4/20/03
BODY PARTS
Not only is each sector of the bagua associated with colors, shapes, materials, and nature’s wonders, they are also linked with parts of the body. So if your gall bladder is galling you or your back was better a week back, look at your home as both the potential problem as well as the cure. We’re not guaranteeing miracles here, but it’s worth a look. Here’s the gua by gua breakdown. Hips are Wealth; eyes, heart, and small intestines are Fame; reproductive organs are Love; stomach and spleen are Health; mouth is Children; head is Helpful People; ears, kidneys, and bladder are Career; hands are Wisdom; and feet, liver, and gall bladder are Family. Even more interesting is the analogy of the back and the roof line of your house. Imagine your head at the front door and your tailbone at the back. That means that you’re crouched in froggy pose with your feet to the left and right of the back of the house. If your front and back doors don’t align, you might end up with a few extra unwanted twists and kinks. Plumbing problems can effect the intestines and bladder. Electrical messes can foul up your nerves. So tell us what you think and e-mail us a little “bio” feedback.

4/13/03
SPRING GREEN
Spring has sprung the grass is riz, I wonder where the mountains is...why it’s in the Northeast, or as our Black Hat students know, the Wisdom sector. This is associated also with late winter. Unfortunately we in the Berkshires are certainly vacillating between Spring and late Winter. Our crocuses have croaked once already. The earth element associated with Spring is Thunder and is linked with the Family sector along with green things, tall things, and wooden things. Linking the “fundamental conditions on earth and in the cosmos” is something that Master Lam Kam Chuen emphasizes in his book Feng Shui Handbook. In integrating all of life’s elements, Feng Shui reminds us to live in harmony with our surroundings and to “go with the flow”. So as we invite Spring into our hearts, we need to look to the East and fill our lives with Spring green, or as a clothing chain calls it “frog kissin’ green.” Bringing green into our homes and offices can help with family relations and basic money. Just don’t overload the middle sector where wood metaphorically uproots the earth.

12/28/02
THE CH’I OF NUMBERS
We have phone numbers, address numbers, birthdate numbers, lucky numbers. Numerolgy is an ancient science used by the mystics of many cultures. Every number has a vibration and can effect you in subtle ways. If your address is 88 Mountain Drive, you may be the envy of your Chinese friends. They love eights. On the bagua it is associated with the Wealth sector and can bring good fortune. In Western numerology, a is the number of power and transformation. Your “88” address needs to be reduced to it’s root number. 8+8=16. Now reduce that to a single digit. 1+6=7. Your address is now 7! And the energy of a 7 is integrity, nobility, spirituality. But it came from power! Your address could have been 34 Mountain Drive. You would still have the influence of a 7, but it’s origin would be from a 3 and a 4. Instead the nobility coming from power, it comes from creativity and stability. For more on Numerology try any book by Juno Jordan to start. And have fun!!!

4/13/02
HOTEL HOCUS POCUS
Who says you have to put up with the Feng Shui bloopers that well meaning hotel decorators have foisted upon you while you’re out of town? What color is your luggage? We’re taking a three-day rest and renew in Albany. How wonderful that the reservation clerk “knew” to give us a room with a left hand entry. We will be stimulating spirituality and wisdom every time we go in and out. Both black suitcases went in Career to the right of the door. A gray backpack was tossed in Helpful People, and my black computer bag could have stayed next to the suitcases in Career, but why not support Family and Basic Money by putting it in the left middle one ninth? The red cooler went in the far middle, which happened to be in the bathroom. That will ensure our impeccable reputation while we’re here. Unfortunately, Fame AND Love is missing because of the bathroom being in that far middle and right sectors. Hey! It’s gotta be somewhere. Luckily I brought a hot pick tee shirt. My reading glasses are hot pink and green and our cell phone is red. We placed them on the nightstand in the love sector of the room with intent. We said out loud, “May this weekend bring harmony and love to our stressed lives.” No matter where you go, use your imagination. Look around your temporary space. Use what’s there as well as what you brought to support your hopes for your time away. And even though your on vacation or even on an important business trip, watch the clutter. And remember, while you’re away, the good Feng Shui that you have done at home supports you no matter where you are.

9/22/01
STARTING OVER
In the aftermath of the tragedies in New York and Washington, it is important to look to rebuilding. Whether a national tragedy or a very private one like your apartment getting flooded, it is important to get to the place where you feel you can start fresh. Much will need to be discarded. Then the area needs a thorough cleansing. In Bali, the residents sweep their porches, their sidewalks, even their streets with each rising sun. And they do it as much for spiritual purposes as for cleanliness. The metaphor of starting fresh makes a powerful statement. The Native Americans use the smoke from burning sage to rid a person or space of negative energies. Once the cleaning is complete, the healing begins. Many believe that even the worst tragedies hold within them the seed of new life, new perspectives. A Japanese philosopher once said, “My barn having burned, I can see the mountains.” We pray that the rebuilding of lives as well as buildings can be done not with anger or hate but hope and compassion.

9/15/01
ROSH HASHANAH
There will be more solemnity than festivity when the New Year starts this week for those of the Jewish faith. The tragedies of Tuesday have left us all little to celebrate save the indomitable spirit of our nation. Prayer is what is needed now. Whether you have already established sacred space, an altar, or a meditation room, remember that the Wisdom sector is always the most powerful place in your home or office to reflect. This near left one-ninth of any space should be free of clutter with a minimum of furnishings. Anything blue, watery, and anything that is representative of spirituality to you is essential here. Obviously prayer can be done anywhere, but when you seek solace in your own space, the Wisdom sector is a nice haven. If you don’t have the luxury of a separate room, try to avoid putting your altar in the bedroom as it already has two functions, love and healing your body while you sleep. A quiet hall or window seat would work just fine. And your sacred space can be in the near left of a single room. It does not have to reside in that sector of the whole home. If that little nook in the Wisdom sector of your study is where you like to be, it does not matter if the study is in the Wealth sector of the whole home. Take your seat and pray for us all.