to clean and wipe off her stove every day whether it needs it or not. Metaphorically, she will be tending her Fire and tending to her money.

Doors are extremely important in Feng Shui. The front door is the mouth of Chi. Doors are also the mouths of the adults who live in a home. Our opportunities come to us through the front door. Mary Kathleen has some door issues at her house. Her front door sticks a little bit. Metaphorically, the energy/Chi is having a hard time getting into her life. Remember, in Feng Shui, our space reflects our life and our life reflects our space? Mary Kathleen feels like her career is stuck and it just so happens, her front door sticks. Hum, food for thought! Mary Kathleen has a rug in the hallway in front of her door. This is nice. She had a skeleton decoration left over from Halloween on the front door. Do dead people live here? She removed it immediately. There is a little wall with a 4-inch shelf in it by the front door. I suggested she place a vase with two flowers there, maybe a pretty picture behind it and a seasonal wreath on the outside of the front door. The energy/Chi comes up the stairs and will be attracted to the door – it will hang around and want to come to Mary Kathleen’s apartment. This will create a Ming Tang or “bright spot” or "life spot" as you enter her apartment. The vase and flowers will also help to support her Partnership goal. She needs to have a little bit of wood shaved off the bottom of the front door so it opens freely and clearly. She has an “arguing door” situation in the living room with the front and the closet doors. Upon closer look at the Bagua, she also has an arguing door situation with one of the storage closets and the bedroom door. I gave Mary Kathleen an “Arguing Door” adjustment she can do to correct this energy/Chi. When her partner comes into her life, she does not want “arguing energy” to be living in her apartment. There are doorways from the living room to the dining room, and another from the dining room to the back of the apartment. Both of these doorways used to have doors on them. The doors have been removed but the hardware is still there. The energy of these two doorways is confused. Because the hardware is still there, the doorway still thinks it’s a door. (We are talking about energy – not that the door actually thinks!) If Mary Kathleen were to remove all the hardware and re-make the doorway into just a passageway – that will correct the issue. Short of that, she can do a few of things to adjust that energy:

1. She can hang a crystal in the center of each door frame
2. She can hang a bell along side of each door frame
3. She can hang a decoration in the center of each door frame (A mistletoe kissing ball at Christmas?!)
4. If she likes a more subtle adjustment, she can use a red marker and make a small dot in the center of each door frame.

As she makes each adjustment she should use the Three Secrets of Reinforcement.

Her biggest door issue however, is in the kitchen. The back door to the apartment has been nailed shut! It cannot be opened from the outside hallway nor can it be opened from the kitchen. This is not good for a few reasons.

There is the safety issue. If there is a fire, Mary Kathleen does not have an alternate way out of her apartment. This is a door and it should be used. It is the back door. The energy comes in the front door, meanders through the apartment and then is “stuck.” It cannot get out. It is “stuck” in her Career Gua. Mary Kathleen feels that her Career is “stuck.” If she cannot get the owners of the building to open this door so it can be freely used, using the Three Secrets of Reinforcement, she can do a number of things to un-stick the energy:

1. She can/should place a full length mirror on the door. This energetically creates a back door.
2. She can hang a bell or wind chime by the door to create the movement energy. (Inside the kitchen or outside in the common hallway.
3. She can do something as simple as placing a tiny red dot with a marker to energetically “open” the door.

The element for the Career Gua is Water. Mary Kathleen should add a water feature by the front door (like a little table top fountain, or a fish bowl or a picture of water). She can use the color black, Water itself, or even a wavy design. If she hangs a full length mirror on the back door, the mirror frame could be black (the mirror itself is a water feature!). She could add some plants to the kitchen area in black pots. If she is changing her kitchen décor, she could use black as an accent color. Bottom line: the back door is in her Career Gua and it is stuck. Somehow, it needs to get un-stuck; energetically this should un-stick her Career.

Tomorrow we will look at the Family concern.

Blessings,

Dorine King

The First Appointment (installment #1)

Mary Kathleen invited her sister and our mutual friend to be part of the first appointment. We began with a brief explanation of what Feng Shui is, what the Bagua represents and how it is laid out on the floor plan.

