How wonderful to be surrounded by positive energy! Who wouldn’t want to wake up feeling positive and energized every day? There’s a way; through Feng Shui your environment can surround you with the energy you need to nourish you on a daily basis.
One of the most powerful ways to create positive change is to apply the Bagua Map to your home and enhance each area. The results can me magical!
The Bagua:
One of the most powerful and important tools in Feng Shui is the Bagua (Ba-gua) Map, represented as a grid of nine sectors. I call this the “Treasure Map” to enhancements. The Bagua comes from the Chinese Book of Changes, “The I Ching,” and literally means “eight trigrams.” These trigrams form the basic building blocks, or treasures that hold the most significance in our lives: career, knowledge/self cultivation, family/health, wealth/prosperity, fame, love/marriage, children/creativity, and helpful people/travel. Each of these building blocks is represented in the Bagua map, and is formed around a ninth sector which is the overall center, or grounding element of your life.
Using the Bagua:
This grid, illustrating the nine sectors (treasures) of your life is intended to be superimposed over the floor plan of your home. The home’s main entrance is always located at the bottom of the grid, (in the knowledge, career or helpful people sector). Stand facing the front entrance of the building as if you were about to step inside. This is called the “Mouth of Ch’i” and will be your vantage point for determining the orientation of the Bagua map for the whole building. Once you have identified where your entrance falls in relation to the map, you can identify where the remaining areas of your environment fall. Now your home can begin to tell the story, and shed some light on issues you may be facing in your life.
If any of the sectors or building block areas are stuck, or missing thereby causing you stress then personal enhancements using the Bagua Map are the way to go. The key is to activate and keep the Ch’i (vital energy) flowing inside through your home.
Missing Areas:
The ideal shape for a Feng Shui friendly house is rectangular, with all the corners within the Bagua. We know that in the western culture few houses are built like that; most have one or more corners missing. The four corners are the most important and can be closed in or “anchored” on a variety of ways.
With the focus on Wealth and Prosperity look to the back left corner and find the anchoring method which best fits your property.
Anchoring Missing Bagua Areas:
1) Structurally – You can literally complete the missing area with a structure such as a room addition, a porch, adding a deck, arbor, trellis etc. as long as the structure has enough substance to be considered part of the building.
2) Symbolically - You can also complete the missing area by placing a symbolic addition; something that defines the missing area. You can do this by locating the exact corner and placing a large item representing the Bagua area (examples but not limited to)
• Wealth – Fountain, purple gazing ball, purple leaf tree
Place a 360 degree bubbling fountain in the exact missing corner for prosperity to flow
Anchor with a water feature as in this burgundy spa tub
A structural anchor is made by extending the arbor at the top
Another form of fountain in the color purple
Anchoring with a purple gazing ball
Other anchoring ideas for the remaining 3 corners:
• Love – Two seat bistro set, large red flowering plant, red gazing ball
• Helpful People – Boulder, sculpture, white metal seating, silver gazing ball
• Knowledge – Large tree, statue, blue or green gazing ball, wooden seating
3) If there is no room for a symbolic addition – You can locate the missing corner and do one of the following:
• On lawn – Bury a quartz crystal with its point up at the exact corner (also use inside anchoring)
• On cement – Mark the exact corner with a small symbol such as a heart, tree, circle or triangle (also use inside anchoring)
4) Inside Anchoring – Mirroring the indented walls closest to the missing Bagua area will make the indentation seem to disappear, and enhance the circulation of Ch’i within the missing area. This can also be done by hanging a 30 mm round faceted crystal in front of a window in the indented wall. Use art and personal enhancements representing Bagua area in this indented area to further enhance the Ch’i.
5) Enhance the Area in Every Room – Missing home areas make it important to enhance that location in every room. For instance if the Love area is missing from your home and you want to increase romance, place the Bagua at the entrance of each room, locate the love corner and something red, a pair of items, a picture of a couple or a representation of romance in each of the back right corners.
Enhancements for Anchoring Missing Corners:
• Knowledge and Self Cultivation: Wood items, trees, blue or green tones, florals, stripes
• Wealth and Prosperity: Water features, flags/whirligigs, purple trees, purple, dark blue or red tones
• Love and Marriage: Pairs of items, red or pink tones, seating for two, items in pairs, romantic art
• Helpful People: Stone or metal sculptures, boulders, metal seating, white or grey tones, art representing spiritual guides, mentors or mountains.
Use your imagination! Keeping the Ch’i within the confines of your home keeps you surrounded and nourished with the positive energy you need to thrive. Anchor your Bagua and enjoy the difference!
