Feng Shui

The Art of Creating Sacred Space

I became interested in ‘sacred placement’ through other energy work and massage. It has been a constant and on-going passion over the last 20 years and has been a complimentary addition to the arts I’ve been privileged to learn.

I have found a direct link between health, mental state and spiritual awareness, and the aesthetic environment we occupy. I discovered there was a comparable association with the meridians of the body and the energy flowing round our homes and other areas we occupy in our daily lives. It has been a long and fascinating journey so far and I’m not even half way through! So, I thought, I’ll just ramble on about it in this article and see where it leads me!

In the Orient, natural energy placement and geomancy is a part of everyday life, and everything they do is in harmony with this. Even architects take this into consideration when designing any structure. I’m sure many of you, as children, have sat by a stream and watched the water flowing, and noticed that if a stick or leaves gets trapped, the water carries on flowing round it in gentle curves, and leaves the stagnant edges untouched. This is what happens in the environment: energy flows in the same gentle curves and where ever there are sharp corners or jagged edges, it creates a stagnant area of energy. This is extremely unhealthy for us in our living quarters or places of work as this stagnant energy creates similar sympathetically in us and we are deeply affected by it.

In the East they design living areas in a more harmonious way, allowing for energy to flow freely; not placing structures too close to pylons, major roads, other tall imposing buildings and natural features like mountains, rivers or underground fast flowing water, which create upheaval and distress, even though we may be quite unaware of the effects!

In the West, we don’t care about things like this! Architects are the new gods and build where and how they like. Prime building land is a rare resource and properties are becoming more and more suffocatingly  small and crammed together. However, it is possible to remedy the mistakes that occur in the places we live and work, using sacred placement cures and ‘clutter clearance’ techniques

Clutter Clearance

The biggest sin we commit in the West is that we own too much ‘stuff’ and actually don’t need half of it. We have it all stashed away or gathering dust somewhere, blocking up those vital corners and preventing the energy from flowing freely. We also tend to hang on to things that need repair or that we may never ever use again but are too reluctant to get rid of. The things we treasure that link us to our past and ancestry should be displayed in a proud and beautiful way and tended to regularly to avoid dirt and decay. Things that we use as part of our lives should be in good order and stored in a harmonious and healthy way. Everything that is broken or damaged should be repaired or disposed of. Everything that is surplus to our requirements should be recycled to help others and keep the energy flowing. We have too many projects on the go at one time, and often we can never finish them; they just add to the clutter, or tie up valuable resources financially or energetically, that could be better focused elsewhere.

It is never easy to attend to, or clear cluttered areas, and the more that area of our dwelling is linked to an area of our life that needs serious work, the less easy it will be to focus on it and deal with it! We often use quite elaborate and convoluted ways of avoiding clearing the areas we need to, as our conscious mind strives to maintain the status quo, whether it is good for us or not! It is our subconscious mind that holds the picture of harmony that we need to adopt and instinctively we know that it is right, but still we are reluctant to effect the change we so need!

Clutter clearance is a constant and on-going task throughout our lives, where ever we live or work, but it becomes so much a part of us and easier to do as time goes on. Also it is advisable to do this in bite sized chunks, as stirring up energy on a vast scale in your home, can create WW3 with all sorts of emotional wounds laid bare! Do what needs to be done at the time and take a break when you feel it is right to do so! Trust your feelings on this, they will guide you well!

Sacred Space Remedies

Once you have broken the back of the clutter clearance, you can begin to incorporate the ‘remedies’ to enhance the positive energies that you are slowly uncovering and becoming accustomed to.

Check the perimeter of your property and heal any unhealthy energy that is invading. Bury quartz crystals around the perimeter at intervals and hang a pa kua mirror above the entrance. This will insure that only those energies you want to enter do. Hang wind chimes at entrances to deter negative energies and bring in ‘good’ energy with visitors. Use strategically placed mirrors to deflect unwelcome energies from overlooking buildings, trees too close, or pylons and other current carrying structures. Coils of stainless steel wire can be buried in the earth to remedy underground water or other invasive energies like ley lines, at their crossing points to and from, your property.

Entrance and Exit doors should not be opposite each other. If they are, deflect energy by blocking path with mirrors, screens or beaded curtains, so that you do not allow vital personal energies to flow straight through and out, of the home.

Plants, and even cats and dogs, will cure sharp edges and corners in rooms, or deflect blocked energy from an awkward corner; however, dogs and cats tend to move about, so use other living things, birds, fish or greenery for this cure. Avoid spiky plants and always have an odd number of fish! Small mirrors that are just big enough to see your eye in, are also perfect for this.

Internal doors tend to block energy when closed, or trap energy behind them. Where sensible, change for screens or beaded curtains that tinkle when touched. They have a wonderful effect on the energies of the living space!

Where possible, beds should never be end on to the door. This is considered bad luck, as you leave your home feet first when you have passed away, and death to an Oriental is bad luck! Remedy with a mirror on the back of the bedroom door, or re-arrange the room. Make sure that you are not overshadowed in your bed by too much tall imposing wardrobes. Heal with strategically draped material or mirrored fronts. At night, cover mirrors that are facing the bed, with material, so that the swirling energy does not keep you awake or make you exhausted. Do not stuff too much junk under your bed if you can help it, or place quartz crystals under your head area as a remedy if you have to use the space for storage, and keep it as tidy as you can.

Place a set of wind chimes above your main cooking area and a small mirror behind to reflect the positive energy of the cooking station back into the home.

Chi and the Eight Enrichments

A simple plan to help you understand the areas of your home, office, or even desk, that are related to areas of your life, can be drawn to help you to locate areas of your dwelling that relate to your mind, body or spirit. Draw a rectangle, long sides horizontal. short sides vertical, on paper in front of you. Divide into 2 rows of 4 squares. Starting bottom right and going round clockwise, label the squares in this order:-  Prosperity and Fame, Peace and Happiness, Pleasure and Indulgence, New Beginnings, Relationships, Children and Family, Wisdom and Experience, and Wealth and Money. Note where entrances fall in this map, and use the same layout for each floor of your property. You will soon see that certain areas may be misplaced and need changing around or remedying.  Make any changes slowly and carefully, being aware of the energy movement as you are doing this, and the feel of the energy after each change has taken place. This is the fun part! feeling the energy changes and the positive effects on your life. Playing with the energy and ‘tweaking’ it as you go, is all part of the transformation!

Give your home an  energy ‘spring-clean’ every so often, by using sound and incense to move blocked or unwelcome energy. Smudge sticks waved into corners or swirled into inaccessible places like under beds or in cupboards or wardrobes, and don’t forget the loft or cellar, if you have them. Clapping, drumming, gongs, bells and music are all very useful and appropriate for balancing and harmonising the energies in your space. It can make you feel as if you have been on a Wurlitzer afterward though, so make sure that you do this at an agreeable time for all concerned. The folk you share your space with may not entirely embrace these ideas, so do what you can and wait for the knock-on effects.

I have known these basic and simple techniques to cause all sorts of disputes including divorce, as people’s energy reaches its’ full potential, and others they share space with, resist change. There are stagnant people as well as space, and they have to embrace the constant and ever changing environment, or move to a space more in keeping with their needs. Life is a constantly changing dynamic and to deny this is to invite discord in body and mind. No one can dictate to another how space and time is used, it is purely personal, and each of us has the final word on our choices in life. Accept the things that ‘space clearing’ reveals about you and use this knowledge to grow and strengthen in spirit.

Have fun playing with the energies in your personal space, and ‘happy space clearing’ too! Grow and transform; enjoy yourselves!

Good luck

Pebbles