West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick

First Apartment and the Bagua, Part II

Learning to place the Bagua over your home, apartment, condo or any living or working space will give you Feng Shui Luck and a better-balanced life. Each section of your living space is then mapped out, giving equal balance and harmony to environmental, physical and spiritual issues. I am walking my talk as we speak, as I just bought a condo near the interstate which will allow me to be more flexible for my clients. Living on an island is wonderful for the three phases I just mentioned, but interaction with people is limited. Ferries, islands and airports have time schedules, and my husband and I had planned on purchasing a “halfway station” of sorts when buying the island home in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

I am unpacking my painting supplies and getting the condo ready for business as it will be my office as well as my art studio. Soon I will share my story of choosing a good Feng Shui living and working space for weekdays, but for now, here is the continued email from the young woman trying to map her new living space of her first apartment using the ancient tool known as the Bagua. I feel her excitement as she unpacks her possessions, and my unrest as I cull out things I should have left behind in the last move! The Goodwill boxes are growing as I know getting rid of 27 things change your life. I'm going for 9 times 27 for even better Feng Shui Luck. 2+7=9 or a completion of things.

Good morning,

To map a home properly, I must understand where your front door is located and I’m still confused. Go to your original drawing and try to mark the spot.

Do you enter downstairs from the outdoors and go up a private stairway? Is it to the left of the drawing on the wing of the living room? Do you make any turns coming into the living room?

After we establish the entry of Chi or energy, I will know how to place the Bagua. Also where is the street or streets in reference to the two-story house? Are you close to schools, hospitals, graveyards or any public places? Are there huge power lines close by? Does anyone have health problems? Do you have a job? In what city are you living?

Thanks, Caroline

Hi Caroline,

First of all thank you for your preciseness. I truly appreciate it. Secondly, I have attached my drawing as well as cut and pasted it below. I have added the front door (which is not as wide as the box is and should be located directly under the staircase, but cut-and-paste wouldn’t allow me to do so) and the staircase to the drawing. The house is on the corner of the block. The front of the house and the right of the house are on the streets, and the back and left side each have houses located there. There are no huge power lines nearby. An elementary school is two blocks away. A graveyard is located six blocks away. A big park is located two blocks away, and a beach is located about six blocks away. I do have a job, a new one that I will be starting on Tuesday. I just left a job that I absolutely hated! No one has health problems. I live in the outskirts of New York City.

Now, the house has a gate around the front and right side which faces the street. There are tall bushes which line the left side of the house which end halfway, and then a gate lines the remaining left side and back of the house. When you enter through the gate, there are three long steps with grass on each side which lead you to the house. There is then another set of four steps which lead you to the front door. All of these steps are located left of the house (in other words, they are not centered). When you are on the top step, there are the two front doors. Mine is on the left and my grandparents’ is on the right. When I enter my door, I have a private stairwell which leads you to a very, very small landing. From this landing you turn right and you are in the living room. When you turn right into the living, there is an entrance for the kitchen. While in the living room you can see the dining room. Both rooms together are shaped like an L (the living room being the short piece and the dining room being the long piece). I have planned to make my living room into my workout space and my dining room into the living room. You may also enter the kitchen from the end of the dining room as well. From the kitchen there is then a hallway. A large bathroom is located at the first door to the right. The mater bedroom is the next door on the right, which has a small bathroom located in it. The walk-in closet is located in the first door to the left. Lastly the Guest Room/Office is located straight through the hallway.

A Reader

Dear Reader,

Thanks for your patience. I have had on site consultations today and I’m gone this weekend, but will try to answer you Monday. In the meantime, please rethink your workout space as it is important where you place the machines. The center or Health Gua is best, but that is usually not possible. I will have to reread your front door entry explanation again, as it seems you are telling me that you enter through a door, climb stairs and then turn and go into your apartment. Correct?

Apartment living, even with family, is complex, and it is important to determine where the energy and flow enter your space, as that doorway will lead to your Career. Having workout equipment in the Career Zone, could symbolize “your jobs are workouts.” They must be covered with when not in use, with a color similar to the carpet or walls, so your eye doesn’t flow straight to the “workout.”

Caroline

Dear Caroline,

Yes, you are correct, when you do come up the stairs and turn, the workout area is right there. It is the only plausible space since my grandmother has valuable antiques located in other areas of her house that I don’t want to break when working out. It is good to know that I should cover them. It will be great to speak on Monday since I will be unpacking all weekend. I start my new job on Tuesday morning and it will be good to know what is going on here. Good look with your site consultations, and I look forward to hearing from you!

A Reader

Dear Reader,

The most determining factor of establishing the Mouth Of Chi is to use the architectural front door. But when other apartments are formed into a large house, the most important factor for you would be using the door you walk through into the main living room space, a space where you would entertain guests or invite good Chi. You wouldn’t ask your guests to come through the laundry room door, or through the bathroom. Think graciousness and hospitality!

If the doorway doesn’t have a real door but an opening, place a curtain above the opening at the top such as a valance or a Japanese type of divider cloth at the top of the entry. My favorite divider is a bamboo curtain for openings such as a front “door” (which has no door) or a Master Bedroom with an open bathroom floor plan. A fabric or curtain divider is crucial between this type of design, as Bathroom Chi and Sleeping Chi certainly need to be separated energetically. Professor Lin Yun, Master of Feng Shui, gave this cure in one of his workshops several years ago to help with sickness and this popular bed/bath design. Open floor plans with this error can cause illness when not addressed.

So, to slow down fast-moving Chi, or energy, place one of these hangings. The reason bamboo is so effective is the symbology of the plant is strength, longevity and flexibility, and wherever you place bamboo luck will follow.

Your original question to me was where to place the Bagua on your apartment? Using your main entry as a guide, lay the eight-sided octagonal shaped tool over the floor plan with the center of the Bagua matched as closely to the center of your apartment floor plan as you can. (Remember the Feng Shui grid or Bagua can expand over any design of home or room as the lines stretch out like a rubber band to accompany the layout.) Now spin or shift the sections called Knowledge, Career and Helpful People and line up your “front door,” and the wall on which it resides, with these three Guas or sections.

There are always exceptions, such as when you might step into your living space and almost “hit a wall.” If that is your configuration, hang a mirror large enough to view most or all of your body, but most certainly your head as you make the quick turn. If this exception is happening, then turn the Bagua once again using this “second entrance” as the main flow of the Chi and turn the octagon to face most of the house or space. So the flow of the Chi is the most important aspect for nurturing a home.

Caroline

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.