By Caroline Patrick

Perfect Home

You have finally decided to build your dream home and are looking for the perfect floor plan according to the principles of feng shui. Good luck! Many clients over the years have asked me to design such a house. I put together a diagram of a home and outside yard to use as a guide to provide a smooth and even flowing floor plan which incorporates all nine stations of life and uses the five elements necessary for the balance and harmony for peace. In this created sacred space where we nurture our families with love, communication, peace and understanding, a feng shui designed home, these qualities are easier to feel and acquire. Western houses are lacking in the understanding of this concept, looking only for new and exiting geometric forms, which over time cause unnatural stress in the joining of the unusual architect configuration of the artist’s desire to attract attention and become famous with his/her design statement. I understand perfectly this desire, because as an artist I too have the drive to create new and unusual paintings.

Studying the art of placement is more than interior design and the newest colors. It is combining an ancient mathematical formula of rhythm to the home and surrounding area. Placing a waterfall in the center backyard can only cause your reputation to suffer after years of success. This space in the rhythm of natural design places water in the station of fire. Would you knowingly douse a campfire with gallons of water after spending hours of rubbing two sticks together creating the friction to heat up the wood to make fire? I witnessed a great example of this action, when after years of successful and famous winemaking, a Napa man called me to his vineyard to see if feng shui could help with his situation of a bad year. During our initial phone conversation, I asked the gentleman if any new structures had been added to the acreage. A small caretakers cottage had been added to the far back left corner of the property (3,000 square feet). This could be a problem, I thought, but I wanted to check out the property myself to see the shape of this addition and what condition it was in, such as messy. Driving up to the residence I didn’t see any huge power lines. The hills were behind the vast structure and the front of the house seemed fine. After our walk through the addition of the cottage, I noted that this dwelling only helped the man’s prosperity. What could be the problem? "The fame area located in the middle back of the house is the next place to look for clues," I confided as we walked to this section. I began to hear water, not trickling, but gushing through the trees. A smile formed on the owner’s face as he presented me with his new treasure. A year-old, thirty-foot long and twenty-foot high water fall tumbled beautifully and perfectly down into his fame sector of the backyard. It wasn’t easy to break the bad news to this winemaker. He had unknowingly drowned out the success of his new crop. If he had just moved this magnificent design over a hundred feet into the wealth and prosperity corner of the property or the outside left within view of the study, he wouldn’t have a fire and water situation. The correction was made. We installed fire jets every few feet, using flames of the fire energy and element to balance. Red flowers, candles, pointed trees and triangle statuary were added to help set off the steam created by the mixture of the fire and water in the fire and fame zone. Although all of this helped, I am still concerned with his popularity.

Using feng shui before the home of your dreams is designed will defiantly alleviate many of those unseen problems. Here is a question from someone who pays close attention to those balance and harmony floor plans. After viewing my site, she sees a possible problem.

Dear Caroline,

In your perfect home diagram, it shows the pond on the left side as you walk in. I thought the pond or fountain was supposed to be on the left as you look out your front door. If so, I put my fountain on the wrong side. Please advise.

A Reader

P.S. Have you taken classes with Seann Xenja? I believe he is on the California coast, too.

Dear Reader,

Hello, thank you for you observations. You are correct in placing your fountain on the left side when looking out the front entry. I feel my drawing for my renditions of a perfect floor plan which is shown on my website fengshuiartistry.com, is a raw rendering at which I haven’t looked at for a long time. It seems the space on the paper was limited when I was creating the image and the pond appears to close to the front door because of the limited front lawn space. After 2500 consultations, I have seen many ponds to the left corner of the house (when viewing the home from the street). I haven’t found them to interfere with job opportunities when placed far enough into the knowledge sector and of course kept clean and flowing. I believe Lillian Too’s book suggests the fountain at the front entry should be to the right looking toward the entry, but I find it easier to recommend the client look out their front door to see the water feature to the left. So many books are on the market now, 250 plus, that it is becoming very confusing to the client.

I haven’t seen Seann in a long time, although several years ago I would see him at Professor Lin Yun’s workshops. No, I have never had the privilege of attending his classes, but have watched his videos. He is very good. I have concentrated my studies with Master Lin Yun for a long while. I want to learn all I can from this gentle man with powerful chi. I am also an herbalist and artist. I love to teach art and herbs, but for the last 12 years I have been devoting most of my time to consultations, speaking engagements and giving workshops. I have a feng shui shoppe and art gallery and write a weekly newspaper column on the art of placement. If you want to check those stories and interviews with Professor Lin, click on moongateschool after entering fengshuiartistry.com.

Thanks again and stay in touch for the Clear Your Clutter January 11th class. I will be taking students through local homes in the early spring, watching me do a feng shui.

Caroline Patrick

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.

• Clear the clutter · Remove 27 objects
• Magical energy of numbers
• Remove blockage · restore health & wealth
• Space clearing
• Create altars for any religion or occasion
• Attunements

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.