Tag: Taoism

According to Feng Shui – Five Gifts You Should Never Give

Five Gifts You Should Never Give

Giving and receiving gifts is a wonderful exchange that shows we care. One would think that any gift that is given from the heart is good. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. An inauspicious gift is bad news no matter how noble your intentions are. Taken in a Feng Shui perspective, some things are worse compared to others. Here are the top 5 gifts you should never give to anyone.

1. Never Give Sharp Objects

Gifts of sharp objects are actually more popular than one would expect because most people don’t see them as such. Examples of sharp objects that are unsuitable as gifts include the following: blade, chainsaw, dagger, hunting knife, letter opener, penknife, scissors, Swiss Army knife, sword, etc (see anything familiar here).

There are a couple of reasons that make sharp items objectionable. Giving sharp objects as a gift will literally sever the friendship. As sharp objects are a natural source of malicious “killing breath” or Shar Chi, such gifts will result in you unintentionally sending bad luck to your friend.

2. Never Give Timepieces

In the West, timepieces are, in fact, quite well-liked as gifts. These include: alarm clock, wall clock, pocket watch, wristwatch, etc.

Timepieces measure the passage of time and this indirectly suggests a limited lifespan, which is very inauspicious. In Chinese (Cantonese), to give a clock or soong joong sounds exactly like the Chinese term for attending a funeral, which is naturally very taboo.

3. Never Give Red Roses

Did you know that you should never give red roses? Long stemmed red roses with sharp thorns are terrible as gifts. The longer the stem and the sharper the thorns … the more the relationship will suffer. If you send your lover a bouquet of red roses – romantic and all – it will be the beginning of the end of the relationship.

It is better for you to give cream or pink roses. Feng Shui-wise, yellow roses work even better to help enhance that loving feeling. Remember to have the thorns removed before you deliver them to your lover.

Never send red and white roses to a loved one who is in hospital. These are so inauspicious that in hospitals all over UK, there is the tradition with regards to floral gifts from well-wishers. If bunches of red and white roses or any variety of flowers arrive for anybody, they throw the flowers away immediately and make sure none of them reach the patients. A gift comprising a bunch of red and white blooms are considered to be a DEATH WISH.

4. Never Give Shoes
In Chinese (Cantonese), the word for shoes, ‘hai’, sounds very much like a sigh. This is very inauspicious as it suggests much unhappiness. A gift of shoes to your friend would be akin to sending bad luck his/her way.

5. Never Give Handkerchiefs

Gifts of handkerchiefs are also traditionally frowned upon. This is because a handkerchief is used to wipe away sweat and tears, which suggests a lot of sadness and frustration. Giving handkerchiefs as gifts suggest that you anticipate him/her to be doing much crying in the future. This generates such an inauspicious chi.

Remedy For Your Predicament

What do you do if you have a really fantastic gift? Something that you know your friend will be truly ecstatic about? Well I have some good news for you. The Chinese have a simple remedy for sharp metal gifts that belong to the first category.

Ask for a coin or some change (make sure it is metal) before you present your gift to the recipient. This simple exchange symbolizes a “purchase”, instead of a “gift”. Since your friend symbolically “paid” for the item, it is no longer considered a “gift”. This uncomplicated remedy works only for sharp metal items.

The WOFS

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for November 28th

I know you might think that I would offer some sort of prosperity cure on ‘Cyber Monday,’ a day that encourages online holiday shopping. But when I think ‘cyber’ I think computer, and that’s where I’m investing my efforts today. Feng Shui says that hanging a clear quartz round and faceted crystal ball (with a red ribbon, in a multiple of nine inches or longer) will not only create an overall benefit for your profession and career, but will also protect you from any sort of attack, cyber-related or not. This adjustment also aids in stimulating an expansion of your inspirations and ideas, including clearer, uncluttered thinking, better decision-making and a brighter outlook for your future. As if all of those attributes aren’t enough, the crystal also keeps the computer safe from breaking down or any other harm. With all that said, how you should spend your ‘Cyber Monday’ is crystal clear to me.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for November 25th

Oh, what to do? One calendar invests today’s energies in ‘Black Friday’ pre-holiday sales, but other calendars call today ‘Buy Nothing Day.’ So you can clearly see my confusion. Maybe we should spend our time learning about what Feng Shui says about the color black in the hopes of making it work for you! As far as ‘Black Friday’ is concerned, retailers use this term to suggest that today you can take advantage of low prices to stay in the black by spending less green. But black has its own identity when it comes to how color affects the psyche and the subconscious. Black is the Feng Shui color of mystery and magic that also holds the ability to provide protection and power. The color of night as well as the universal void, Feng Shui suggests using black when you want to add depth, strength or definition to any space. Just remember that a little goes a long way, and never use it in a child’s room. But do use it when you want to ground energies. Black is often employed when attempting to activate the energies associated with career, self-esteem and destiny! Putting an image of a waterfall inside a black frame and hanging it in either your front hallway or your ‘Career’ area will bring a wave of job opportunities that will not only put you in the flow but also keep you in the black!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for Nov. 19th – “National Toilet Day”

