Fast Feng Shui Blog
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September 24, 2008
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Stair and bathroom location |
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Q: I live in a 3-level townhouse. The main living area is on the middle level. Two of the three bathrooms are located in the center of the house (on the bottom & top floors). In addition, the front door & two flights of stairs are located on the left side of the house. I have heard that crystal-like balls & upward growing plants can offset the negative effects of wealth & energy "going down the drain" & "flying out the door," so I've tried them. The bathrooms have no windows so I have artificial plants in them. I also keep the drains closed & toilet lids down. Neither the balls or plants seem to be helping to make a difference. Do you feel that these are the most effective cures for these situations?
A: There are two separate issues here: the stairs and the bathrooms.
First, this idea that wealth “flies out the door” if the stairs are on the left side of the house is a bit of an exaggeration. It is only an issue in very specific situations: where the bottom of the stairs are directly in line with and very close to the front door. This may not be the case in your home, although it does more frequently show up in townhouses than in other typical home layouts.
The key factor is to look at how much distance there is between the door and the bottom of the stairs, and whether the stairs are pointed directly at the door. If there’s more than 6 feet or so (approximately one body-height in distance), it’s not considered a major problem.
If you do have this layout and wish to correct it, a faceted crystal ball hung half-way between the bottom of the stairs and door itself is the most common remedy. Perhaps your crystal is not in the best position, or is not faceted. It’s very important to use a faceted crystal, which refracts light (and therefore chi), breaking up a one-directional flow of chi and scattering it in many directions. A round crystal will not accomplish this.
However, a crystal chandelier or similar light fixture in the foyer area can substitute for the faceted crystal and interrupt the flow of chi from the stairs to the door. It is sometimes also possible to place a basket at the foot of the stairs to “catch” chi before it flows out the door, but I don’t recommend this if your stairs are narrow or the general area is small.
Bathrooms in the center of the structure are thought to have a draining effect on the overall chi of the home, although they do not specifically target your wealth. Plants are often recommended for any area with excessive water chi, and certainly living plants are the best option but other “wood-type” remedies, such as silk plants, can be used.
The problem is that the center of the ba gua is associated with the earth element, and plants and trees break up earth. Even all-purpose remedies such as using plants to balance excessive water chi should be evaluated in terms of the elements associated with that area of the ba gua. I would recommend using more “earth-type” remedies in a bathroom in the center of the home, and a full-length mirror on the outside of the door.
Hope this helps,
Stephanie R.
Q+A POLICY
The purpose of this Q+A service is to clarify modern feng shui principles and remedies, and to help you make sense of contradictory teachings you’re likely to come across. If you are new to this blog, please read the Q+A Guidelines (see sidebar on left) before sending me a question. Do expect that I will edit your message for clarity and focus, and that it may be several days (or longer) before I post a reply. Keep in mind, too, that you’re getting my personal opinion on the topic. If you ask someone else, you might get a different answer.Labels: ba gua, crystals, Feng Shui Q+A, plants, stairs
posted by Stephanie R. #
9/24/2008 09:28:00 AM
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September 16, 2008
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Up-and-Down Financial and Career Experiences |
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Q: We bought a raised ranch a couple years ago and our finances are so up and down. Mainly due to my husband always changing jobs. My career is also very up and down in terms of income. I work out of my home in the insurance and mortgage industries, and am also now a new real estate agent/Realtor. But I think a lot has to do with our front door, which is just a few feet from the stairs. The entry is a very small area from which you go up or down. I read somewhere to put a rock on the bottom step going up. I had a small one there and just changed it to a bigger one. Does that help or did I read that wrong?
A: From a feng shui perspective an entry like this (small foyer with stairs leading both up and down) this can indicate increased "ups and downs" in life but is more closely associated with a lack of focus. The problem is that when you enter the house, you are immediately confronted with a "which way do I go" decision. There’s no clear energy path when you step inside the home. This seems to be reflected in the job changes your husband is going through, and your own multi-faceted career.
To some extent, you may be able to lessen this with your décor: use lighting and focal points to influence where your attention goes from the foyer. Brighter lighting, eye-catching imagery, motion (such as a mobile), and sound (a windchime at the top of the stairs) are all possible ways to achieve this.
Those sorts of remedies are usually best placed at the top of the stairs that lead to the upper level, to draw your attention (and therefore chi) in an upward direction from the entry. I say "usually" because if the only rooms on the upper level are the bedrooms and bath(s), then I'd recommend instead that you place your attention-grabbing/chi-directing cures toward the more "yang" spaces of the living room and kitchen instead.
Since you describe the entry area as small, I would be wary of adding anything to that space that will make it feel more cramped, such as a rock at the bottom step. This will add visual clutter and the potential for stubbed toes to your foyer, and won’t do much to define a path of movement one way or the other. Just because a solution is recommended in a book (and that includes any of my books), that doesn’t mean it’s the best remedy for your particular space. Every situation has unique aspects which need to be considered.
I also caution against being quick to see things as a problem. If working in the insurance, mortgage, and real estate fields feels overwhelming or distracting to you, that’s one thing. But if you like the variety don’t feel you have to "fix" it. In my view, multiple sources of income are always a good thing!
Keep in mind, too, that there may be other feng shui factors in your home that are influencing your career and financial experiences. The front door is an important feature of any space, but it is certainly not the only factor.
Hope this helps bring some clarity and focus to how you see your space,
Stephanie R.Labels: doors, Feng Shui Q+A, stairs
posted by Stephanie R. #
9/16/2008 11:08:00 AM
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August 29, 2008
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Stairs in the "Money Corner" |
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Q: The stairs in my condo are in the Money corner. Is that a problem? If so, what can I do about it?
A: Stairs are not necessarily a problem. You may have heard that the bottom of a staircase very close to the front door can cause money to “run out of the house,” but that’s one very specific situation, and does not mean that all stairs in any location are an issue.
However, because stairs are where we go up and down in our homes, a stair in hsun gua might indicate “ups and downs” in your financial experience. But unless that’s really extreme I wouldn’t see it as a big problem: some ebb and flow in the money arena is natural.
Also keep in mind that there’s a “money corner” for each room in the condo as well. If you want to place prosperity imagery/objects somewhere, use hsun gua of your bedroom, living room, or kitchen rather than the stairs. I think stairs have a “neither here nor there” kind of energy to them: they’re between “upstairs” and “downstairs’ and the time we spend on them is always temporary and transitional, so choose a spot with more stable "chi" for that wealth vase or your prosperity collage.
Stephanie
Q+A POLICY
The purpose of this Q+A service is to clarify modern feng shui principles and remedies, and to help you make sense of contradictory teachings you’re likely to come across. If you are new to this blog, please read the Q+A Guidelines (see sidebar on left). If you send me a question, do expect that I will edit your message for clarity and focus, and that it may be several days (or longer) before I post a reply. Keep in mind, too, that you’re getting my personal opinion on the topic. If you ask someone else, you might get a different answer.Labels: Feng Shui Q+A, prosperity, stairs
posted by Stephanie R. #
8/29/2008 11:50:00 AM
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