By Caroline Patrick

Feng Shui Gardens I

Landscaping your home by using feng shui principles enhances the flow of chi or energy of your property. Its benefits increase the growth of abundance for your family. Using this ancient knowledge to design the outside of your living spaces brings a balance of yin and yang by using certain colors, water features, plants, stone statuary, metal structures and earth elements, you can enliven your career, wisdom, family life, increase finances, build and create character and self esteem, provide a garden for communication with your partner, activate a time for play, attract individuals in work and home-related situations where help is needed and bring a contentment and peace only the earth has to offer.

Whether a professional landscaper is hired to provide such a space or you and your family have a desire to design your own areas, here are some tips for developing tranquility in your environment by using feng shui principles.

Step 1: Map the Home. I offer several workshops a year on this simple process. Using the ancient grid set up by several civilizations, but perfected by the Chinese 4,000 — 5,000 years ago, an eight-sided octagonal shaped template was devised my masters of this culture to equally divide the nine major aspects of humans, and their mind, body and spirit connection to their earthly existence. This template can be used by any religion or culture to determine whether the houses or land they have chosen to live is in balance. This equal mathematical eight-sided grid, when placed over the body, home, buildings or plots of land, sets the stations of life into a visual map. By mapping the home, the energy of each section inside the dwelling flows magically into the front, side and backyards of the family structure.

Step 2: Now that the extending areas of the bagua or eight-sided grid are located, we continue into the outside living spaces.

Usually the front door to the house faces the street. If it does not, a qualified feng shui consultant is needed to determine the mouth of the ch´i or energy entering the property of the home, room, or business in question.

This seemingly difficult determination is easily solved by a professional consultant. Although there are many feng shui schools of thought such as Geomancy, Form School, Compass, Pyramid or Black Hat Sect, they all work on some level.

I practice a form called Black Hat, which automatically aligns the architectural entry door with the career zone of the dwelling which usually faces the street. Using actual physical directions is not necessary when using the Black Hat Tradition of feng shui. The main purpose of feng shui, or balance of wind and water, is to bring the peaceful energy of gentle winds and calming waters into your body, mind and spirit that lives in the home of the physical, mental and spiritual dwelling of the heart and home.

Step 3: Rid the house inside and outside of clutter, old or new. Creating new energy requires getting rid of old stuff. A vacant space must be formed to allow the growth of new possibilities. If this suggestion gives you the "bends," "Call The Man!" or woman! Ask your neighbor or friends for recommendations on competent companies or workman who provide the hauling services needed to clean up your excess clutter. Vow never to build up those piles of stagnant energy again. The rewards of this effort can bring relief to the areas of your life that seem stuck.

Example — are family quarrels the norm? Look to the middle left side yard of the house for the answer. Is this the dumping ground for old lumber, buckets, weeds and broken motors?

Check out the romance section of your life. The far back right corner of the house represents the love life, inside and outside. From my experience, if trouble is brewing with your partner, a barbecue, pot, broken hot tub or a cactus garden could be the landscaping culprit.

Next week I will begin to give you suggestions for those tranquil feng shui gardens. Where to place what and why —

Mapping the Home Workshop

Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. — 12 noon

707-748-1127

www.fengshuiartistry.com and click on moongate school for schedules

Art Classes to be Scheduled

Caroline’s Arts

129 1^st Street, Suite K

Benicia

Open 1-5 daily, closed Monday