Solvinq front door problems

The following deviations from the ideal front door condition can be cured with properly applied energetic remedies. So carefully check your front door Feng Shui and make as many improvements as possible.

Squeaky door hinges: The Chinese say, "Squeaky doors bring hungry ghosts," meaning that a door with squealing hinges attracts real or imagined spooks. At the very least, a squeaking door is subliminally scary. (That's why it's the most common sound effect in scary movies!)

The cure: This seemingly small cure of oiling a squeaky hinge can make a big difference. The same principle applies to all doors: front, side, bedroom, closet, cabinet, and others.

A window in the front door: The front door protects your home. The ideal front door is solid and without windows. Front doors with windows in them are energetically, not to mention physically, weaker. They can be easily broken into and thus create vulnerabilities in your home's energy field. The best cure is to install a new solid door without windows. In some cases a highly skilled craftsman can create a solid piece of wood that fits the door. Another solution is to cover the window with cloth or a blind or curtain that matches the color of the door, making it look complete from the street (or you can use the Feng Shui power color: red). Even if you rely on this window for light, a solid door is still energetically better for your house and for you. Visualize protection and solidity when you perform this cure, and reinforce it with the Three Secrets Reinforcement.

Door swings closed or drifts open by it (unaided): A front door that swings closed automatically shuts out money and keeps people from coming to you. A door that drifts open on its own allows energy to leak out of the house and invites unwanted people in. The cure for both is the same: Get a carpenter to re-hang or re-plumb the door so that it stands still wherever you put it.

Door doesn't fit right in doorframe and/or is loose on its hinges: This awkward door situation creates confusion, mental blocks, and aggravation. The cure is to hire a finish carpenter or door hanging expert. The door may need to be refrained, replaced, or both, this cure really works!

Door doesn't dose, latch, or stay closed on the first attempt, or latch sticks on strike plate, and anything similar: These problems create subtle life blocks, making it difficult to complete things and keep them complete. Seemingly finalized deals can tend to pop out or come undone. To cure, replace or repair the strike plate and/or latch.

Dead/unused locks still on door, or door handle is loose. These problems symbolize difficulty getting a grip in life, having weak energy, or hanging on to old and useless things in life. The cure involves repairing the door handle and removing or replacing outmoded lock fixtures.

Door scrapes on floor. A scraping door obstructs or drags on your income and freedom. The ideal door swings freely at least 90 degrees'' without hindrances. This principle holds even if what scrapes on the floor is the insulator strip (to keep cold air out) on the bottom of the door. Because most thresholds sit an inch above floor level, the rubber insulation strip shouldn't scrape on your carpet or foyer floor. Plane or shave the bottom of the door so that it swings free to cure this problem.

Door is broken, worn, warped, or dilapidated, paint is peeling, and so on: Replacing an old door can cure this situation! Here's the skinny: Dilapidated doors symbolize dilapidated lives. The front door represents' the house, and the house represents your life. Ergo, a worn down front door can subconsciously influence you to feel (and maybe become) worn down as well. Fixing this right up can fix you right up, and a more worthy cure proves hard to find.

Changing your luck with front door colors

Door colors on most houses are white or a color that matches the house. These color choices are generally fine. However, you can boost your front door chi if you wish by painting it a particular color. The colors with the strongest energetic effects include:

Bright red: This classic Feng Shui door color is said to confer power, protection, luck, and a sense of royalty to the house and its occupants. This cure is known in Feng Shui circles by the term "lucky red door."

Green: This color is another excellent choice, symbolizing life, health, and money.

Black: Black is a fine color for a front door and is especially good if your front door is in the center, which represents career. Black symbolizes water, which equals money. 

Making the Most of the Mouth of Chi

The front door serves as the mouth of the house. Like your physical mouth, it takes in the sustenance that nourishes the house — chi or energy. If the mouth has trouble, you have trouble. The health of the house (and the fortunes of the inhabitants) begins with the front door and entry.

Principles of the ideal front door

An ideal front door adheres to three key principles. The front door requirements are as follows:

Well illuminated: Your front door should be well lit and free of shadows and darkness. Good lighting at the entrance is a good energy principle for the door and the house.

