Feng Shui

Art Of Placement Finds A Home Among Mainstream Buyers

October 28, 1995|By Sherri Vasquez, Scripps Howard News Service.

Before Carolyn Fineran and her husband Robert Lindig bought a house they called a specialist to determine if it had good flow and positive energy--feng shui.

Dominque Fratkin, a Boulder, Colo., architect and feng shui specialist, assured them the house had a nice feel and was a tranquil space that flowed nicely.

Feng shui (pronounced FUNG-schway) is the Chinese art of placement to achieve maximum harmony with nature. The art relies on signs from the elements--"feng shui" means "wind and water"--to determine the most beneficial way to place and arrange furniture, rooms and buildings. It is gaining popularity in the United States, particularly on the East and West coasts, where Asian businesses proliferate.

Although the couple's house had good feng shui, a bathroom in the back worried them because it was located in the home's wealth zone.

"She said finance and wealth were being flushed away," says Fineran. "She told us to put something above the toilet that showed upward movement." The couple placed a painting of an angel pointing upward.

"It's working beautifully. We are prosperous and everything seems to be working out perfectly," says Fineran, who was introduced to feng shui during buying trips to Asia.

Cynthia Murray teaches at course on feng shui at Colorado Free University.

"In the past, people used to build around hills and trees, going with the natural flow of things" says Murray. "Now people build right on top of things, interrupting nature's rhythms. Feng shui is a way to ensure things are in harmony with the environment."

When a person moves to a new house or apartment, Murray suggests finding out what life was like for the previous occupants.

Catherine Linnane took Murray's advice and discovered her apartment came with good feng shui. "I found out that everyone who has lived here recently has left happier, better off financially and with a relationship. That made me feel good about moving here."

Since moving in a month ago, Linanne has added a few feng shui elements that are supposed to increase positive energy, or ch'i. She concentrated on her bedroom, which because of its location, falls in her wealth zone. Her living room is the zone for helpful people.

Like other rituals, results may rely on the depth of belief or a point of view.

"The question is: Are you open to it?" suggests Christine Choa, a Denver psychologist. "It will perhaps work for you if you approach it in a respectful and loving manner and let it give its secret back to you."


Certain places have a "feel" to them, according to feng shui. Here are some of the elements of feng shui and the explanations for them:

- House placement. Houses near water or with fountains have good feng shui because water is the element of wealth, insight, motivation and social contacts.

A tall building next to a house is bad feng shui because it's believed that oppressive structures block positive energy. Churches and cemeteries are believed to shoot negative energy because they are places where sorrow and grief dwell.

Avoid homes in cul de sacs and at the direct end of a road because negative energy has no escape.

- Entryways: Doors should be wide enough to allow positive energy to enter, but narrow enough to keep too much from entering. An upward staircase at the entry is believed to allow good fortunes to roll out the door.

- Windows: Windows are considered good ch'i, or energy, because they let in light, which symbolizes the sun and is believed to disperse ch'i. Three or more windows let in too much ch'i.

- Bedroom: Beds should be placed so you can see the door. This allows the inhabitant to see anyone entering the room and counters surprises.

The bed should be against a wall to give the sleeper a stable feeling instead of an unanchored, floating feeling. It shouldn't be in front of a mirror, as this will scare the sleep's soul during slumber.

- Cures: Mirrors draw and reflect positive ch'i, and deflect negative forces. They expand light and channel positive ch'i. They are useful in opening cramped spaces that may be blocking the flow of energy and over desks and beds that do not face the door.

Crystals, lights and chandeliers disperse ch'i while windchimes moderate ch'i. Plants, which symbolize life, growth and nature, can be used to conduct ch'i.

Water, which symbolizes money, can be introduced using fish bowls and aquariums to evoke money-making ch'i.

- The bagua: The bagua is an eight-side symbol laid out like a nine-block grid representing zones; the zones of knowledge, family and health and wealth stacked on the west, or left side. The middle section, from bottom to top, begins with career, followed by the yin-yang symbol based on the theory that unifies all opposites. Topping the middle grid is the fame zone. On the east, or right side, are the zones that rule helpful people, children, and marriage.

Each building, house, and room can be mapped according to the bagua to determine in which rooms these zones fall. Cures and specific colors can be used in these rooms to attract the characteristic it represents.