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Make Fengshui Work in Your Garden
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You may scoff at the ideas that a whole battalion of elves and fairies squat regularly in your property and call your garden home. That may indeed be tiny tales you recount to keep little children in order but feng shui adherents will tell you impediments, spiritual or physical in the garden are indeed the source of general household discord, disease and disorder. It does not do any harm therefore that house owners look out of their windows and take stock of the goings on in the garden when addressing personal, professional and family issues. The feng shui geomancer of course seek to promote prosperity, good health, and general well-being by harnessing the flow of cosmic energy through a particular room, house, building or garden. This energy is the qi (pronounced as chee) which holds together all different aspects and factors involved in feng shui. This virtual force that flows all around cannot be seen, heard or felt and neither does it register upon our senses. The pursuit of perfect harmony between the elements has sent even the greenest fingered gardener scurrying to the tool shed for their shovels. They have been driven to digging up their gardens to alter its composition, layout, and architecture in the belief that what goes on outdoors has plenty of baring indoors. They don't much mind the mischievous elves making fairies cry as they are more interested in harnessing the potential of qi which has to be allowed to flow smoothly and freely thus creating harmony. Every precaution must be taken to ensure the free passage of this qi. The flow can be disrupted by blockage, dead-ends, barriers or funnels that direct the positive energy elsewhere. So where to begin? Look at the number eight which for the Chinese is a most auspicious number associated with luck and good fortune. In Fengshui there are eight elements, eight seasons, eight enrichments which include prosperity and success, wisdom and new beginnings among others. These series of eights, placed in a circle, with the yin and yang symbol form the pah kwa which is an ancient, informative, and necessary aspect of feng shui and among Taoist symbol. The pah kwa which is also known as ba qua is sometimes referred to as the former heaven sequence. The octagonal symbol made up of the eight trigrams is used to assess the feng shui of a building or garden and to protect a house from harm. Each of the eight trigrams relate to a different natural process under the headings earth, heaven, fire, water, thunder, marsh, mountain or wind. Not surprisingly, a garden can be identified by its eight spheres of influence for the purpose of assessing its feng shui. The manner in which the good qi is allowed to flow freely in each of the eight sections influence different aspects of the lives of the occupants in the home. The geomancer should be put to work mapping out your garden with the aid of the pah kwa which is actually an octagonal implement which has eight divisions. Each division refers to different aspects of a person's life ranging from relationships to material wealth. He'd be able to plot the feng shui geography of the garden by reading off each of the eight sections as it sits in alignment with the compass directions. When there is good, there's also bad. Bad qi in the garden causes havoc and disruptions to the lives of the people living indoors. If conventional medicine has not been able to cure the baby's bed-wetting, perhaps you should look out your garden and see what's being blown in from the west. The pah kwa suggests that this is the area in the garden associated with health. If you have certain elements that block the free flow of good qi - a tall rose bush for instance; dig it up immediately! On the other hand, your spouse might find office politics barring her smooth accession to a more senior position. See southwards in your garden and see what's in the free flow of good qi. The pah kwa suggest that obstruction here leads to stagnation, and in this case, perhaps even contributing towards her stunted professional ambitions. Thanks to the power of pah kwa, you should now see your garden in a different light. It follows therefore that you are in a position to take a pro-active steps to make it the perfect feng-shui-friendly garden. Whatever you do, it pays to balance the five elements (water, wood, fire, earth, and metal) when you plan the landscaping of your garden. For water, a koi pond is ideal, otherwise a birdbath would suffice; or you are the outdoors type, an artificial stream or waterfall would add more than just an interesting distraction. Wood and earth elements normally take care of themselves but where you are the type who'd rather have immaculate lawns, add rocks or boulders which are strong earth symbols. A gazebo invites positive energy to linger for longer in the garden. The need for metal can be seen to with the practical inclusion of garden furniture or wind chimes. Interestingly, barbecues fit the bill best. The element of fire can pose a little problem but how about a garden gnome holding a candle which foes not have to be lit continuously. While many dismiss feng shui as no more than just over-rated exercise in Sino mysticism, it can't be disputed that a garden can be transformed for the better simply from the extra attention it greatly deserves Resources: (1) Home Anjung Seri (Vol II 2005)
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