Bright and clear: The door, the approach, and the entryway should be cheerful, lively, and uplifting. Ideally, your front door invokes a pleasant, happy feeling and attitude. The front doorway should also be free of obstacles and obstructions to chi and to people entering.

Balance to the house: The front door should not be too large or too small compared to the front facade of the house. A door that is too small can't attract sufficient chi for the residents and can diminish their social stature. A door that appears too large for the house projects a boastful attitude and engenders subconscious dislike from your neighbors.

Interior Entryway Problems and Solutions

If energy flows from your front door through your house without obstructions or blocks, the chi of your entire house is fed and nourished, which promotes positive life results. If your energy is obstructed, problems may occur in the areas of career and physical and mental health. And some of these problems can occur right at the front entryway.

Interior stairway facing front door

An interior stairway facing the front door signifies money rolling out of the house. The gravity force coming down the stairs pushes incoming chi back out the front door, symbolizing loss of wealth or income. As remodeling the stairs is usually impractical, an energetic solution is more pragmatic..

The cure is to place a faceted crystal sphere or pleasant-sounding wind chime halfway between the front door and the base of the stairs. This cure diffuses the stairway's descending chi into the house rather than letting it escape out the door or repel incoming chi.

The problem of an interior stairway facing the front door is less severe if the distance from the door to the stairs is greater than twice the height of the tallest person in the house

Mandarin duck stairway

A main entry that opens directly onto a stairway landing, requiring you to go up one stairway or down another to proceed into the house, features a mandarin duck stairway. Under its influence, one partner in the marriage may go up in life while the other goes down; one may enjoy career success while the other struggles; or their life-paths may diverge, leading to separation or divorce. The unusual name stems from the Chinese custom of having a special dish — mandarin duck — at the wedding banquet. Apparently the staircase looks similar to the roasted duck at the feast. To cure this stair, place a plant at the juncture of the two staircases. Another effective alternative (or addition) is to wrap a realistic, silk, ivy, green vine around the banister of the stairway from bottom to top, imparting life and green energy to the stairway, and counteracting its negative effects.

Sprit view on entering

A split view on entering is one where half of your field of vision is blocked by a close wall, while in the other half you can see much further into the house. One negative effect of this feature is a physical dissonance between your left eye and right eye, and between left brain and right brain. A psychological rift occurs when this sight continuously greets you upon entering your home. Repeated viewing can subconsciously stimulate anxiety, stress, schizophrenic tendencies, and other psychological problems, leading to bad decisions and even accidents. The cure for this is to place a mirror on the partially blocking wall to balance the view and restore harmony to the entrance

Dealinq with pesky approach issues

The following barriers and impediments to a smooth entry are physical and energetic stumbling blocks in your life path. The more these obstructions lead into your home, the more your liabilities are compounded. Fixing them removes obstacles from your life's path, quells frustrations, and generally makes life an easier game to play.

Multiple gates, barriers, porches, and doors: Having to go through these obstacles can produce frustration, mental blocks, lack of energy, and feelings of being stopped in life. Cures include removing some of the barriers, and placing wind chimes or faceted crystal spheres between the doors and gates. When performing this cure, be sure to visualize abundant energy and finances flowing into your life as you apply the Three Secrets Reinforcement.

No walkway from your front door to the street: This common situation is related to the dilemma in which the garage projects out from the house and blocks the front door. In many contemporary homes, the path to the front door connects to the driveway rather than to the street (or the sidewalk out by the street). The potential Feng Shui problem in this case is that you may receive less income and have fewer helpful friends in your life than you deserve all because the front door feeds from the driveway rather than the street. The driveway is a secondary energy source for the front walk and front door, featuring less incoming chi than the street.

The expensive cure for this problem is to build a new sidewalk from your front door to the street. If you're up for it, go for it.

Projecting garage that blocks the front door:  This situation, also common, creates at least two problems. First, the structure of the house is unbalanced, usually in some form of an L-shape. Second, the garage hides the front door from view on at least one side of the house

For these two cures:

• Build a second stone walkway to the street leading away from the garage. If your garage projects out, this cure has the important effect of balancing the house shape. Whether or not your garage projects, the new pathway has the additional benefit of bringing new and more chi to your front door.