We imposed the Bagua over the floor plan, jumped right in and began with the living room. The living room contains three of the Guas: Helpful People, Children/Creativity, and Partnership.

The two power corners are Partnership and Wealth. The power corners are the two Guas furthest from the front door. In the Black Hat Tantric Tradition Feng Shui, they are always Wealth (in the far back left) and Partnership (in the far back right). From these two corners you have the best advantage to the door. You can see the door and have the most time to react to what is coming in through the door. Remember, in Feng Shui everything is and has energy or Chi. Even though you may not actually SEE the front door from the room that is in the power corner ENERGETICLY, you will be prepared. Wealth (blessings) and Partnership are a driving force working together with the Gua of the front door. Mary Kathleen’s Partnership power corner is in the living room, the Wealth (blessings) power corner is in the bedroom, and Mary Kathleens’s front door is in the Helpful People Gua.

As you walk in the front door into the living room, a chair is straight ahead (facing west); this creates a blocking energy (i.e. “don’t come in – not too far!). Another single chair is facing the door (again, this sends the signal that there is singleness in this space). The TV is in the Partnership corner and a love seat is on the same wall as the door. When Mary Kathleen watches TV, she sits on an exercise ball (which really is a good use of TV time!). The kitchen/dining room contains her Fame, Health and Career Guas. She does not own a dining table. She has a lot of collectables in the Fame Gua. The kitchen pretty much takes up the Career Gua. The Health/Center is between the dining room and the kitchen as you walk through to the Bedroom area. The Wealth, Family and Knowledge Guas are in the bathroom, bedroom, storage and closet areas. Right now, Mary Kathleen’s bed sits exactly in front of the bedroom door in the Family Gua.

Let’s address Mary Kathleen’s three main issues; Partnership, Career and Family. We will begin with Partnership.

Partnership:

The Partnership Gua is located in the upper right corner of the Black Hat Bagua. Partnership is a heart-to-heart connection with a spouse, significant other, business partner, the Universe, God or your Source. It can even be a partnership with oneself. The color is Pink, the corresponding Element is Earth, the body part is the Abdomen, and the area belongs to the Mother. Mary Kathleen wants to bring a partner into her life.

Living room: I suggested she rearrange the living room. Move the loveseat to the opposite wall between the two windows and place the matching end tables on either end. She has one table lamp and one floor lamp – use those on either side of the loveseat. Orient the 5X7 area rug in front of the couch with the oval coffee table on top. The TV can be moved to the wall with the door. The two chairs can be placed on either side of the TV. This will create a conversation area for when she has company. She can keep her bird Ron, in the back left hand corner of the living room (where he currently lives). Birds and Pets are part of the Fire Element. With our revised floor plan, Ron sits in the Fame Gua which is ruled by Fire. This is a great spot for Ron! She has a very pretty painting of some red flowers a friend made for her which will look lovely above the loveseat. As Mary Kathleen is rearranging the furniture, she should envision sitting on the loveseat with the man of her dreams watching a romantic movie!! In addition to that, as she is sitting on the loveseat, she will have a clear view of the front door and will be “facing opportunities” coming her way. Mary Kathleen should decorate in pairs; two candles together, two flowers in a vase, two pictures in a grouping, etc….. Circular or oval shapes are good for Partnership – they have no sides. In the main Partnership corner of the apartment (living room - back right corner) she should place a plant. A healthy growing plant will signify a healthy growing relationship. This can be a tall plant in a pot, a plant hanging from the ceiling, or a plant in a pretty pot on a table. If Mary Kathleen likes the color pink or rose, she can add these as accent colors. She may even consider painting the walls.

