CHINESE PAINTING CUSTOMS
Q
I recently bought a painting of carps. It has 9 carps with one jumping over the dragon gate. The dragon gate written in Chinese should be from right to left, but this one is written from left to right. Is this ok? There are also dots on the forehead of some of the carps. There is 1 golden carp and 8 orange/red ones. Is it a bad sign to have red dots on their forehead?
A
There’s nothing wrong with writing that goes from left to right. Chinese text is traditionally written from right to left, but moving with the times, you will also find Chinese text today written from left to right, following English and Western format. A red dot on the forehead of a white carp is said to symbolize failure, but if the painting focuses on the carp that has successfully crossed the Dragon Gate, the artist may have painted the red dots on the other carps to accentuate the fact that the “competition” did not succeed, but the Dragon Carp did. You’re supposed to identify with the carp that does succeed, but if you are uncomfortable with hanging the painting up because of the red dots, then don’t. Better only hang it up if you don’t feel uneasy about it.
SWAPPING ONE TABOO FOR ANOTHER
QI just moved into this flat a month ago. Since then I haven’t been able to sleep well. I noticed that when I went away on a business trip, I was able to sleep okay in my hotel room. I realised that there may be something wrong with my room – the beams. There’s a beam directly above where my bed is. I cannot move it because the room is not big enough. The only option is to move the bed to near my closet, which will make me sleep with my feet pointed towards the closet doors. Is this OK?
A
There’s nothing wrong with having your feet pointed towards closet doors. Just avoid having your feet pointed towards the door leading out of your room, as this is known as the “death” position. Another way to counter the energy of the beam pressing down on the bed is to hang a pair of flutes tied with red thread. This “lifts” the energy, reducing its negative effects.
COLOUR FOR THE SOUTH
QMy apartment has a direct elevator door facing South. It is painted blue. Shall I paint it red and can I do it even if South is afflicted by a bad star this year?
A
Sure you can. The bad star afflicting the South is a metal star, which will get weakened by the colour red (fire energy). Red is a better colour for the South as it strengthens the positive attributes of the sector.
Blue clashes with fire (the element of the South) but like red, it also weakens the bad #7 star there this year. So either is fine, but red is a shade better.
ODD SHAPED LAND
QIn feng shui I have heard that it is better for the shapes of houses and buildings to be regular (square or rectangle) so that there are no missing corners. However, what is the impact if the land shape is odd i.e. not square or rectangle although the building is rectangle, sitting on odd-shaped land?
A
It is ideal to have a regular shape because then you get your different kinds of luck in equal measures, and the aim of feng shui is the balance out the different energy types. No life is complete without the eight basic kinds of luck – or eight aspirations. However, looked at another way, if you take the Flying Star school of thought, for instance, some feng shui experts recommend missing corners when the stars that congregate there combine to form a particularly negative combination.
In general, regular is safest. But as long as the building is regular in shape, you can do all the necessary feng shui activation in and around the building. You don’t have to worry about the big tai chi of the whole land area. If you are worried about a missing sector of the land – say the SW, which brings relationship and marriage luck – then put more effort into activating this luck in the SW sector of the house.
WATER FEATURE LOCATION
QI would like to place an indoor water feature in my sitting room. Where would be a good area to place one? Would it help with my love life or improve my wealth?
A
Water is usually associated with wealth, and is thus usually used to enhance money luck. Romance can be enhanced in other ways. The best sector for a water feature in the Period of 8 (which lasts till Feb 4th 2024) and for this year 2007 is the Southwest. This is the place of the indirect spirit and also the location of the number 8 wealth star. You can’t really go wrong placing water in the SW, as long as you avoid having it to the right hand side of your front door (inside looking out).
WRONG ACTIVATION OF LOVE LUCK
QSomebody told me that when we activate our peach blossom that means that we attract unsuitable men into our lives. Thus it is better not to activate. Is this true? This happened to me and also to another friend of mine. Is this a coincidence?
AActivating Peach Blossom Luck in the wrong place COULD attract unsuitable mates into your life. If you activate the SW love corner in the toilet for example, or if you place your peach blossom animal in the kitchen too near to the sink or the oven. Or if the Peach Blossom animal you use is chipped or broken. Usually peach blossom luck attracts marriage luck and hastens your karma of marriage to get ripened.
Although we haven’t heard of peach blossom luck attracting unsuitable men it IS always a possibility. Feng shui can help you attract marriage opportunities BUT it cannot guarantee the quality of the mate you find. That reflects your own karma. So far however the instances when activation of Peach Blossom has led to engagement and marriage quite quickly – well, the couples who used feng shui to help them this way are still happily married! One just had a baby.
MIRROR FACING FRONT DOOR
QMy coat closet doors are mirrors that reflect my front door. Is this bad? What should I do if it is?
A
Yes it is. Mirrors reflecting the front door symbolize money coming in and going straight out again. It is even worse when the mirrors are large and reflect the whole door. I’d suggest you change your closet doors. If you need mirrors to see how you look when you put on your coats, put them on the inside of the closet doors, so when the doors are closed the mirrors cannot be seen.
TAKING EXAMS
QWill having beams in the classroom affect me on test days and my test scores?
ASitting underneath exposed overhead beans is never good, so in your exam, if you can, pick a desk that does not seat you directly under an overhead beam. You can look at it in a positive way – if there are beams all over the classroom, then everyone will be similarly affected by the beams. But try and give yourself an edge by avoiding the beams. If there’s nothing you can do, don’t fret too much. Just make sure you’ve put in the work and done everything else to maximize your chances in the test. Like feng shui which only accounts for one third of your luck, the beams are only one small factor that contributes to your test scores. More important is the revision you have put in.
ATTRACTING RETAIL CUSTOMERS TO SHOP
QHow can I attract more customers to my shop and improve sales? I have a shop selling women’s fashion and another selling children’s dress up costumes and toys, but we are busy only from October through December. The other months are always very slow.
AHmm… in general, that’s the name of the game in retailing – it is a seasonal business. Everything always goes swell during the peak shopping months of Christmas and New Year when people receive their bonuses and are willing to spend. It is every retailer’s aim to maximize sales during the high periods and at least breakeven during low months.
But a good feng shui tool to improve sales is the abacus. When you find there are no customers in the shop, shake a golden abacus to create the yang energy needed to draw people into your shop. You can also use the seven metal ringing bell, which works in a similar way. Hang a bell and coin at the entrance to your shop – with the bells on the outside and the coins tied with red thread on the inside.
During high months when you get customers walking in, maximize sales by installing a 6-tier water feature in the wealth corner of your shop (or the SW, the universal direction for wealth this year), and position your cash register where your water star 8 is located. Keep the front of your shop well-lit, and change the layout of your products and displays regularly to avoid the energy inside your shops from getting stale.