• For a more practical but slightly less powerful solution, place a wind chime along the side of the garage, or near the front door, to attract more chi into your home.

Narrow, overgrown, or tunnel-like pathway to front door: This scenario restricts your energy, making it harder literally and figuratively for you and the house to breathe. Ideally, your entry path should be at least as wide as the front door. Better still, have it wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Cures include widening the path and cutting back bushes and hedges to open the way. Also, make sure the path is well-lit, clear, clean, and bright.

Recessed front door from front line of house: This situation results in less income and fewer career opportunities. The recommended solution is to brighten the exterior with powerful lights, or place a brass wind chime by the entryway. Doing so will activate the energy around the front door to attract more of the good things you deserve.

Obstacles on the path to the entrance, near the front door, or on the porch close to the door: Such obstacles can include bikes, boxes, trash, skateboards, buckets, and so on. Results include frustration, confusion, and finding it easy to figuratively stumble in your life as you could physically stumble over all the clutter. The simple cure: Remove and clean!

Decay or disrepair at entrance: Decay and disrepair in and around the home symbolize death or stagnation. They can bring you down and make winning in life much harder. These signs, especially negative near the front door, include burnt-out or missing light bulbs, broken light fixtures, broken/missing doorbell, cobwebs around the entrance, birds nesting near the door, or a 4-foot-long pickaxe stuck in the front door. The cure: Fix, clean, replaces, and repairs.

Curing common outdoor stairway dilemmas

Stairways leading to the front door, whether short or long, are an important aspect of your entryway. Reading the energy of your stairway is easy with your Feng Shui thinking (and feeling) cap on. If humans can flow easily and freely up and down the stairs, so can energy and income. The ideal entry stairway is wide and easy to ascend, not too long or steep, and free of sharp turns. The stairway is stable, with complete risers (the vertical parts of the stairs) and a solid hand rail.

Following are some common entry stairway problems and their Feng Shui solutions.

Long Stairway

A stairway that's a long trip up to the front door has definite energetic liabilities. This type of stairway is common to second floor apartments or duplexes accessed by exterior stairs. Such a stairway makes it difficult for energy, income, and you to get to your front door. The energetic effects can include difficulty resting or getting home. And you may end up traveling or being gone a lot. Steep stairways can also make opportunities more difficult to come by.

If the average person who visits you gets a bit winded climbing to your door, your stairs are probably too long. Curing them can counteract and improve the negative factors. The suggested cure for a long staircase is to wrap an artificial green vine around the stair rail from the bottom all the way up to the top. (If the staircase has no rail, recommendation is installing a good one.) Ideally. the vine should reach the doorframe itself. The lively green energy of the vine adds health and vigor to the climbers, helping compensate for the long journey upward.

An alternate cure is to run pin lights (small holiday lights - white is good, multicolored is better) along the same path. The lights guide the energy up the long stairway, feeding the front door. (Light represents the energy of attraction as well as radiant energy itself.)

Missing risers

A riser is the vertical section that connects one stair (the horizontal part you step on) to the next stair up. Your toe points to each riser with every step unless the riser is missing or broken. A stairwell with missing risers potentially promotes the loss of income and life energy (chi) to the house and its residents. As energy ascends the stairs, it slips through the riser gaps, like water through a leaky bucket. As your feet are energetically connected to your career, missing risers can trip you up, both physically and in your life's work. On a practical note, missing risers are a safety issue. Twisted, sprained, or broken ankles and feet are bad personal Feng Shui. Additionally, they hurt.

The cure for missing risers is straightforward and usually involves a carpenter or tradesman. You need to physically fill in or replace missing risers in your stairway. After completing this task, you can feel more solid and complete in life as well as every time you ascend or descend the stairs. Feeling solid and complete creates beneficial energetic effects that flow directly into your practical life.

