Feng Shui and the Bagua

Feng Shui and the Bagua

Feng Shui bagua, which is also known as ba-gua or pakua, is a tool used in the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui. Feng shui, as we know, is an art which effects our life with specific positive energies which may be lacking. To achieve this, bagua is what helps in analyzing the energy within the spaces you’re looking to implement feng shui using an energy map.

 

The areas which you may be spending most of your time in, whether it be your home, office or both, can be analyzed using the bagua energy map in order to find out which spaces of the areas in your home or office are connected to areas of your life.

There are quite a few reasons that individuals may choose to use the energy map and implement Feng Shui in their lives, a few reasons are the following:

 

  • Enhances energies which are beneficial for you.
  • Correcting and identifying subliminal messages.
  • Creation of focus for intentions applicable to you.
  • Balancing of positive vibrations.
  • Creating a space for you, which is sacred, that nourishes the mind, body and spirit.

 

The bagua map divides your home or office into 9 separate spaces wherein each of them relates to a certain theme. Each space is also a representation of the direction on a compass. Let’s take a look at a few:

 

Wealth & Prosperity

The theme of abundance is covered here when the focused area is the Southeast area of your home or office. The associated element here is wood and you can enhance energies here with colors like blue and green and/or objects such as plants.

 

Fame & Reputation

Acclaim and/or Fame and reputation can be achieved by tapping feng shui into the Southern area of your home or office. The element which is associated to this theme and direction is fire and can be enhanced through candles, colors like red or burgundy, fireplaces, triangular shapes, etc.

 

Love & Marriage

Love and marriage come from the theme of passion which is attainable from the Southwest area of your home or office. Earth and fire are the elements which associate to this theme and its direction.  It can be enhanced through colors such as red, pink, orange, burgundy and yellow. It is also suggested that in this area, furniture and accessories should be placed in pairs.

 

Children & Creativity

Kid-friendly décor and colors such as white, metal and gold are the way to enhance this theme and energy. The associated element here is metal and the direction to focus on is the Western area of your home and office.

There are 5 other themes which the bagua energy map covers being a feng shui tool. The other important thing to understand in terms of ba-gua is the layout of it. It is divided into two different layouts which are the following:

 

  1. Early Heaven Sequence
  2. Later Heaven Sequence

 

Both of these layouts follow the eight directions of a compass, but the difference is that the approach changes as the sequence changes.

The early heaven sequence refers to how the order was in the universe before any changes took place. On the other hand, the later heaven sequence is the complete opposite, it refers to the world and how it is after changes were produced and taken place.

 

Both of these layouts are used when understanding pakua and using it as the perfect tool to enhance positive energies that benefit you using feng shui. It is of utmost importance to have an understanding of Feng Shui, Bagua and the energy map if this is what you need in your home, office or overall life.

Decluttering? But why?

Decluttering? But why?

A classic example would be the one of eliminating clutter and organising one’s space. When this is done in a conscious and focused manner with the aim of achieving a specific result, it will be a task undertaken with a positive frame of mind all the while holding positive visualisations in mind of what we want to achieve.

In Feng Shui the advice given to declutter and organize one’s space, is given with very specific intentions: get rid of the stuck, negative, obstructive energy in order to clear the space and open up the way for fresh and new energy to come in. It is insinuated that doing so will bring more positive energy and auspiciousness to the person living in that space.

In our western world when we are told to declutter our space, there is more of a negative judgment attached to it and a sense of pressure to do so. It is something that we feel we have to do because either we cannot stand the clutter ourselves as it prevents us from functioning efficiently and feeling good in our space or we feel too ashamed to have people visit our messy home. There is no carrot at the end of the stick. Apart from the immediate relief we may experience after decluttering our space there is nothing more attached to it to visualize and anticipate. All we know is that decluttering is a necessary chore we shall have to do once in a while if we want to be able to function effectively in our space without feeling overwhelmed.

In the Feng Shui tradition though, clutter is much more than a bunch of stuff thrown around the house. Clutter is perceived as an entity that constitutes an obstructive and negative energy which does not allow for positive, auspicious energy to enter and circulate freely in the house. As such it is considered to bring inauspiciousness in one’s space and affect its inhabitants negatively in more than one ways. From physical and mental health to general bad luck.

The person who undertakes the task to clear this clutter then is already programmed to perceive and conceptualize clutter in a much wider and more meaningful for them context, one directly related to their well being and good luck. They are much more likely to engage in positive visualizations and future projections where they can see in their mind’s eye themselves in a positive light, having reached the desired state they want to achieve. Plus the very belief that eliminating clutter and bringing in more harmony into one’s space will bring upon all the good things they are wishing for, acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy or at the very least puts the individual in a much more positive state of mind.

We can see two very different dynamics here. The Western one is one of: “I got to get rid of this stuff because it is getting ridiculous”. Whereas the Feng Shui one is one of: “Am going to clear out my space of the negative obstructive energy to make place for the auspicious one to come in that will bring me and my family the desired positive changes we are hoping for”. The first one starts off with a feeling of pressure and burden, ‘I got to do it’ and the second with one of delight and anticipation for the positive results.

The starting point of undertaking action is diametrically different. Obligation, pressure and burden versus anticipation, longing and excitement, chore versus future reward. The first one is rather boring and oppressive and the second exciting with a vivid visual and mental component. There is much more multilevel engagement in the second case, which as a result on one hand makes the task much more enjoyable and gratifying and on the other activates both mental and emotional
The Psychology of FENG SHUI

The Psychology of FENG SHUI

As funny as it may seem, this is how Feng Shui conversations sometimes sound, and the reason why so many of us in the West see Feng Shui as incomprehensible, exotic, superstitious nonsense. A set of do-and-don’t rules that must be followed blindly, no matter how strange or absurd they may sound to the recipient of advice.

Even if respectable and experienced Feng Shui masters are seldom so hard and always flexible enough to come up with all sorts of alternative “cures” for every possible and imaginable inconvenient area or feature of your home, the fact remains that this does Feng Shui bread and butter. Find remedies for unpropitious properties in your own space, to remove negative energy and provide the residents of the house with good energy, health, good luck and abundance.