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March 19, 2010  |  Login
Feng Shui: Harmonize Your Home with the Environment
By Eric Corey Freed
 

Feng shui dates from the Han Dynasty (202 b.c.–a.d. 220) but wasn’t established as a scientific practice until the Sung Dynasty (a.d. 960–a.d. 1126). Initially used to locate grave sites, it eventually came to be used to locate the homes of the living.

The underlying principal of feng shui is controlling the spiritual energy of Nature, known as chi. Trees and shrubs can be planted to cover undesirable views; streams can be rerouted; mounds built up or cut down. The greatest of all Chinese arts, gardening, grew out of this practice of placement. The picturesque villages of China with their elements of bamboo groves and front-facing ponds are not just landscape embellishments, but intentionally designed devices to fend off evil.

Whether you believe in the mystical nature of feng shui or not, the good common sense it offers provides lessons for use in planning modern homes. For example:

  • In your office, face your desk to greet people as they walk into your office.
  • In your bedroom, don’t orient the bed so people enter the room facing your feet. Turn the bed to welcome in the chi.
  • Avoid straight lines and sharp corners. Where they do exist, they should not point to where people sit, stand, or sleep.

For more on feng shui, check out Feng Shui For Dummies, by David Daniel Kennedy, and Feng Shui Your Garden For Dummies, by Jennifer Lawler and Holly Ziegler (Wiley).

 
 

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