Stairway with a turn

A right-angle turn on a front door stairway creates an energy jam, robbing you and-your home of vital chi. (If an actual robber stood at your door and stole your wallet every time you passed by, you'd do something about it pretty darned quick! Yet most people allow these Feng Shui robbers to steal their chi day after day, rarely doing a thing about it.) An excellent cure for a right-angle stairway is to place a healthy potted plant on the landing at the turn. The living chi of the plant nullifies the negative influence of the turn, attracts chi, and boosts the energy on its way to the door. Be careful that the plant doesn't block the way; otherwise, you've compounded one problem with another.

Missing or rickety banister

A problem banister (one that gives at all when you grab it) creates unsafe feelings and lack of control in life. Also, subconscious uncertainties may creep into your mind for no apparent reason. The remedy is easy: Repair a rickety banister or install a good solid handrail that supports you completely when you hold it.

Solvinq the hidden front door dilemma

Generally, the front door should be visible from the street for maximum energy flow. Hidden front door is a Feng Shui term describing a front door that can't be seen from the street, is recessed, is dark or in shadow, directly faces a hill, or is otherwise obscured.

If you have a hidden front door, you may find that moving ahead, receiving opportunities or income, and even selling the home can be very difficult From the opposite point of view, if you can't see the street from your front door, your career can be energetically hindered, whether you work at home or out in the world. (This effect is minimized or nullified if you live on a very large estate, where the house is a long distance from the main street In this case, ideally the main drive will be visible from the front door.)

Two cures for hidden front door problems are as follows:

If possible, mount a convex safety mirror (the kind used In parking ramps to see around corners) that allows you to see the door when approaching the house and to clearly see the street from the front door The larger the mirror, the stronger the cure. If the mirror is too small or incorrectly angled to see the approach clearly, the cure will not be highly effective. You should use a mirror at least 18 inches in diameter.

Line the path from the street to your door with lights or plants. This cure guides the chi right up to the door.

Clearing the Way for Natural Chi

Nature (trees, grass, air, sun, water, and so on) feeds us through its abundant chi. Lush, full, or verdant landscapes - oceans, forests, and jungles — are virtual reservoirs of chi.

Yet most people spend most of their hours indoors and so tend to be chronically chi-deficient. The rejuvenated, revitalized, and uplifted feelings you experience after spending a few hours (or days) out in nature were once the common human state. Humans felt so refreshed because chi, nature's energy, is the purest food that exists.

The house is a container for chi. The front door (main front entrance, or Mouth of Chi) is the main entry point for the chi. One Feng Shui master states that 80 percent of our access to natural chi is cut off once you go inside a house. The house insulates you from the outside chi, which your body continuously needs.

The purpose of Feng Shui cures is to overcome this unfortunate liability by introducing more of this vital natural energy into your home.

Ask yourself these three questions about the energy that comes into your home via the front door:

•     Is enough energy (chi) coming in? The amount and quality of energy is largely determined by the condition of your front door and entryway. If the front door and entry are clear, open, and easy to access, chi can enter in high quantity and positive quality. If the front door is hidden, dark, or cluttered (generally negative factors) chi flow can be drastically reduced, symbolically starving the house and its residents of greatly needed energy.
•      Is the energy positive? This answer depends on the quality and condition of the chi as it enters and circulates through the home. If the chi is positive (healthy and beneficial), the energy is smooth, harmonious, balanced, strong, and lively. Negative chi is congested, stuck, blocked, conflicting, piercing, depressing, leaking, and so on.
•      Is energy circulating completely through the home? The circulation depends on the smoothness and flow of the floor plan, shapes of rooms, and connecting elements throughout the home. If rooms lie in positive locations, the hallways and stairs conduct chi easily, and the layout is energetically balanced, among other factors, the chi flow assists the residents. If the opposite conditions prevail, you can lead a harried, frustrated life.

These three questions illustrate the prime importance Feng Shui places on the front door and how it allows energy to enter your home. The front door is a vital point in every home.

Your view of the front facade (first impression of the house) and your view looking out from the front door (first impression of the outer world) has a profound impact on you. But the path that leads to and from your front door is of equal importance. The path to your front door symbolizes your path in life, your comings and goings in the world. Also, the degree of ease or difficulty with which you can enter your house affects the way in which energy enters your life. To the degree that the path to your home is cluttered, or awkward, the energy coming into the house can be hindered, negatively influencing your finances, vitality, and career.

