Feng Shui Demystified

Fortunate Blessings This is the far left corner and it is always a great place to start. The I Ching trigram for this area is Wind, representing the winds of change. Another name for this area is Intention. Making improvements in this area is like waving a flag to the Universe. “Hey, I’m here!” It is most commonly referred to as the Wealth Corner, but it is important to remember that fortunate blessings can come to you in a lot more ways than just money. The Fortunate Blessings area provides a wonderful opportunity to prove the efficacy of feng shui for yourself. It is a very powerful area. One of the basic things to know about this area is that it must be clean, uncluttered, and well maintained. If anything in this area is broken, either fix it or move it. Don’t have furniture here that is intentionally distressed-looking—no “shabby chic.” It is great to have plants here (the bigger the better) but they must be healthy, look vibrant, and have no thorns. Two plants that I frequently recommend for this area are Dieffenbachia (Dumb Cane) and Rhapis excelsa (Lady Palm). They are both quite easy to grow, not needing direct sun. The variegation and coloration of the Dieffenbachia leaves is quite reminiscent of dollar bills. The Rhapis is not cheap, but oh-so-elegant, especially with an uplight arising behind it. As you might imagine, the “Wealth” area is an ideal place to put expensive things—things that were a stretch for you to afford. Paying more than you had planned for an object in the Fortunate Blessings area gives you what I call “the ouch factor.” The symbolism comes alive in your life. It is much more real than something like a framed picture of an expensive car. Don’t keep small change in this area or fake money. If you keep any actual money here, it should be real hundred dollar bills. Expensive things vary depending on the use of the room. In a kitchen, it would be fine to have a refrigerator in this area. In a living room or den, a television generally counts as a rather expensive object. Be aware that if the television or computer is in the Fortunate Blessings area, you still need to be able to see the door from your seated position. Use a mirror if necessary. One of my clients was trying to sell a nice, but empty, house. (Empty houses are always harder to sell than those with just the right amount of furniture.) He was having no luck at all and I suggested that he pull up the very corner of the carpet in the Wealth Corner of the house and hide something expensive there, but that he could retrieve it once the sale was finalized. He said, “I have a ruby. Would that do?” I said, “If you’re willing to put a ruby there, you’ll probably be very pleased with the results.” He did so and solid offers started coming in immediately, and the place sold quickly. Color is a powerful tool in all areas of the bagua, and especially so in this area. Royal purple is ideal, as well as cobalt blue, and bold Chinese red. Green can also be a good color here, because wood is the element that is associated with this area. You want rich, vibrant, saturated colors, but you don’t necessarily have to get out the paintbrush. If the colors are appropriately brilliant, you don’t always have to use a lot to be effective. On the other hand, don’t be afraid of overdoing it. If you like the idea of saturated purple walls in your Fortunate Blessings area, feng shui applauds you. Don’t, however, change wall colors at an inward corner (a corner that juts into the room)—it will have a jarring effect in the room. Change wall colors only at an outward corner (a corner that goes back away from the center of the room). This is true especially if your home has bullnose (rounded) corners. See Fig. 20. I’ve seen homes where the wall color changes in the middle of a curving bullnose—the effect is like apologizing for having good architecture! The only time it’s alright to change color at an inward corner is when vertical molding (usually white) has been added to that corner. Fountains or aquariums are absolutely perfect in this area, since water represents money, but be sure to keep them running. A woman who attended one of my classes later told me this story. She and her husband own a coffee shop and had a certain goal of how much money they’d like to make in a day. They had come close but never achieved it, so she thought she’d put a fountain in the Wealth Corner of their home. The husband laughed at the idea, but she went ahead and within a week they achieved their goal and the next day they did even better. She decided to have some fun with him, so she said, “I think you’re right about that fountain idea—I’m going to remove it.” His response was, “Oh, no you don’t!” He’s not the first spouse to become a believer by seeing the results. Windchimes are excellent here, since the I Ching trigram for this area is Wind. Garbage cans are not a good idea here, but if you must have one, it should have a lid. In the feng shui view of things, a garbage can here means you are throwing your wealth away, but a lid on it changes that dynamic. If your garbage can is in a cabinet (as they sometimes are in kitchens) it does not have to have a lid on it. Be especially aware of the symbolism of any pictures that are in the Fortunate Blessings area. Another name for this area is Empowerment. If you have pictures of people, ask yourself if you really want those people to be exercising influence in your life. If the windows in the Fortunate Blessings area seem overly large, you might need to hang sheer curtains to keep the chi inside. (I never recommend brightly-colored sheer curtains anywhere, because they tint the light coming into the room.) If you choose lace, use the best you can afford for this area. Instead of sheers, you could hang a clear octagon crystal (or small windchime) in the window to symbolically disperse energy before it vanishes outside. This gua is generally not a good place for mirrors because they represent windows.