Bedroom: Although Mary Kathleen’s bedroom does not lay in the Partnership Gua, it is very important to her Partnership concern. Her bed sits directly in front of the door. As you stand in the living room and/or dining room doorways looking toward the bedroom, you can see the bed. This is a LOT of energy pointing and rushing at Mary Kathleen as she is in the bed and as she is trying to rest. I asked if she had anything stored under the bed. Yes, she has Christmas decorations under the bed. I asked how she sleeps. She is up and awake two or three times each night. She has a lot of rushing energy coming at her from the living room through the dining room and the hallway and she is sleeping on top of pointy hard Christmas decorations. She also has piles of books in the bedroom. No wonder she is not sleeping well!

I suggested she rearrange the bedroom and try not to store anything under the bed. Perhaps as she is cleaning out and organizing storage areas and closets, she will find room for the Christmas decorations elsewhere. If she must store anything under the bed, it should be soft things like linens, extra blankets, winter sweaters, etc… I also suggested she move the bed from the East wall to the North wall. This keeps her bed out of the direct line of energy rushing through from the living room to the bedroom. It helps to keep her more protected. Her bed will be positioned in one of the power corners of the bedroom. She will be able to see the door from the bed. This also offers Mary Kathleen more protection and hopefully more rest. Right now Mary Kathleen does not have a headboard or a foot board on the bed. The mattress sits on a frame. If she buys a new bed, she should look for something with a solid wood headboard and a foot board. The headboard will give her support and backing and a foot board will offer her just a bit more protection. In the meantime, she has a pretty tapestry her Aunt gave her. She will hang this above the bed on a cafe rod as a makeshift headboard. I suggested she use two bedside tables instead of just the one she is currently using. The bedside tables should be of equal size (matching would be nice – and round shaped or oval would also be good for Partnership) and the items on the tables should also be of equal size. Likewise, lamps should match and/or be of equal size. If she is using square tables, she can add round doilies, etc to bring in the round and oval shapes for Partnership. She should clean out a dresser drawer and clear a space in the closet with some empty hangers hanging. This will help create “room” for a partner to come into her life. We superimposed the Bagua on the front of the dresser to determine the “Partnership drawer.” This is the drawer she will empty out. Again, Mary Kathleen should decorate in pairs. Two candles, two lamps, equal tables, equal sides of the bed. We talked about paint color for the bedroom being flesh tones – pinks, taupe, mochas, etc… Mary Kathleen will consider painting the bedroom.

We will continue tomorrow the Career.

Blessings,

Dorine King

What is the Bagua?

The Bagua is an “energy map” which is laid over the floor plan of a piece of property, a house, a room or even any horizontal space such as a bed or a desk. The word Bagua is translates as “BA” meaning eight and “GUA” meaning area. So Bagua means eight areas. In Feng Shui, we add a ninth Center area sometimes shown as the Tai Chi or in Black Hat Tantric Feng Shui it is called Health. All of the other areas of the Bagua touch Health, and so are affected by Health.

The nine areas of the Bagua are as follows:

Knowledge and Wisdom is the educational goals for yourself, the ability to use what you have, deep understanding of who you are, and your inner wisdom and or spirituality. The color is Blue, the corresponding Element is Earth, the body part is the Hands, and the area belongs to the Youngest Son.

Career is your journey in Life and activities you love to do. The color is Black, the corresponding Element is Water, the body part is the Ears, and the area belongs to the Middle Son.

A Helpful People is any person or persons who support you mentally, emotionally and financially: clients, realtors, travel agents, Doctors, your Feng Shui consultant, etc… You could also be a Helpful People to others. The color is Gray, the corresponding Element is Metal, the body part is the Head, and the area belongs to the Father.

The Family area represents the family you came from, ancestors and relatives, any group with a common purpose (like your coworkers, a book club, knitting group, scrapbooking group, etc…) and even authority figures. The color is Green, the corresponding Element is Wood, the body part is the Feet, and the area belongs to the Oldest Son.

Health or Center is your Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual well-being. The color is Yellow, the corresponding Element is Earth, the body parts are Heart, Spine, Spleen and all other parts.

Children and Creativity is any children or pets in your life. It is also your creative endeavors, and bringing projects to completion. The color is White, the corresponding Element is Metal, the body part is the mouth and the area belongs to the Youngest Daughter.

