An amazing part about feng shui is that it can frequently explain the unexplainable. Take, for example, someone who’s reasonably intelligent, educated, ethical, and works hard. Why doesn’t his or her life go well? Sometimes it’s their feng shui.
Someone living in a house that has a serious slope behind them or whose bed is over the stove that’s on the first floor, might question themselves. They might wonder why life is so hard or why higher powers have got it in for them.
But it might have nothing to do with that person, but rather, the house they live in.
To me, this is a great relief to see that a house could be the trip wire in your life creating difficult finances, relationships that sour, health problems or career issues. It gives you a key to solving some of life’s biggest riddles when you’ve done everything else you can think of and you’re working hard to improve your life.
It may seem far-fetched to imagine that your house has that much of an influence over your life, but why not? You can tell when you’re being stared at from behind. You can feel it and your suspicion leads you to turn around and look only to be validated that someone is, in fact, staring at you.
But how did you know that? You could feel it.
Some would call that act of staring an invisible force. And you act on that invisible force by turning around to confirm your suspicions. But the forces of feng shui are often more subtle than an intent person’s glare at your back, but no less great.
In fact, I believe the feng shui forces are greater. That’s because we’re in our homes so many hours of the day, surrounded by “our things,” the symbols and elements of our life, such as sofas, the picture of our wedding day, the sheets we picked out last week.
We also sleep in our homes, a period of the day when we are most vulnerable, and when the energies in our homes can act upon us with even greater force and influence.
Our house represents our life – in all ways – good and bad.
Below are the 7 worst feng shui house features. Some experts will tell you that it’s toilets and staircases that are the worst features, but truth be told, it’s also about placement.
Feng shui is, after all, the Chinese art of placement. If your home isn’t well placed in the environment, it doesn’t matter where your staircase or toilet is located. If you have some of these features, you could be suffering in your life because of them, and if so, it could help explain some of the difficulties in your life.
1. Below grade.
When a home is below street grade, this creates problems because the house literally looks out to a wall. This means that life feels like one giant obstacle. That’s because there is no bright hall or rear support. A bright hall is open space in front of the house. This open space, such as a pretty green lawn, allows chi to gather gently and enter the home. Instead, it rolls away. Life feels stagnant and like it’s going backwards and that everything is so much harder than it should be. Being below ground is for the dead, not the living.
The fix: Unfortunately, not everything is “curable” in feng shui. Try to lift the energy of the home by keeping the front well-lit, and if possible, think about moving. This is a very serious problem that can only be overcome by living in a new, above-ground home. Houses that face oncoming streets have more problems and are frequently for sale
2. T-intersection/poison arrow.
Poison arrows are caused when something, like a street or a tree, is aimed at your house or front door. These can be very serious. If your front door faces east, it could harm your oldest son or the family relationship. If it’s southwest, it could cause serious injury or problems for the woman of the house.
These are often seen at the entrance to a neighbourhood or district. Upon entering the neighbourhood you usually come to a stop sign and then have to either turn right or left. The house directly opposite the stop sign is the house that suffers from the poison arrows from the cars and the street that is aimed at the front of the house.
Because of this intense energy, homes in the neighborhoods opposite the stop sign often have higher turnover and resale rates. That’s because that poison arrow aimed at the house takes a toll on the occupants, causing health, relationship or financial problems. There is a way around this using 5 Element Theory, so speak with a qualified feng shui consultant on ways to manage these arrangements.
3. Northwest fireplace or kitchen.
In most families today, but not all, the man is the breadwinner. The breadwinner is represented by the northwest corner which is called the “Heavenly palace.” When this corner is afflicted by fire, such as a fireplace, kitchen, or even a gas water heater or outdoor grill, this is called “fire in heaven,” and can cause a severe loss of, or for, the man of the house.
An arrangement such as this can cause the man to leave, difficulty holding on to a man or attracting a man if the woman of the house is single, or causing severe loss for the man such as by accident, major illness, or job or financial loss like bankruptcy.
