West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick

All in the Family, Foot Problems and Feng Shui?

When clients complain about pain in the extremities or other body parts, I take into consideration many aspects of the person’s life. What does floor plan tell me about the pain? There are nine sections in The Art of Placement which contain these parts and their associations with the triads. Career is given the energy of the ears, Knowledge is the hands, Family is feet, Wealth for hips, Fame is related to the eyes, Partnership the organs and stomach, Children and Creativity for mouth, Helpful People and Travel the head. Now as in Chinese Medicine, I have a related body part or system, an energy, an element and a template called a Bagua, to place over the house’s floor plan and can now investigate how the house is involved with the blockage of the body.

Here is the answer to the following question from a woman with foot problems, which I have emailed to see how she is doing. I have only given her a couple of suggestions to help, but she needs a full consultation, so I can do a full drawing to locate the problem. All of the family is experiencing foot pain.

REPLY: They are not good. I have put a silk plant in the stair well. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalsia. I really don’t know if it is really anything that really exists, at least I don’t understand it. I was told that because of this condition, that is why my feet hurt so bad, plus I have something wrong with my feet. This they are still trying to figure out.

Thanks for contacting me. I appreciate the quote but really don’t have the money to make the financial investment right now.

Here are a couple of clues you might take into consideration. I took a year’s apprenticeship on herbal studies from a wonderful M.D. a few years ago when Fibromyalsia was beginning to plague people. Her clinic is now in Santa Rosa, California. If you want her name, email me. She was a specialist for a large hospital and felt doctors were not listening to their patients and quit. She opened her clinic and began to study herbs and began to formulate her make her own medicines. Fibromyalgias seem to be caused from the “leaky gut syndrome.” It is enlightening to learn about how many strange diseases come from undigested food particles getting into the blood stream. So, what foods are causing your muscles to spasm? That’s clue one. Dairy, some grains, sugar, soy (I’m personally allergic to this bean product) are just a few foods to consider. After many years of strange sickness and two surgeries, I began my own study and investigation into wellness, learning the body’s connection to the environment of home, land and spirit is of one flow, the house’s Chi flow / body flow connection.

Second clue, on a transcendental or unseen level, feet are associated with the Family Gua, the color is green and the area is located to the middle, far left of your home. What is going on in those rooms? Or maybe a garage takes this space which stores shovels, axes, or large white round objects, which is the color of Metal according to the Five Element Theory. Metal “cuts” Wood, so your legs and feet are being “cut” symbolically. Also as I have mentioned before, feet can be associated with the Wealth Section and Partnership Guas when the “mystically body” is superimposed over the floor plan. Imagine the “mouth of the Chi” or the head lined up with the front door which naturally places the feet of the imaginary being in the right and left back rooms. Also if the floor plan is very uneven or shaped with a “missing part” such as a backward L, there would be no room for the feet to rest comfortably. One leg would bend in on itself.

Now you imagine why arms, legs, shoulders, hands, feet, stomachs, etc. can hurt on a transcendental level, as the house has no space for them to expand easily. I’m sure this may sound silly to some people, but try sleeping on a bed with a big piece missing from the bed. I have visited many home where the bed is a “storage shed.” Books, papers, dogs, cats, toys, clothes, unpaid bills, old food on top and under a space designed to heal, protect and give vitality, is currently buried with clutter and yesterdays junk! Now Health is in competition with our stuff.

Placing children in supportive rooms of a house is another way to nurture a growing spirit. There small bodies need protection while they study, sleep and learn. Pay attention to the family’s appendages when trees are trimmed or removed. Plan ahead and chose an auspicious day for any changes such as a remodel, putting in a sky light, which is considered “house surgery” or a good day for installing a stove. In my culture’s tradition, the stove is considered the most important item of a house. It is the sacred hearth from which everything is born, from the gathering of the family, to warmth for survival and fire which cooks and feeds the body. So why now put your new one in a “commanding position” and treat it like a family member, with respect and honor.

Stoves, refrigerators, plumbing, electrical appliances, cars, heaters, air-conditioners and computers all have personalities. They were manufactured by people, are used by people and “live” around people and “die” like people! I’m sure anyone reading this column has many stories about these “necessary things,” which usually give out during extreme high energy crisis. Here are a few examples of such times: Living in Arizona, my heater goes out when my husband is working 200 miles away, it is snowing in the high desert, my car quits, I have just had major surgery and am in bed, I’m ten miles out in the country, the cows escape, a pig runs away, the pump freezes up, the electricity goes out and the ten-party phone line is full............or its 115 degrees in the desert, the water cooler breaks down, you are canning corn, green beans, tomatoes and peaches when the house pump goes out, the car air stops, a monsoon storm floods the fields and blows down the barn. Oops and PS, the septic tank stops up because a kid flushed an unknown object down the toilet.

These are just a few personal examples that everything has energy and is moving all the time. We just aren’t able to track it, at least for now. Pay attention to what is not working in your life. Improve what you can at home, which will strengthen the Feng Shui of your neighborhood, the city, and in turn will strengthen the nation. Have compassion for others, do what you love and do good deeds. Don’t bury anger and frustration at home or it will pop up in other arenas in the form of strange illnesses. The fallout of uncorrected floor plans is weakness in the body, failed businesses, unfilled dreams, low salaries, sick children and pets. Putting your bed, desk and stove into commanding positions will give correct flow to your home, boost personal energy and provide support for future endeavors.

Caroline is a Feng Shui consultant, artist, herbalist, newspaper columnist, businesswoman, author and teacher. She has conducted over 3500 Feng Shui consultations. She has taught art for over 35 years. Her weekly column West Meets East can be viewed on her website moongateschool.com. Caroline’s advice is only considered suggestions and she is not responsible for any problems relating from her suggestions. Please consult a physician for any diagnostic evaluations concerning your health.

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Caroline Patrick Caroline's Feng Shui Concepts Mt. Vernon, WA 360-424-1501

caroline@fengshuiartistry.com www.fengshuiartistry.com www.moongateschool.com

Caroline Patrick, Feng Shui consultant/practitioner, teacher/speaker, Feng Shui artist and writer, lives in the San Juan Islands, off the coast of Washington. Her weekly newspaper article called WEST MEETS EAST is a popular Feng Shui advice column. She enjoys answering your questions, when possible. Some questions will be chosen for publication with the permission from the reader. Enjoy her new 5 Element attached-folding cards which can be used as a Feng Shui enhancement or correction in any space. Larger prints of several selected paintings are also available. For consultations, speaking/teaching engagements and art evaluations contact her at caroline@fengshuiartistry.com or visit her websites at www.fengshuiartistry.com and www.moongateschool.com.

Any suggestions given in this column are only for entertainment. Please contact your physician for any medical or herbal advice or diagnosis. Caroline Patrick is not responsible for any misuse of her advice or suggestions.