Wealth is the money you earn, win, or inherit, Personal Blessings as well as your personal power. The color is Purple, the corresponding Element is Wood, the body part is the Hip, and the area belongs to the Oldest Daughter.

Fame and Reputation is being known, what people say about you, how people perceive you, and maintaining your good name and integrity. The color is Red, the corresponding Element is Fire, the body part is the Eyes, and the area belongs to the Middle Daughter.

Partnership (Love & Marriage) is a heart-to-heart connection with a spouse, significant other, business partner, the Universe, God or your Source. It can even be a partnership with yourself. The color is Pink, the corresponding Element is Earth, the body part is the Abdomen, and the area belongs to the Mother.

Blessings,

Dorine King

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is the Chinese art of balance and placement. It can help the people who inhabit a space to balance the energies to assure their health and good fortune.

In Feng Shui we believe that everything is, has and holds energy or Chi. Our homes reflect the energy of our lives, and our lives reflect the energy of our homes. If we are having an issue in a certain area of our lives, chances are, we are also having issues with certain areas of our homes. If we want to make changes in our lives, we can make changes in corresponding areas of our homes. When we make changes in our home, we change the energy flow. The energy changes in our home and it carries energetically through to the corresponding area of our life. For instance, if we “enhance” the partnership area of our home, bedroom, or desk, we are changing the energy of that area and in Feng Shui; we believe the energy in that area of our life will also change. We make changes with Intention.

Intention is Key. Intention is everything. We honor the Red Envelope Tradition with intention. We place our coins and the Practitioners fee, with intention, into the Red Envelopes. As we place our coins in the envelopes, we think about our intention in asking for the Feng Shui consultation. The Practitioner sleeps with the Red Envelopes under his/her pillow and adds their own intention to the clients’. A ceremony is held the following day with these envelops. Much like when a Priest burns incense, the Feng Shui Practitioner burns the Red envelopes. The intentions of the client along with the added intentions of the Practitioner are in the envelopes and go out into the world, add to, are affected by, and affect other peoples intentions as they go up into the universe and ultimately to the sky and Heaven. I believe these are like our prayers and ultimately they reach God. There is a Heaven Earth Connection, a peace, and a harmony we are always seeking to achieve.

Our Thoughts (our intentions) become Words. Our Words become Actions (energy-Chi). Our Actions become Habits. Our Habits become our Character (this is how we are judged by man). Our Character becomes our Nature. Our Nature is judged by God. Every motivational speaker will tell you to write your plan, to speak your plan and to begin living as though your plan were already in place. That is intention. That intention is what we purpose to do when we make Feng Shui adjustments. Energy will follow intention. Energy creates change.

Blessings,

Dorine King

The Three Ring Binder and the Feng Shui Bag

What is this binder for and how will we use it? As I said in the last post, the binder is a home for all the paperwork we will be dealing with this coming year. Into it we will put all the pre-appointment information as well as what I bring along to the first appointment. So far it will contain:

- The consultation checklist (history, present circumstances, thoughts and feelings)

- Her three to five issues we will work on this year (why she wanted the Feng Shui appointment)

- The Red Envelope Tradition

- What is Feng Shui? (Explained at our 1st appointment)

- What is the Bagua? (Explained at our 1st appointment)

- The Three Secrets of Reinforcement (Explained at our 1st appointment)

- Mary Kathleen's floor plans

- The Orange Peel Blessing

The Feng Shui Bag is the bag I carry with me. It holds graph paper, a ruler, a tape measure, Mala beads, pens, pencils, a calculator, extra red envelopes, Feng Shui Adjustments, Blessings and anything specific I plan on doing for and with the client.

I have Mary Kathleen's Three Ring Binder put together and I have my Feng Shui Bag packed and a list for a few things I will pick up on the way to the appointment. (Like a beautiful organic orange for the Blessing!) I am organized, packed and ready for the appointment next Sunday!

Mary Kathleen, I want to thank you for allowing me into your home and for allowing me the privilege of having you help me with my final project for Certification!

Blessings,

Dorine King