Welcome to Psychedelic Wizards blog and todays post about the art of Feng Shui. If you like what you read then please like, comment and follow the site for more interesting posts on a variety of topics.
The most ancient of practices that is Feng Shui – meaning wind-water – is the Chinese philosophy detailing how to create balance and harmony between the elements. This practice is used within the home, because it is a belief system that specific placement of objects in a space will greatly affect the energy and the flow and the harmony of our surroundings.
At the core, it is decorating to maximise the energy of a space, to make it more positive and minimise or eradicate negative energy build up. So what are the potential effects, or benefits of such a practice? As mentioned, the idea is to harmonise the energy so that a space is more positive, surely a huge benefit to anybody! Having a lighter energy home, feeling less cluttered and more vibrant would also make you feel mentally better, uplifting your mood, improving your mindset, helping you to achieve those goals, and possibly to sleep better too.
In Feng Shui there are the main ‘principles’. That of the ‘Commanding Position’, ‘the Bagua‘, and the ‘Five Elements‘. Using these principles together is the aim to create harmony.
Lets start with the Commanding Position. This is going to be the best way to place furniture within a room. Use this and apply it to all the main objects in a space, like the sofas in your living room, or the tv and stand, or the shelving units. Use it in bedrooms, by moving the bed to the further point from the doorway. Move your office at home around, or your desk, adjust the placement to furthest from the door, yet still facing the door. Being in the furthest point, yet facing it, is commanding a room.
Then you have the Bagua. This is an energy map identifying the elements you should place within the room to facilitate the flow of positive energy. Different areas are dealt with, like work and home and personal goals.
As you can see different colours and elements relate to different areas. Health and family for example, are green and blues, with wood as the element. If you don’t want to use all of the above, simply use a select few, or one or two. Trying something shouldn’t be a burden. When setting out the room look at the map and then focus on one room at a time and make sure you are clear what you want to bring to the room. If you wanted your bedroom with a focus on relationships you could use reds, white and pinks. Beds need to face the doorway, but not in direct line with it. Symmetry is important, so using flat and square shaped objects can help, along with flat objects.
Finally we have the Five Elements. They are: fire, water, wood, metal and earth. Feng Shui seeks to balance these elements in your home.
Each element is associated with different colours, seasons and shapes as seen in the picture above. Fire – red and triangular. Water – black and curved shapes. Wood – green/blue and rectangular columned shapes. Metal – white and circular/sphere shapes. Earth – brown/orange/yellow and flat and square objects.
If you want to add each element to a room you can start by using the colour or the shapes. You could light a white candle for example. Using more plants will help too. Being able to successfully place objects is key, and you need space to work with, so make sure to remove anything not needed and get rid of clutter and clear the doors. Big plants at the entrance can help. The entrance hallway is important to, or any hallway, try and keep it clear and bright. Plants are positive energy and connecting to the earth, so bring some big plants, or small ones into your home and keep everything fresh. They have the added benefit of literally purifying the air.
You have now learned a little about Feng Shui. Thanks for reading, how will you better use your space?