The opening of the New Year holds many uncertainties and doubts for many people all over the world. These uncertainties make one so insecure that he will try to hold or depend on anything, even superstitions to allay his fears or assure him that everything will be alright. He keeps charms and talisman, sees fortune-tellers and reads horoscopes to get assurance of good fortune. Even the garden is not spared from superstitious beliefs. Read the rest of this entry

Photo by Colby Otero

A brightly lit chandelier hung in the center of your home brings excellent feng shui. The feng shui chart indicates 2009 is a double earth ox year, so crystal chandeliers symbolize these 2 harmonizing elements. This is also a year when the quarrelsome star flies into the northeast of the home or any building. The best remedy to suppress and exhaust this negative star is to put Ksitigarbha’s fireball or Manjushri’s flaming sword in the northeast and employ fire energy. Hung in the center of the home, a brightly lit crystal chandelier becomes a fashionable decorative piece with a difference. It will also enhance the elements of the year while at the same time lessening tensions and disharmony.

Chandeliers make wonderful effect in lighting which works well, if not better than harsh halogens and designer lights. Chandeliers are the jewels glittering on your ceilings and walls, lighting the living room in the home with the fire energy associated with recognition luck and a great amount of yang energy.

The energy of chandeliers comes from lights shining on beautiful crystals. If you can’t afford these, at least invest in little balls of cut crystals that you can hang around the home. These crystal drops are very strong in suppressing hostile energy that afflicts the center of all homes. Hang them by your windows as well so they catch the sunlight, which provides natural fire energy.

The best kinds of chandeliers are circular and look like mandalas. Do not get chandeliers whose crystal points look threatening. They must look like the sun or moon, and not appear like they will fall on you.

Before chandeliers were seen only in the grand ballrooms of palaces, hotels and country homes. Today they are available in all sizes at very affordable prices. So they are no longer for the rich but something of their previous associations still clings on.

In feng shui, chandeliers always bring good energy because they suggest wealth and prosperity. To have them in homes has little or no bad effect, but do not overdo the effect of chandeliers. Go for warm bulbs rather than white light. Make your chandeliers warm rather than cold. Let their light embrace you, not hurt your eyes. In feng shui, one needs to be embraced by energy, not hit by it. When lights become so bright; that they dazzle your eyes and cause you to squint in their glare, or give you an uncomfortable feeling, their good effects transform into something bad. Too much of anything is always harmful.

When moving into a new home or having one built on a piece of land, consider some external Feng Shui factors that may affect the occupant’s health and safety, auspiciousness, career and relationships. These factors may also prevent progress or growth of the businesses in a building. Consider the following guidelines in Feng Shui that may affect the Good Ch’i of an establishment.

1. A T- or Y- shaped road fronting an establishment or house is bad.

2. A house located at the dead end of a road is unfavorable.

3. A house at the bottom part of a cul-de-sac or cutting-edge side of a u-shaped road poses danger and inauspiciousness to the occupants.

4. A house should not be built in front or anywhere around a cemetery, funeral parlor, a church that accepts funeral services or wakes; temples, hospitals, slaughterhouse, police station.

5. Business establishment must not be built on a land that used to be a cemetery or any place where death, sickness, pain, fear and trauma used to be constantly experienced. Read the rest of this entry

In Feng Shui, many flowers and plants, even fruits can be luck bringers or enhancers of good Chi. Having a lot of good Chi and luck is always a welcome thing in the year of the ox. See my 2009 Predictions for more information.

In the garden, the blooms attract bees, butterflies and dragon flies which are also considered as symbols of auspiciousness. Fruits also attract birds and bats whose presence day or night invite positive Chi.

Plants are symbols of growth, progress, health and protection. Flowers signify a new beginning, happiness, hope and love. Fruits are the products of toil, the realization of dreams. They mean to be the attainment of goals, success and endeavors.

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