What better time than ‘National Toilet Day’ to flush out some basic Feng Shui cures that will allow you to reduce the draining effects attributable to any bathroom in the home. First, according to this modality, you must keep the door to all bathrooms closed at all times. This is simply the most basic and fundamental of all bathroom cures. Easy to do and entirely effective, you will not believe how this one effort can change the entire energetic dynamics of your home, and consequently, your life. If there are naysayers in your living space who won’t come on board, simply install spring-loaded hinges so the door can shut itself. Another all purpose bathroom cure advises to hang a full length mirror on the outside of the bathroom door in order to reflect positive Chi or energy away from that room so that it doesn’t constantly go down the drain. This adjustment also makes the bathroom ‘disappear’ from everyone’s attention, as it will now reflect and expand another part of the house. Obviously, this will only work in conjunction with the first cure of keeping the door shut at all times. Lastly, and some say most importantly, keep the toilet lids down and all the drains in the bathroom closed. The main energetic anomaly posed by bathrooms involves these very same drains. Blocking or stopping them helps to stem the loss of healthy, happy and prosperity inducing Chi. Using any or all of these cures will help to retain both fortune and luck in your lives while lifting both spirit and mood!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for November18th

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! Remember when JT, JC or Xtina, Britney or Ryan (to name a few) sang that very same line on their way to superstardom? What do you mean, you don’t remember? Before Timberlake, Spears and Aguilera were tweeting, they were singing that same theme song! And apparently a lot of you were all ears too! Today you’ll have to move that melody out of your head to make way for another well-known one, the Happy Birthday song, because today is Mickey’s 83rd birthday! And, let’s face it, Disney’s most important icon never goes out of style. That little mouse that roared across the cinema screen has also made a lot of money and garnered even more luck for the Disney studio. Could it be because Walt Disney knew his Feng Shui and also knew that, according to the ancient Shui texts, the mouse or the rat is associated with intelligence, street smarts and survivability? Or could it just be that Disney was also aware that Feng Shui says the rat symbol represents and activates both career and income fortune and luck? Either way, let’s take a page from the Disney comic book and use an image of the rat if you want to scurry away with the sort of money that that big cheese Walt and his ancestors keep earning. Place an image of the Feng Shui ‘money mouse’ in your Wealth area and trap some abundance luck of your very own! On Mickey’s birthday, putting this cure into place could be considered very fortunate and, of course, a piece of cake!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for November 17th

It’s the ‘Great American Smokeout’ today and if you’re one of the millions of smokers who are taking steps to quit, you might want to put this next Feng Shui idea to quit addiction in your proverbial pipe. This modality says that addictions such as smoking can be effectively addressed by using a specific space inside the main floor of your home. First, you need to find a photo of youreslf at a time in your life when you were not a smoker. That picture can be from when you were two months old or twenty-two years later, as long as the image reflects you in a happy state of mind and not yet smoking. You then need to place that photo in a wooden frame. Next, locate the Family/Friends area of the main floor of your living space and position this picture there. Place a lamp or even a green candle somewhere close by. If you can install a light of some sort, you will need to illuminate that image for at least three hours a day for 49 days straight. If you’re using a candle, make sure it’s green. Some Feng Shui purists says that only a green Buddha candle will work it’s anti-addiction magic for this cure. Either way, the only thing you should be lighting up for the next 49 days is that old photo of you. Soon enough, you’ll be smoke free and feeling fine. At least that’s the promise. But I can safely say that people have used this stop smoking cure to great success, so I am happy to share this information with confidence!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for November 11th

Today is the eleventh day of the eleventh month during the two thousand and eleventh year. Is there magic and mystery in the air? Feng Shui says that there’s always something extraordinary and exceedingly special about the number one. When that number is doubled, anyone associated with it will attract ‘winner’s luck,’ as these numbers now confer the energies to emerge a winner in any competitive situation. In order to activate these numbers, add or create the presence of 11 in your living space, even by simply scribbling the number 11 on scrap paper throughout the day. Since the number eleven resonates with being a winner, don’t forget to concentrate or meditate upon those same digits in order to give yourself a leg up before being practically guaranteed to get a big hand!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Daily Tip of the Day for Nov. 9th

