The Pa Kua is made up of eight sides signifying the eight directions. Each direction represents one kind of luck, and has its own element. To make each direction’s luck work for you, energize with either the self-element of the sector, or the element that produces it. It’s that simple. Once you understand the eight luck directions, you can work with colors, textures and ornaments of your choice to attract abundant luck.
The Later Heaven Pa Kua
We begin by introducing the Pa Kua. This Pa Kua is the Later Heaven Arrangement, dused for Yang Dwellings, i.e. buildings that people live in. The Earlier Heaven Arrangement is used for Yin Dwellings, such as graveyards.
Taking Directions
The first step is to take directions of your house. Always try to stand in an area where there is no strong magnetic force. Avoid standing next to a boom box, electronic equipment or anything magnetic, as this will affect the reading you get. Hold your compass level to get a correct reading, but don’t place it on the floor to do this. You might think the floor is more level, but floors are generally not level, and there may be steel foundation in the ground which will affect your reading.
After taking your directions, mark them clearly on your floor plan. Now you are ready to start energizing.
Superimposing the Pa Kua
It is useful to think of your Pa Kua as a square rather than an octagon, as most houses are built with right- angles. You get square houses, rectangular houses, and even L- and U-shaped ones. But rarely do you see octagon-shaped buildings. Mark in the different sectors of your floor plan. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to work through the sectors, what each one means and how to enhance it for the different kinds of luck. As well as energizing whole rooms, you can also energize corners of rooms. When you take the whole room as one sector, you are energizing the Big Tai Chi of the building, whereas if you energize a corner of the room, you are enhancing the Small Tai Chi. The kiasu ones amongst us will energize both!
Superimposition of Pa Kua on a regularly shaped floor plan.
Irregular shaped houses tend to have missing corners.
The North for Career Prospects
The North is the sector to energize for increasing the flow of income and success at your job. Energizing this sector can lead to promotions, higher salaries and bonuses.
Energize with a water feature such as a lively aquarium, bubbling water fountain or rolling ball water feature. The water element you display should be yang water, so make sure you do not have dead fish in your tank and that your pump is working. If you cannot energize with a water feature, you can use a painting of a water feature. There are many pretty seascapes and lakes that can dress up walls beautifully. Feng Shui is about symbolism, and where you can’t have the real thing, use something that symbolizes it. Colors you can play with in the North are blues, blacks and the metal colors (silvers and golds). They can be depicted in your rugs, scatter cushions, even a vase display or sculpture. Choose a light sky blue rather than a heavy sea blue when you want to paint a wall blue, as too much water can overwhelm and “drown” you.
The Northeast for Education and Knowledge
The Northeast is to energize for education luck. If you have children
in school or university, energize the NE corner of their study and bedrooms with crystals to make them study better and do well in exams. The best to use are crystal globes or crystal points. Don’t get an enhancer that is too big for the room, as this overwhelms the Chi. Always think balance when choosing feng shui enhancers. This sector also promotes motivation and purpose. If you are feeling a lack of inspiration, give your NE a makeover. Give the NE of the house or the NE corner of your room a fresh coat of paint. Use light beige or cream.
Lights are another effective energizer for the NE sector. Place a crystal lamp in the NE of the room, or light up a crystal ornament to imbue your earth energy enhancer with power.
The East for Health & Family Luck
The East brings good health and harmonious relationships between family members. If you have elderly family members living with you, look after this part of the house. This is also the area to energize if there is sibling rivalry between the kids. Use lush green plants or a water feature to boost the Chi here. Bold greens and blues are excellent.
Avoid metallic colors and objects in this part of the house, as Metal destroys Wood. The East is the place of the Dragon, the most powerful symbol used by the Chinese in feng shui. Displaying a dragon next to a water feature will create continuing good luck.
The Southeast for Wealth & Prosperity Luck
The Southeast is one of the most activated sectors due to its ability to bring wealth and income! The luck brought by the SE is not money luck; that would fall under the income and career sector (the North). Rather, it is the kind of luck that allows you to amass wealth and to grow rich! With a water feature in the SE you cannot go wrong, as Water produces Wood, allowing your wealth to grow. Do not have your water on the right hand side of your front door inside-looking-out if you are concerned about keeping your marriage intact. Ensure your water is bubbling and gurgling, don’t let moss and dirt build up.
The South for Fame, Recognition & Success
The South is the sector to energize for success, recognition and fame. It is vital to look after this sector if fame and popularity dictates your success. Like if you’re a burgeoning singer, actor, TV personality, politician and so forth. If you have an afflicted South corner, you could see all that you’ve built tumble down. The South is not just for those who want success in the public eye. It also brings recognition for your work. If you find that your good work being overlooked, and your bad points are constantly being picked on, you might have a problem with your South corner. Is it missing or afflicted? The solution is to install a bright light in this sector and keep it on whenever you can. Use a red lampshade.
When playing with colors, do not engulf entire walls with red. All you want is a boost of powerful fire energy. Use the color red in art pieces you hang here, in scatter cushions, sofa sets or rugs, but avoid bright red walls. If you paint the walls with a fire color, choose a shade of maroon or something not too jarring to the eye. You can also play with greens, as Wood produces Fire.
Motifs to use in the South are birds and phoenixes, which bring opportunities and success. The number of the South is 9, so a painting with 9 different types of bird is a fabulous piece of art to hang here.
The Southwest for Love, Romance & Marriage
The Southwest is the sector that represents the Mother. It also brings love, relationship and marriage luck. If the SW sector is afflicted, young girls living in the house will find it difficult to find the right man. There are many cases of attractive and eligible girls not being able to find themselves partners, and when you check their feng shui, in more cases than not, you will find either a missing SW corner or a toilet in the SW.
For missing SW corners, install bright lights in this part of the house to expand the Chi, compensating for the missing space. If there is garden, install lights here. Keep them turned on for at least 3 hours each night. If there is a toilet in the SW, close it up. If you must use it, keep the toilet door closed, and do NOT decorate the toilet.
Display crystals and lights in the SW inside the house, and big rocks in the SW part of the garden. The best love energizers to use in this sector are mandarin ducks. If it’s family harmony or relationships in general that you’re trying to achieve, display a large piece of natural crystal, or six round crystal balls in the SW.
The West for Fertility & Descendants Luck
The West is the sector that brings descendants luck. If you are a childless couple wanting a baby to start a family together, this is the area of your house to focus on. As the West is a metal sector, you can energize with Metal or Earth (which produces metal). Therefore, use yellows, metal and earth tones to accent this part of the house.
You can also display symbols that enhance fertility luck, such as a pair of elephants, pomegranates or the Laughing Buddha depicted with many children. You can also hang paintings of children.
The Northwest for Mentor Luck
The Northwest is the sector that represents the father or patriarch and is a most important part of the house, as it controls the luck of the head of the household. If the NW is afflicted, the ability of the breadwinner to put food on the table is diminished. The most important thing to remember for the NW is to avoid open fires here. If you have a kitchen in the NW, you should move it. Fire in the NW is known as “Fire at Heaven’s Gate” as the NW is the sector that represents heaven. If you can’t move your kitchen, set up your cookers and stove elsewhere in the house and just do your washing and cleaning there.
The NW also brings luck from helpful people. Energizing it brings support from superiors and mentors. It also helps you make contact with people who assist you. Energize this sector with a Kwan Kung. Or display pictures of past presidents, war heroes, or even your grandfather and other ancestors. Other suitable enhancers for the NW are the three star gods, or Fuk Luk Sau.