If you have the slightest feeling that an object near your door may be blocking your entry, it probably is. (Trust your feelings!) Test this situation by moving the object. How do you feel now? Less crowded or cramped? Do you breathe easier? If so, moving the object is probably good Feng Shui. And if you feel an immediate improvement, the energetic effect is clearly positive and can benefit you energetically over time. You can use this simple method to test the validity of almost any Feng Shui solution you implement.

Each residence has only one main door; all others are secondary - side, back, garage, patio doors, and so on. The main door is the chief energy entry point of a house, even if you enter more frequently by another door. Even if the front door is unused, this door is still considered the main door. The only way the front door ceases to be the main door is if you remove it completely and finish the wall. 

Dealing with Driveway Issues

Your driveway is the main source of energy and societal chi — connections, money, and helpful people — for your property and home, and by extension, you. Your house is also fed energy by the front walkway. (If your house doesn't have a driveway, the main source of energy flowing into the property is the front walkway.) If you live in an apartment, the ease and accessibility of the path you take to the front door of your apartment is what counts. You should know ideal driveway conditions then help you cure your drive if you have any of the problems detailed here. When energy flows freely onto your property and into your house, life feels much smoother, and more flowing.

Positive driveway conditions

The best kind of driveway is one that is flat or slopes gently upward, and is slightly winding, rather than arrow-straight or convoluted. (Though a short straight drive leading to the garage as found in many homes is fine.) The driveway should be smooth-surfaced rather than bumpy or difficult to navigate. The house and front door should be clearly visible from the front entrance to the property (the beginning of the driveway at the street). And the sights you see when driving up to the house should be uplifting or inspire positive feelings:

Problem driveway conditions and their solutions

Problematic driveways include steep dries, blind drives, shared drives, cracked or broken drives, and driveways that face a neighbor's drive that is wider or goes down. So consider a few common problematic driveway scenarios and their Feng Shui implications and cures.

Steep drive going up or going down

If your driveway goes down steeply, your house is probably below the road. In this situation, when leaving the house — whether for occasionally or for work each day - is difficult because you tend to strain to climb up and out of the property each day. The effect is subliminal yet real. This situation can generate career difficulties, not to mention the practical problems of leaving the driveway itself. A cure is to place your trusty energy generators along the drive to help move energy up to the street. Energy generators include lights, windsocks, and wind chimes. These cures also help protect the house from excess energy that can roll down the drive and impact the house.

Being above the road is generally better than being below it. However, a house sitting high above the road typically has a steep drive leading up to it, which fosters two kinds of problems. First, energy has a hard time getting up the driveway to the house, making it hard for people and energetically hard for money to reach you. Second, whatever energy (money and people) does make it to the house has an easy time rolling back down the drive and being lost.

A good cure for a drive that descends sharply from the house down to the street is to place bright lights on each side of the drive where it meets the street. Another cure for a steep drive going up to a house is the same as the cure for a steep, descending one — activates the driveway with windsocks or other motion stimulators. (Generally, a house sitting above the road is in a good position. Problems arise when a house is very high above the street, with a steep driveway.) The solutions given here are specifically to cure driveway issues.

Blind drive

In Feng Shui, a recurring principle is to be able to see what's coming towards you in life. A blind drive is one that prevents you from seeing who or what is approaching as you leave the site, and this constraint creates a psychological blinds spot as well as physical security issues.

For a good cure, you can place a large convex mirror near the end of the drive so you can see the approaching street traffic as you come down the driveway. (Larger mirror is the better.) You may need one mirror on each side of the drive to see the traffic coming from both directions.

Problematic neighbors' drives

A neighbor's driveway directly across from yours can affect you negatively if the driveway is wider than your drive or if it slopes down and away. If the neighbor's driveway is larger than yours, the opposing drive can eat part of your home's energy supply. If the neighbor's drive slopes down and away, you get the same effect: The opposing drive drains chi away from your property.

The solution is to mount a large convex mirror — a 24- to 36-inch mirror works well — above the garage door or at another position that's in line with the opposing drive. The mirror counteracts the effect of the larger driveway, pulling needed chi into your property. The same cure works for either opposing drive situation.

