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West Meets East© By Caroline Patrick Check the Floor Plan Before You Move In
Save yourself some woes by living in a space that supports your dreams. Feng shui or the art of placement can be the tool of choice when deciding what is most important in your current life plan. Why? Because four to five thousand years ago, a system was set up that was to provide less stress, better flow of money, good health, strong family ties, and time to rest. Western society currently lacks this balance. We are seeking new ways from ancient cultures to find peaceful solutions, as work becomes our only focus and credit cards used yesterday seem to fill our mailboxes with today’s bills. We wouldn’t think of purchasing an automobile or major appliance without researching the product, but when choosing a place to live, sometimes it is a quick, hurry-up company relocation. The house has four bedrooms, three baths, nice airy kitchen and office space with a three-car garage, schools and hospital and nearby shopping. What’s not to like? Using a grid known as a bagua. with all aspects of your life, placed over the house will immediately tell you whether this home will support your family, environmental, physical and spiritual needs... Where are the children’s bedrooms? How old is the child? It is common sense to place an infant or toddler closer to mother and daddy’s bedroom. The child feels more protected by the parent’s nearby energy. Teenagers fare better near the front of the house. The process of leaving home is a tough one. The child is becoming an adult, without the wisdom of his parents’ "been there done that" education. Placing the adolescent closer to the outside world lets him/her get a feeling for the freedom, but responsibility of a grownup. This front-of-the-house bedroom becomes a halfway house, while the teenager is deciding on career opportunities. Bathrooms are a necessary modern convince we are not willing to give up. But the downward flow of the water action can interfere with the flow of chi or good energy we need for success. Choosing a feng shui friendly house design can make life happier. Here is an example of young family’s dilemma with a problem house plan. Hi Caroline, I took your class as the [American College of Surgeons] meeting in October in San Francisco and really enjoyed it. I am working on improving my house per your instructions. But my question involves a home my daughter and her husband purchased last year. I picked up Angi Ma Wong’s book on Do’d and Taboos and on page 42 she says never to live in a house with the bathroom over the front door. Their home has this problem and Ms. Wong warns of a major calamity for their family! Is there anything other than moving this young couple with a new baby can do to correct this problem? This is a 1940 two-story box type building. Thanks for your time. A Reader Dear Reader, This isn’t the best location for a bathroom. The force of water rushing down the pipes drains the energy of career opportunities for this home. If it was a fountain pushing the water toward the sky, it would be a good thing. Make sure no one is sleeping with their heads to this wall or any other drains in the house inside a head-of-the-bed wall. Does the house have any missing parts, or does the floor plan flow easily? Does the garage stick out in an L shape or is the front of the house even all the way across looking at the front door? If I had the floor plan you describe, I would paint the downstairs or lower outside downstairs of the house a tree trunk shade of brown. This supplies the house with a grounding color related to the wood element. The top story could be a yellow or yellow cream shade. Place window boxes under the upstairs window and plant red flowers. Now the house has a look of a tree house. It can be done nicely. But first, use green towels and tree décor in this above-the-front-door bathroom. Keep the toilet lid shut. Place a green bamboo plant on the back of the toilet. This up-growing plant needs little light and can be grown in water. Make sure blue is not used in this bathroom. Yellow can be incorporated into the design with square-shaped rugs and pottery. Keep this door shut and install a full-length mirror on the outside. Good luck. Maybe they could benefit from a consultation by phone and fax. That way I can talk to them directly and see what they want in their future. Thanks for attending the workshop and hopefully I will see you again. Please check moongateschool.com for my weekly newspaper column and schedules and home pictures. I will be giving a Clear the Clutter and More workshop on January 11, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, and upcoming spring workshops where I take you into a home to feng shui. Call if you want your name on that list. We already have enough for three classes because they will be limited. Thanks again. Caroline Dear Caroline, Thanks for answering my concerns about my daughter’s home. To answer your questions…the house is a two-story, grey-stone siding, built in 1940…it is a rectangle with a screened porch off the back…the three bedrooms and one bath (over the front door) are upstairs, powder room to the left of the front door, living room to the right, kitchen and dining room behind…the garage is detached and in the backyard. I will email your suggestions to my daughter. I hope to stop by your store when I’m back in the Bay Area but right now I’m stuck in snowy eastern Washington. Thanks again. A Reader Dear Reader, Hello again, remember to check the outdoor property as well. Cutting down trees without replacing them quickly with a plant over the stump is a jolt to the environment. Also drains and landscaping need to be acknowledged. Check my site fengshuiartistry.com for a home design and yard plan. Caroline
1-DAY FENG SHUI – Sign up for an early spring workshop. Caroline will feng shui a local Benicia home while you watch. Class is limited. Time and date and cost to be announced. We offer unusual feng shui holiday gifts and gift certificates, including hand-beaded crystals for each of the 9 sections of the home.
Feng Shui Class Setting the Feng Shui Energy – 5 Element Altars
Saturday, January 11th, 10 a.m. – 12 noon, Caroline’s Arts & Feng Shui Shoppe - $89
HOLIDAY SALE: 20% off store items, Limited time! Bali clearing bells for stirring up the chi and spring house cleaning. Crystals in all colors and mirrors to shift energy. Purple Quan Yins for the wealth corner and yin yang coins. Red envelopes for New Year blessings. I want to thank all of my students and clients for another wonderful year. I wish you all much prosperity and love in the year to come. Please come by for any questions with your previous mapped floor plan to check for any troublesome areas, and we will go over the corrections again. Listen to your tapes again to hear the clues given for you adjustments. If you haven’t hung your crystals where I recommended or placed mirrors in missing areas suggested, nothing will change. Hopefully your home is balanced to avert those pesky problems. Thanks again for your support. May the flow of life or chi surround your working and living spaces. Call 707-748-1127 for registration and consultations. Caroline’s Arts & Feng Shui Shoppe 129 First St. Suite K Benicia, Ca. 94510 www.moongateschool.com
Caroline is a feng shui consultant, artist, herbalist and author. She is available for speaking engagements, consultations and workshops. Her weekly newspaper column can be read on her second website, moongateschool.com for individuals out of the Benicia area. |