There are a lot of details to keep track of during a feng shui consultation. Usually, I emphasize the “big picture” over the details, but everything is important, especially when you consider the cumulative effect of a lot of minor problems combined. Here are some details that are often overlooked.

• Substantial cracks in the pavement or ground surrounding your property can point to specific health problems regarding the area where the cracks happen to be. As an example, the SW section of a house or property is associated with the abdominal area. If there were a big crack in that area right outside, it could adversely affect the digestion of the occupant living on that property.
• An odd-shaped room or sloped ceiling can cause the eyes to strain. Over a period of time, chronic eye strain could lead to a problem with the liver, since they are related to each other. (Chinese medicine.)
• A round table will make people more talkative, so it can be a good conference table when you really want people to feel equal.
• According to Master Peter Leung: if the front or back of your toilet is in direct alignment with a bed in the house, it will cause health problems. What is the front or back of a toilet? The back is the direction of the toilet tank and the front is the direction you would be facing while sitting on the toilet. If an exact straight line of energy (passing through walls) hits your bed, it will disrupt your health in the area where the line hits. This means the line of energy hits a part of your body when lying down on the bed. If the toilet is turned sideways, it is not an issue.
• The height and arrangement of wall-mounted pictures in a room will affect the flow of chi.
• The shape of a house can be categorized as belonging to a certain element. As an example, a structure with a pointy roof will be the fire element (like the pointy tip of a flame.) This can determine the influence this structure will have on other structures nearby. (Like fire buildings strengthening earth buildings.)
• The orientation of a house can also be categorized as belonging to a certain element. As an example, a house which faces East, has its backing to the West. Since the spine of the house is to the West, it is considered a west-type house and West is associated with the element Metal. This could be ideal for a manufacturing plant that produces a metal object.
• The ideal exterior color of a house can also be determined by its orientation.
• Window shapes should be consistent throughout a house. As an example, if two windows flank a door, then they should both be round or both be square, not one of each.
• A house with a really messy façade is like a person’s face caught in a distraught expression. It means the children won’t listen to their parents in that house.
• Most houses have a street run perfectly parallel in front of them. This is ordinary and not ideal. The street that raps around the property can help the house collect and store more chi (energy.) The house that has the street veer away from it will lose chi. (Losing health and money).
• Stairs in the center of a house will stimulate whatever kind of energy is in the center of the house, for good or for bad.
• A house should not take up its entire lot. There needs to be space between buildings so they can “breathe.” The ideal ratio is when the house takes up one third of the lot space. 5,000 square foot homes that are built six feet apart only benefit one person--- the builder!
• When you are standing outside, looking at the front of a house: if the street is sloped and makes the left side appear longer, the woman dominates the man in the house. If you are looking towards the house and the right side appears longer, the man rules the house. Newlyweds might want to keep this in mind when they look for a home.
• Wood flooring can go anywhere. Carpeting is quieter, but neither has superior feng shui. Stone floors will just be harder on the feet for long periods of standing.
• There really is no such thing as a “feng shui garden.” Planting certain colored flowers in specific areas of a yard is a marketing gimmick. Real feng shui alterations to a landscape are done to: 1) correct a flawed lot shape, 2) enhance a flawed house type, 3) further protect a house from harmful nearby influences, and 4) compensate for land level problems.
• The living room should be bigger than the bedroom. Monster master bedroom suites are not good feng shui.

KARTAR’S TEACHING SCHEDULE (all classes 6:30-9:30 p.m.)

Tues. Dec. 4th Part 2 class through Pasadena City College (at San Marino High School) (understanding the effects of different shaped houses, plus special areas of the house for you based on your Chinese zodiac sign, and what happens to your health during a remodel)

Thurs. Dec. 6th Part 3 class at Soothe your Soul, Redondo Beach (how to calculate the changing yearly cycles of your house and using the elements to correct or enhance those influences)

Tuesday Jan. 15th Beverly Hills Adult School INTRO –Part 1
Wednesday Jan. 16th Culver City Adult School INTRO-Part 1

REMINDER TO ALL CLIENTS: If you don’t receive an Annual Update Notice from me by the end of the month, please request one so that I can plan to review your file and give you important feng shui recommendations for your home or business for 2002!