This is especially true if the kitchen has a gas stove. The important element is fire and having an actual flame. This is what creates loss. Replacing a gas stove or water heater with an electric one is a good step toward helping solve this problem. When the problem is a fireplace, avoid using it or even keeping the pilot light lit, and add a picture of water over the fireplace.
4. Backwards slope.
A key element in feng shui is the idea of support. We all need it. Support can be found in a variety of ways from friends and people who love us to a headboard on our bed and a high back on our chair at work. In the home environment, support is recognised as land that’s level or slopes upward at the back of the house.
When a house has land that slopes down from the back of the house, it causes the house and the occupants to lose that vital support. It’s a lot like sitting on a stool all day; you can do it but you will become very fatigued.
A house with little support at the rear will find that finances are difficult, particularly accumulating savings. Jobs, relationships and health will suffer and problems continually crop up. It’s important to try to stop the energy running away from the house by erecting a fence, planting trees across the back, adding lighting across the back of the house, or building a masonry wall.
5. Funnel shape.
Like the house with no support, a house that’s on a lot that’s shaped like a funnel, larger at the front and growing small toward the back, will see life as constricting like a boa constrictor snake tightening its grip on you.
Finances and vitality will slowly drain away, accumulating money will be very difficult, and health problems can crop up. To handle, consider creating a faux wall at the middle of the lot using the recommendations in #4 above.
6. Bed aligns with bathroom door/fixture.
A very serious arrangement is when the bedroom is aligned with a bathroom door, such as an ensuite bathroom. Or worse, the bed aligns with a bathtub, sink or toilet. There are some home designs with grand double doors in the master bedroom that align with the bathroom and may often have a large tub in the middle of the room.
When there is an alignment like this, there is a potential for very serious loss – such as cancer, stroke, major accident, death, or bankruptcy. It’s vital that the bed is moved so that it is not aligned with the bathroom door or other bath fixture.
In the 1970’s it was a common feature to place the bathroom sink out in the bedroom, while the toilet and shower were enclosed. This creates major problems and serious loss. Bedrooms should be completely walled and closed off from bathrooms.
7. Front door-back door/window alignment.
Chi enters the house through the front door and when it’s aligned with a back door or window, energy will rush through the house (read: money), and it will be very difficult to maintain a job, accumulate savings, create good health, or keep relationships smooth and harmonious. Most of the time this creates major spending problems.
Unlike a below grade home or home with a northwest fireplace, this is one of the easiest situations to solve. Simply blocking the view from the front of the house to the back will help slow down chi, and in turn, help you retain your income, hold down spending and boost savings and preserve your health and relationships.
When it comes to feng shui, energy flows where the eye goes, and if the eye goes out the window to the view of your swimming pool at the back of the house, that’s where your money will go too. Block the view to the back door by adding a piece of furniture here, a plant, a curtain or other obstruction.
Some feng shui experts will recommend placing a crystal ball or a wind chime in the middle between the two doors, and while this might help, it’s better to block the view entirely. As long as your eye can see out the door or window, energy will move to quickly through the house – but the problems will stay.
About Kathryn Weber, the author of this column.
Kathryn has more than 20 years of feng shui study, practice and professional consultation experience. Her witty, no-nonsense style appeals to audiences, making her a popular speaker and radio show guest. She is often called on by media to explain feng shui in down-to-earth terms, and has been featured in Seventeen, First for Women, Faces, Conceive, Martial Arts Professional, and Natural Health magazines, and on websites around the world. She is a certified master practitioner, having studied with feng shui master Lillian Too in Kuala Lumpur, and has also attended the prestigious International Feng Shui Convention in Singapore where she has met and studied under some of the brightest stars in the world of feng shui. Kathryn practices classical Chinese feng shui and her clients include homeowners, high-powered executives, manufacturing firms, real estate companies, and business owners.
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