What does a stairway have to do with feng shui? Well, stairways are conduits of energy - that is, the energy you have created inside your living space travels along stairways. You will want to try to avoid homes with a couple of different stairway scenarios:

FENG shui has really undergone an evolution of sorts in the last 100 years. While it has created certain problems, the commercialisation of feng shui has also brought about some positive changes to the industry.

In particular, it has brought about a broadening of opportunities to study feng shui (which was in the past very much limited to indoor disciples only), more avenues for lay people to gain knowledge of it through books and television and, of course, the availability of feng shui services to the average person.

No doubt Bill Gates spends an awful lot of time thinking about his windows, but, most of us don’t. Windows are such an integral part of all architecture that sometimes we hardly notice them unless our space doesn't have any. When we don't have any windows, we notice their absence immediately (and grouse about it at the water cooler). We may feel closed in without windows to provide a connection to the outside world. Here’s why windows are good feng shui:

When asked what Feng Shui is, I often explain that Feng Shui is not a religion nor is it a form of magic. Feng Shui is a practical method of assessing and improving the quality of our lives through observations and analysis of our home and office environments. That being said, Feng Shui can--and often does-- have "magical" results. Focusing our hearts and minds on high intentions for our greatest good is one principle discipline of Feng Shui. When we decide to live our lives with what I call "Intentional Success", we create an atmosphere of willingness to open ourselves to the best things in life, the little magical daily events that remind us that we are all connected.

We hate to think of ourselves as the kind of people who think in stereotypes, don't we? But even those of us with the best intentions are subconsciously influenced by our perceptions of certain archetypal symbols that represent either positive or negative emotions.

Color on a large scale can represent an element. On a "large scale" means an entire room or wall or large area rug. When a color defines a room, then for sure you know the vibrations from that color will affect the energy field of the space. What is an element? Elements are both literal and symbolic. In all of Chinese Metaphysics, which includes feng shui, Chinese Astrology, Chinese medicine, and martial arts, we have something called Five-Element Theory.

Many of the principles of Feng Shui originated as survival techniques. Our cave dwelling ancestors knew that it was important not to turn one's back to the cave entrance. If you did, a beast could devour you, or, a rival tribe could steal your fire, your food, and your family.

There is a whole branch of classical feng shui which deals with the outside environment. It is called Form School or Landscape School. But outside and inside are forever entwined in terms of how they can affect the occupants.

In the ancient Indian Chakra system, each power point of our energetic body is represented by a specific color. We are literally a rainbow of colors! Not only do our bodies emit color energy in this way, our personal ch'i / energy is deeply influenced by the hues we surround ourselves with in clothing, in home and office decor, even in the presentation of the food we eat.

When we think of a classic haunted house, images from the movies come up. Sometimes the haunted house is depicted as a dark, dingy, old, dilapidated house, secluded and covered with cobwebs. Oddly enough, these really are some of the "yin" attributes which can contribute to a house attracting a ghost.

Ed was a die hard yankee conservative Republican, a stockbroker / financial analyst who thrived on facts & figures, saw things in black & white with no gray areas, and valued tangible results. Not necessarily a person you would think of immediately embracing a concept as nebulous as ch'i and Feng Shui, right? But on closer inspection, Wall Street has its share of superstitious bond traders carrying lucky talismans in the pockets of their Zegna three piece suits.

The house which sits at the very end of a cul-de-sac or T-juncture is going to be receiving more energy than the other houses on either side, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Most feng shui books illustrate how this is a very accident-prone or unhappy home and to be avoided at all costs, but occasionally it is the luckiest house on the block. Why? If the house is inherently good in its "unseen" influences, then all the chi rushing toward that house will activate the good features. So, this type of street alignment will only intensifiy whatever house type it is.

What constitutes a balanced room according to feng shui theory involves not one, but several aspects. Some of those aspects are non-obvious while some aspects are immediately palpable, such as the flaw of a room which is chronically dark or cold.

Just as I suspected, Webster’s Dictionary defines clutter as something that can literally hold you back . I define clutter as anything I don’t use/ love/ need/ want any more. This can apply to people as easily as it applies to that stack of last year’s magazines, that bin of dried up magic markers, or that pile of junk I’ve been meaning to donate to Goodwill Industries. It can also apply to outmoded ways of thinking as well as outmoded styles of clothing. Clutter ---and its negative impact--- is everywhere!

I have found an interesting coincidence with some of the better neighborhoods I have visited and the better feng shui houses that exist there. I am speaking of the 4 major house types which are determined by their precise compass orientation.