Even though November is the eleventh month of the year, according to our Gregorian calendar, it takes its name from ‘novem’ or the Latin word for the number nine. November was once the ninth month of the year until the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, whereupon Julius Caesar introduced an additional few months. The number nine is considered the single most auspicious and powerful number in Feng Shui. This philosophy says that you should consider each proceeding number as being part of a pathway into increasing knowledge and awareness until you end at the apex of nine, where all celestial forces meet and complete. Therefore, in Feng Shui the number nine means completion to fulfillment and satisfaction. On this ninth day of what was once the ninth month, go ahead and put nine crisp and brand new one dollar bills into a red envelope and place this package under the welcome mat at your home’s front entrance. This will invite many opportunities for Fortune and Luck, as well as completion and satisfaction, to pay you a nice, long visit!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for Nov. 7th

Let’s head to the workplace on ‘Job Action Day.’ First, one or two small bells hung on your office door will encourage great fortunes to enter that same space. Just be sure to hang them on the outside of the doorknob with red ribbon, yarn or thread. Feng Shui says that symbolically the sound of the bell brings prosperity while predicating the prospect that you will hear some good news. Remember to only use small bells, but if your office faces either east or southeast, then you can use wooden or ceramic bells for highest benefit. Simply put, this cure invites good fortune to the workplace. Now, once you’ve put this energetic adjustment into place and get that well deserved promotion or raise, don’t ask for whom the bell tolls. As we know by now, it tolls for thee!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Feng Shui Tip for November 6th

Today’s ‘Marooned Without a Compass Day’ might be worrisome to those who embrace the Eastern or Traditional Schools of Feng Shui, since those schools figure out the Feng Shui of your home by using the compass and by locating the cardinal directions in your living space. However, we ascribe to the Western School whose teachings don’t require a compass, but instead employ a fixed map to outline the energies in your interior. One of the ideals that both schools agree upon is the importance of the formal front entryway and how having that space properly ‘Shui’ed’ can bring fortune and luck right to your door! First, clean up any clutter that might be keeping that front door from opening fully. Clean the actual front door itself and, if possible, paint the door red (for luck and fortune) or green (for positive and profitable growth). Replace the bulbs that are immediately inside and outside the front door with the highest wattage that you can find. If you are unemployed and looking for work, you should turn those two lights on everyday for nine straight days for at least three consecutive hours a day. Then send out energies and resumes. That cure works like a charm, as does putting a red flowering plant outside and to the left (as you look from the street) of the front door. Hanging a nine-rod metal wind chime in that same place will garner increased income opportunities, as will a clean and colorful welcome mat. Lastly, under that welcome mat should be a red envelope that holds nine crisp, brand new one dollar bills, as well as 49 shiny new pennies. Keep it there as long as it’ll last with the knowing that this ‘secret’ Entryway Shui cure brings coin and cash to the household, as well as happiness and joy. So screw the compass, do any of these adjustments or cures and opportunity will be sure to find its own way to you without stopping to ask directions.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Feng Shui Tip for October 31st

BOO! Did I scare you? Do bats? I thought this would be a perfect day to share some secret Shui about what bats can do for you! In this philosophy bats play a legendary role. They are considered auspicious symbols of happiness and longevity. This last part is because of a bat’s ability to swallow its own breath so that they then live a very long life. They are also said to symbolize wealth, prosperity, the ability to deflect illness or any causes of unnatural death. Positioned in groups of five they symbolize the five Feng Shui blessings for abundance and fulfillment and will bring opportunities for fortune, recognition and rewards. Forget about that proverbial belfry, a family of bats taking up residence in your home is considered an exceptionally auspicious omen that heralds immense good fortune and huge success for all the members of the household. Happy Halloween!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for Oct. 29

Feng Shui says that the elemental energy associated with the month of October comes from the energies accorded the element of Earth. This same energy or element is what we might call on to create a sense of stability, security and a strong sense of belonging. The earth grounds and roots you. It can balance and center you and keep you connected to the forces that feed you on so many different levels. Earth energies can be located directly in the center of your own space. Any time during this or any other month, whenever you feel a need to slow down and to feel more stability and support, position a yellow flowering plant in the middle of the main floor and immediately feel your feet on firmer terra firma. You also can use fresh yellow flowers to activate the energy of this cure, but a plant that you can nurture and love will breathe those same energies right back to you. Find your center, plant yourself there and get some super supportive stability growing just for you. After all, who deserves stability and support more than you?

