By Caroline Patrick

Questions and Reply from Consultation

After a Feng Shui consultation and evaluation is completed, I continue to work with the individual as the cures, corrections and enhancements are placed into position. During the initial visit to the home, I encourage the client to take notes and record the session. I provide a tape recording for later listening, but never guarantee a mechanical device, so the homeowner has the option of taking notes and recording the consultation on their own tape recorder. That way there is a back up of all the valuable information given during the session.

Each consultation is very different because of the floor plan and outside terrain. One home or business may have a hill behind the structure, while another dwelling might have hills in front of the property. This formation alone could change the correction for enticing the Chi or energy into your space. Learning the Art of Placement and using the placement of the Five Elements, their colors, shapes and creating a natural flow of life’s energetic field’s motion can restore balance and harmony in your environmental, physical and spiritual purpose.

This email is an example of follow-up questions from a client whose home overlooks Napa’s mystical ‘gardens.’ High above the valley floor, her beautiful home hugs the hills. The sights are lush with visual and spiritual substance and her decorating skills are perfection. CHANGE was what she asks me to provide, and CHANGE is what she will acquire, when unloading excess stored in the garage left over from her "old life." Let go of the old when looking for new venues. The load is too heavy for the suitcase!!!

Hi, Caroline,

I was just wondering..........

Do I still need the 50 mm crystal hanging just inside the front door if I have one hanging from the ceiling fan?

Was I supposed to put mirrors in the trees in the backyard in addition to the wind chimes and the flag? I've been having trouble locating a garden flag. Most places have the kind of flag you hang on the outside of the house, but we want one with a pole that is high, right? Who sells flags?

We placed the cat’s litter box outside my bathroom window to the left in the Children/Creative energy area. Why wouldn’t this injure that space as it would in the Partnership area? Manure in Creativity and Children?

Do the many books in the ‘library’ room under my bedroom affect my relationship space? That’s on the second floor below in the Partnership area.

Do I need a cure for the ceiling fan in my bedroom?

If I put a water fountain in front of the fireplace, would that be as good a cure as having a mirror over the fireplace?

I had put the mirror there first and then didn’t like it, a few years ago. Since that is the money space for the living room, should anything else be done there?

Thank you, Caroline. I’m planning on being in your class on the 26th. (I’m working on the clutter.)

Happy Easter!

A Reader

Dear Reader,

1. The purpose of a 50 to 100mm lead faceted crystal hung 3 to 5 feet within an entrance of the front door is to attract the breath of life, or Chi, bringing job opportunities and changes to the owner’s life. I’m sorry I don’t remember the exact location of the fan you’re referring to. A fan by itself is a great tool for fan opportunities, whether electric or a hand type we used to use in church during those Midwest hot sticky summers. Fans do not take the place of a lead clear faceted crystal, but crystals could be hung from a fan as a dual purpose.

2. Mirrors used in Feng Shui provide the consultant ways of pushing back energy, but also reflecting a beautiful scene such as water or trees. Always think symbology when using the Art of Placement. Do I want to deflect the view or bring it into my home? A neighbor’s beautiful fountain? Yes. A neighbor’s dead trees or falling down fence? No. Regular mirrors push back walls when we have ‘missing pieces’ in the design of the floor plan, while convex and concave Bagua mirrors are designed to push away or distort negative influences. Sometimes referred to as protection cures, Bagua mirrors contain written information to ward off and push away negative Chi, or Sha energy found in power poles, electrical boxes, BART stations, radio clocks, etc. The consultant will determine the cure needed and placement.

The placement of the convex mirror was to push back the unkempt acreage to the far back left property outside the home. The wind chimes needed in the far back left section from the house is your Wealth Gua of the home. Money was a present issue when I gave this suggestion.

Any tall pole pulls energy up and to your property. Adding a colorful flag stimulates action . Placing a wind sock, or any wind element, will help the area’s vitality.

3. Cat litter boxes are best unseen. I find these boxes placed in telling locations. Yours was in the Partnership area. Other examples of bad placement could be some people who find money hard to hang onto, symbolically locate the litter box in the Wealth room of the house. The best placing might be a specially designed cabinet with a kitty door. I have seen this done. The clever owner painted a sign over the door that said KITTY STATION!

