Feng Shui Design News for December 2013

Happy Holidays from a feng shui perspective

white Poinsettia

The Pros

The benefits of home decorating are:

  • Adding good energy to the house
  • Creating a more spiritual atmosphere by decorating with angels, nativity scenes, stars of David, etc.
  • Making a statement by decorating the entrance (the mouth of chi) where your career resides
  • Adding bells to the doors to alert you when someone enters (a primitive burglar alarm you can leave there all year)
  • Putting up cards and messages is a supportive reminder from family and friends
  • Adding good smells of pine, candles and extra baking is stimulating to our most memorable sense
  • Adding tactile items (good-feeling pillows and wrapping banisters and corners with garlands) is comforting
  • Filling in empty areas with Christmas trees
  • Decorating the house changes the energy and brings variety to the place.

Christmas cacti blooming

The Cons

The dangers of home decorating are:

  • Adding candles (advent, Christmas, menorahs) and decorative lights must be well attended or they can start fires
  • The wood of real Christmas trees can fuel the fire
  • Christmas colors, red and green represent the fire and wood elements which add even more combustible energy
  • Too much extra stuff lying around blocks the chi and adds obstacles (clutter) to the environment
  • The extra stimulation is often overwhelming for sensitive children and adults

clutter

Some remedies are:

  • Adding the water element by the floating candles, adding water features, fountains, snow and cool images
  • Using the earth element (such as pottery, clay statues or other heavy objects) to ground the items. This adds stability to the environment.
  • Adding the metal element by using tinsel, garlands and metallic colors such as gold and silver brings more balance of the elements.

LUNAR CALENDAR

December 2nd – New Moon, start a new project
December 17th – Full Moon, finish something
December 21st – Winter Solstice
December 25th Christmas
January 1st – New Moon
January 15th – Full Moon
January 30th – second New Moon of the month
January 31st – Chinese New Year

horse  horse
clip_image002[4][3] horse

Saddle up your horses. The year of the Horse begins. A vital animal to life and transportation for centuries it is well represented in Asian art.
Every year has an element associated with it. (water, wood, fire, earth or metal) What is this year’s element? Clue – Trojan, no not that, think Troy and a wooden horse full of Greek men. It’s got to be a good year. This is the year of the wooden (green) horse. Next month we will do a more serious analysis. Clients, you can ask for the 2014 update and the temporary cures to use in your homes and businesses now.

yin-yang plaza
The Yin and Yang of the Holiday and Gift Giving

The holidays bring back good memories and expectations for fun and special times. The holidays make more demands on our already busy lives. We know this causes extra stress. We leave our homes on a quest to find some object or article for someone we care about in a place, usually a big building downtown or in a mall with lots of little stores and a few large ones. Unless you are a regular seasoned shopper, these places can be confusing. The exciting part is that everyone else is doing it, too. Even the most ardent mall avoider usually makes at least one trip out for gifts. Ask yourself the following:

  1. Do you frequent the same stores and shop there often?
  2. Do the sales clerks recognize you when you enter their department?
  3. Do you enjoy mingling your chi with the chi of strangers- some with friendly chi, some with porcupine chi or slanted, wickedly impatient chi.
  4. Is looking for a gift an adventure all year long, rather than a challenge or an absolute chore at the last minute?
  5. Do you plan your venture by reading ads and sales catalogs ahead of time?

If you answer yes to the above questions you are a shopper and you don’t need to read the following:

Shopping

Some people, including many men, [sorry, but this trait seems to be more dominant on the Y chromosome with some notable exceptions] avoid going to malls and stores at any time, not just the holidays. How can this be explained from a feng shui perspective?

Infrequent shoppers are out of their element and out of control of our space. We cannot maintain a commanding position in a department store. Keep the location of the door you came in or nearest exit in the back of your mind. Be observant. Check out the mall map or store directory before you get down to serious shopping. This helps you plan your time and reduces an “unknown” factor of how much time you will need. How far you will have to walk with packages – when you want to buy or come back later on your way out.

There is some method to the layout. Promotional items in front, sale items in back. One advantage to the chain department stores is that they use the same floor plan whenever possible. Avoid walking into the cosmetic fragrance departments unless you intend to buy something there. This is especially important if you are sensitive to chemicals and smells or have young children with you because it may cause instant irritability and whining.

It seems that shopping for many has become a recreation or entertainment in its own right. It is a social function beyond the valley girls. Some of us have perfected this to an art. The decorations and lights, the ringing bells add to the pleasure. Try thinking of it in that frame of mind.

(This is a reprint from Feng Shui Design News from 2002 and 2007)

2013 Note: With Cyber Monday and the on-line shopping these days, the need to leave the comfort of your own space is drastically reduced and perhaps the need for a feng shui approach less when shopping but you will find yourself in public places and can apply these same ideas where ever you are. By giving a conscious thought to your surroundings and preparing yourself, planning ahead, and being aware, you can feel more at ease and in control, in a commanding position wherever you go.


P.S. NEW YEAR – NEW FACE A Commercial

Anti-Bonsai for the Human Face

When I attended a workshop by a bonsai Master, I got to thinking of him as the “anti–plastic surgeon”. You would never want him wielding the knife if you ever went in for a little nip tuck procedure; he makes everything he expertly touches look older, very much older. (see the newsletter —— Feng Shui Design News for April 2012 Feng Shui to Go )

In Bonsai, we revere old and work to create aged, ancient looking, weathered trees out of younger, fresher trees. Age is a desired attribute.

I am not anti-bonsai, except for my face. I admit to wanting to keep my personal Chi as vibrant and youthful as possible for as long as I can. I’d rather have that willowy bamboo youthful flexible skin than the dry bark of an old oak tree. But I’ve been on this earth quite a while now and it is starting to show. How can it not catch up with you – especially if you aren’t into Botox and procedures where they put you to sleep? Aging is the natural order of things and I respect the process completely. I just don’t want to participate. I honor my parents in their nineties and I respect the ancestors but I try not to look like them.

Then a few months ago an acquaintance who has known me for a decade introduced me to a new skin care regimen by the dermatologists of Proactiv, who have solved the acne problem for so many of the younger generation. I am not a good salesperson and never try to talk anyone into anything that doesn’t have the possibility of great results. For over twenty years, Feng Shui has been and remains my passion for people who want it. It is not something to push on people. I am still passionate about making people aware of feng shui. In the same spirit, I make you aware that there is a product out there that can improve how your skin looks and feels. Call me and/or check out https://pamktollefson.myrandf.com/