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for October 28

It’s ‘Lung Health Day’ so I immediately thought of the Feng Shui gold standard as far as intentional breathing and expanding lung capacity is concerned. The Chinese have long used meditation in partnership with Feng Shui to enhance their Chi, improve their lung health and to garner opportunities for a fortunate future. The Great Sunshine Buddha meditation promises to do all that and more. Standing with your feet shoulder width apart with palms and arms lifted in the air, turn your head upwards to face the sun. Imagine the sun emitting a ‘hum’ sound, one of the most sacred sounds known to man. Now imagine that same humming sun coming closer and getting hotter before it enters your body through the third eye or forehead area. The sun now rushes quickly through your body, filling and bathing it with heat and sound until it exits out of the bottom of your feet. Relax and then raise your arms and palms again. This time the sun and sound enter through both the third eye and the palms of each hand. It rushes to the feet where it quickly rebounds and returns to the head where it then exits. Relax your arms again. With arms and palms up, the sun and sound reenter the body through the three points and rushes down to the feet. Then it slowly rises, circling and heating and humming around all the vital organs as well as any problematic spots. Use the sound and the bright sunlight to cure health problems, push bad or negative Chi up and out and increase health and happiness. Repeat nine times each day for 27 days for maximum effect and opportunity.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for October 27th

Today’s ‘Cranky Co-workers Day’ could put a crimp in anyone’s office etiquette. After all, it’s hard to stay positive when your work colleagues are all kinds of negative. If you want to steer clear of drama then perhaps you need to know about a little co-worker cock-a-doodle do! Feng Shui says that placing an image or a statue of a rooster in the Fame area of your office space or on your desk will overcome office politics and bring backbiting to a halt. Taoist Feng Shui masters consider the red comb on the rooster’s head to be all-powerful. They also believe that the claws symbolize the ability to wipe out colleague crankiness and partisan politicking in favor of a more favorable work environment. An image of a rooster will work equally as well, but I like the idea of the rooster giving crankiness a little wake-up call.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui Tip of the Day for October 25th

Once upon a time a Feng Shui master taught me some ‘secret’ Shui that promised health, happiness and prosperity, as well as increased exposure, recognition and reward! Of course, many of the Feng Shui cures that I know promise to activate those same blessings and boons, but this particular adjustment is applicable only in the month of October. This somewhat secret Shui promises to potentially rocket your reputation to the stars and bring you as many personally and professionally rewards as there are bright and shiny orbs in the sky. The key is to place a yellow chrysanthemum in the Fame area during any day this month. I have since learned that the mum can be put into especially prime positioning anytime between the ninth and the fifteenth, and it has special powerful application on the latter date. I have always ascribed that putting those pale petals into the Fame arena at any time will bring recognition and rewards, but October energies support that intention in a big way. Just remember, this is considered to be ‘secret’ Shui, so mum’s the word!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Zen Meditation for Tuesday, October 18th

New Age Comments & Graphics

Rather than break my vow to plum blossoms
I have settled here in this disheveled hut
Grey sleet seeps through briars at my window
Plumes of snow dance around its papered panes

Steep scarps loom above frozen woods
Deep clouds conceal the pool’s icy stones
Such weather; I stoke up a few charcoal twigs
Wish for a way south, to Chiang-nan’s shore.

– Shih-shu (17th c-early 18th)

 ~Magickal Graphics~

Daily Zen Meditation for October 1st

We had warm, wet weather all spring.
Now, white autumn is clear and cold.
Dew frozen, drifting mists gone,
Bottomless heavens open over this
Vast landscape of clarity,
And mountains stretch away,
Their towering peaks an unearthly
Treasure of distance.

These fragrant woodland chrysanthemums
Ablaze, green pines lining the clifftops:
Isn’t this the immaculate heart of beauty,
This frost-deepened austerity?
Sipping wine, I think of recluse masters.
A century away, I nurture your secrets.
Your true nature eludes me here,
But taken by quiet,
I can linger this exquisite moon
Out to the end.

– T’ao Ch’ien (365-427)

Air in Feng Shui

Air in Feng Shui
 
Feng Shui means literally “the way of wind and water,” or symbolically, “the natural forces of the Universe.” These forces affect everything in our world. Europeans call the science of Feng Shui geomancy. Hawaiians and Native Americans practice their own form of Feng Shui, each seeking to live harmoniously with nature. The ancient Chinese believed in and lived their lives by these natural forces. One of the strongest and oldest natural forces is called chi.
 
Chi, also known as the breath of nature or as “the dragon’s celestial breath,” is everywhere and, many believe, represents the truest abstract energy in the Universe. Chi is an invisible energy that circulates everywhere but gathers in certain place, which are said to be good in Feng Shui. Chi enhances happiness, prosperity and longevity, and it is the life force inside all living things. Good relationships, a healthful lifestyle, and meditation can increase levels of chi energy.
 
In Feng Shui, winds are sometimes thought of as bad because they scatter chi rather than accumulate it. When selecting a place to build a home or to hold a ritual, avoid places that are windswept. This can be hard if you live on the prairie or beside the ocean, but in those cases, just try to schedule your rituals on days when the wind is calmer. If you have a home where it’s windy, you might want to perform a weekly ritual to encourage the sylphs to leave chi where they find it.