The reason I suggested the Children and Creativity Gua, is because the cat is your little pal {child} and manure eventually grows and creates only beautiful new beginnings. As a consultant, I’m always noting locations of dog houses, dog runs and litter boxes.

4. Libraries contain a lot of active, lively material, huge volumes of knowledge, maybe a computer, TV, DVD and other stimulating energies. If you are finding sleep difficult, we might look at this situation. I was more concerned with the excess reading material in your sleeping area. Do you want to sleep with all of those author’s thoughts in the bedroom? It is like having 100 people in bed with you. Make the bedroom a Yin or feminine retreat. Read in another bedroom if you wish, where your books can live also, but not in the main Partnership room. Whether your master is in the far back right section of you floor or not, the main room where you want to enjoy a love life should be void of these and other distractions. Read my website newspaper columns on partnership for more advice.

5. Again ceiling fans are usually an enhancement. Where they don’t belong is directly overhead or above the body as you are sleeping, as you are subconsciously afraid it might fall and hurt you.

6. The best cure for balancing Fire Energy is a Water element. The reflective surface of a mirror in this situation, represents a Water feature. You seem reluctant to do this cure? I would look at ‘why’ you are resisting the best correction that can be used in a fireplace/Wealth corner problem. Nine healthy potted plants are also a very good balance.

Hopefully this answers some of you questions. My main advice during our recent Feng Shui consultation was to get rid of unnecessary furniture, pass it on to loved ones or sell excess. I always ask myself, what do I really, really love and what can I carry on my back if I had to leave quickly? I am always reminded of my mother’s childhood dilemma. During a racial uprising in 1918 when she was 5 years old, her father ran a grocery store in a mining community. He was so loved by the city, he was warned by a miner that his store might be burned to the ground that night during the uproar. They didn’t want him or his family to get killed since he had been so good to everyone, offering credit to the families in the community when they couldn’t pay, which debts, by the way, he never collected.

Mother had six brothers and sisters at the time, so space was very limited in their old model T Ford. Each child was told they could only take two things with them since they may never return. The decision needed to be made quickly and Mama, being a Libra, added to the indecision! Finally she boarded the crowded vehicle wearing two hats and a pair of church gloves and her red shoes. This action explained my mother to the tee. Whenever I lost Mom during our adult shopping sprees, I could always find her in the accessory section wearing a big smile.

Caroline Patrick

2003 Class Schedule – Solano College

May 17^th, Saturday; 10am -12:30pm, $45 plus $15 materials – FENG SHUI GARDENING – SUPPORT CAREER, KNOWLEDGE, FAMILY, WEALTH, FAME PARTNERSHIP, CREATIVITY AND CHILDREN, HELPFUL PEOPLE AND TRAVEL, AND HEALTH

May 3^rd, Saturday, 10am - 2pm with lunch break or bring sack lunch. $45 plus $15materials – FENG SHUI ART – PAINTING WITH CHI Acrylic

Call Solano Community College for registration, or enroll online.

LOCAL

Watch for the FENG SHUI A HOME workshop.

Caroline Patrick will take you through a local home for an on-site consultation! This is the first time she has shared this knowledge with her students. This valuable experience will give you information to use in your own home. Don’t miss this opportunity for visual understanding in the art of placement.

Each room of the home can also be feng shui’d. Children’s bedrooms reveal important information for parents to help their child feel secure and focused in life. Family situations and money cures will be pointed out as she takes you through the bagua of the house.

Caroline’s Arts & Feng Shui Shoppe

129 First St. Suite K

Benicia, Ca. 94510

Phone 707-748-1127

Fax 707-747-9315

1-5 daily, closed Mondays

All clients and students receive a 10% discount on their purchases at the Shoppe open 1-5 daily, closed Mondays.

Caroline is available for speaking and teaching engagements. For consultations, call to make an appointment.

Caroline is a feng shui consultant, artist, herbalist, newspaper columnist, businesswoman, author and teacher. She has conducted over 2500 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 advise is only considered suggestions and she is not responsible for any problems relating from her suggestions.