Elements The five feng shui elements are wood, earth, metal, fire and water. When they are balanced in your living quarters, your life is better balanced, and you are more likely to have what you want in life. This way, your home is working for you rather than you working for your home. Use these feng shui elements by placing them in the appropriate area of the home with the intention that they work for you. Other than merely placing the various elements in your home, there are two more ways to utilize them: the Creative Cycle and the Destructive Cycle. The Creative Cycle involves one element "creating" another . For example, water "feeds" or creates wood. However, the Destructive Cycle order is different because an element can overpower another one. For instance, water will "douse" or destroy fire. These are important factors and can be used as cures.
All things that happen in life can be reduced down to nine categories or life situations. All nine categories can be mapped in your home, and are each called a "gua"(pronounced "gwa"). Putting the guas together in a certain order is called the "Bagua." The ba of bagua means eight, giving the bagua eight sides. It's these eight sides added to the middle that make up the nine areas relating to life situations we encounter.
The best way to use these five elements is to place them in the appropriate area of the home with intention and intend that they bring harmony to your immediate environment. Place the water element towards the front of the home or space where the door is located. Place wood to the left, metal to the right, and fire to the rear. And finally place the earth element near the center.
Water element is represented by materials such as glass, and plastic (as in windows, and glass table tops), mirrors, dark colors like black and dark blue, undulating forms and actual water.
Wood element is represented by wooden furniture and accessories, by columnar or upright rectangular-shaped objects, the color green.
Fire element is found in red objects, triangular or pointy-shaped objects, furnishings and materials that include leather or other animal symbolism, as well as actual fire such as candles, and fireplaces.
Earth element includes ceramic objects and tiles, earth tone colors including yellow, flat or square shapes items, and actual earth that you would perhaps find in a plant pot.
Metal element is represented in white objects, round or mounded objects, and metal furnishings including chrome, brass, wrought iron, tin, and stainless steel.
Here's where the "moving the stuff" starts! Take a look around and see if there is a more appropriate place for your furnishings and accessories according to this concept.
What if your fireplace is in the wrong spot and you don't want to relocate your built-in aquarium, you ask? You may need to go to level 2 with this element game. Just as there are better items to be had in a certain area of the home because of their elemental composition, there are more harmful items. And if there is no hope In moving some of these items, you must be ready to roll up your sleeves and use the Creative and Destructive Cycles. The creative and destructive cycles are two ways that elements interact with one another. With a simple understanding of these two cycles, you can harmonize your spaces with less limitation.
The Creative Cycle
For example, if you need to add wood element but it feels totally inappropriate to use greens and wooden furnishings, you can actually use items that represent the water element. Why? Because in the Creative Cycle, water creates wood. The entire creative cycle is as follows: Water feeds wood, woods fuels the fire, fire makes earth, earth creates metal, and metal creates water. So, if the actual element for that space seems inappropriate, use the one that creates it!
The Destructive Cycle
In the Destructive Cycle, water douses fire, fire melts metal, metal chops wood, wood uproots earth and earth dams water. This cycle is best used when you have a condition where you can't eliminate an object or material from a space, or the space is dominated with Now, let's say you are trying to add metal element to the right-hand side of your home for balance and it is obvious that the fireplace that is in this area is staying. We just learned that "fire melts metal" and that's not good for balance. But, we also learned that in the destructive cycle, water douses fire ... and mirrors equal water. So, why not hang a mirror over the fireplace as a decorative accent as well as a feng shui cure to counteract fire where metal should be? This would be a perfect example of how to use the Destructive Cycle to your benefit.
It takes time and practice when evaluating homes for five-element balance ... but it can be done! |
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