A shared driveway

A driveway shared with one or more other residents can affect your site by lessening its inflow of energy. A shared drive is one used by more than one residence, or a drive that leads to your house and also splits off to go to another home. If you share a driveway with a neighbor, you can mount a bright light (on a pole and the taller, the better) at the place where the neighbor's drive splits off from yours. The light marks a clear division between the two driveways. The light helps prevent the loss of chi (which translates to money, opportunities, health, and more) from your home and life. If you put lights on both sides of your drive at the splitting point, the cure is even stronger.

Mouth of Chi

The entry is the first energetic impression that your home makes on you and anyone who comes to see you. And the first impression is important. you can create the best possible first impression and invite maximum energy and good feeling into your home. This way you may get desired improvements in important areas of your life.

Front Door and Foyer

Feng Shui considers the front door and entry to be the most important points in your home environment. The approach and entry determine the amount and quality of energy that flows into the home, and whether this energy nourishes or depletes the house, thereby helping or hindering the aspirations of the residents. A smooth, grand, open entry and approach supports free- flowing prosperity and vitality. Conversely, a convoluted or difficult approach can create corresponding unpleasant effects in various parts of your life.

The front door is the first and foremost of the three Life Pillars. The Life Pillars provide fundamental energies to the home and its residents, so focusing your attention on the condition of your front door is important.

The energy of the entry is mediated by the approach to the door, the entryway itself, the physical door and doorway, and the first room or thing you see upon stepping inside. The front door, the controlling point of the house's energy, is a crucial and most important point. Seemingly minor flaws at your front door can affect you negatively, while improvements made at the entry can significantly impact your life in positive ways.

Your entryway should be open, inviting, attractive, and look and feel positive. As you clear your entryway of blocks and activate its chi, you may notice more energy flowing into your life, obstacles melting, and opportunities knocking on your door (in more ways than one). An entryway that is gloomy, dark, overrun, or difficult to approach has subtle, and in some cases pro- found, negative effects on your life, including diminished opportunities, constriction of your cash flow, difficulties in making important contacts, and others.

If you think of the house as a body, then the front door would be considered the mouth, the point where energy enters to nourish the body. Of course, additional energy comes in through the other doors and the windows, and some natural energy enters through the walls, floors, and roof. But the major source of energy in the home is the Mouth of Chi, your front door. If a door is physically or energetically blocked, the house is metaphorically starved and suffocated, which creates problems in your life.

If the only place in your home you improve is the entry, you're still way ahead of the game. Something good, perhaps very good, may come of your improved door. Try it and see. No matter how fabulous the interior of your home is, if the approach, entry, and/or front door are problematic, you can see corresponding life effects. The fixes are quite easy compared to the inconveniences an improper entry can generate.

House First View

To practice this technique, visit a new neighborhood. Stop at random in front of a house you've never seen, and look at it. But don't think; just feel. Notice your first gut impression. How do you feel within the first second or two? This simple exercise can give you an initial grasp of the energy of any residence and the kinds of influences it may be having on its occupants.

The impression a house makes from the street is a key indicator of its energy. For example, suppose you look at the front of a large, dark house and feel a sudden sense of gloom or foreboding. This gloom is probably the dominant effect you would feel from the house if you lived there, and the effect it may well be wreaking on its present occupants. The long-term energetic effects of living in this house may include lethargy or sluggishness, or feelings of oppression, depression, sadness.

Try this technique on your own house. First, clear your mind of all preconceived notions. Let your thoughts stop for a moment and simply feel as you gaze at the front of your home. Notice, how it makes you feel. If the answer is "like home," "proud," or some other familiar emotion, you're off track, still relating to the home you already know. Pretend you don't live in the house. See it with new eyes. Take a fresh look at the house, without conjuring up previous associations and memories. How does this place make you feel inside?

As you blank your mind and let your senses take over, you may notice sensory impressions. You may smell jasmine or grass or burning rubber, or you may hear the sounds of the wind in the trees and feel the pavement beneath your feet. But you get the most information visually. So notice your instant impression. Do you feel calm, excited, confused, numb, cheerful, scared, and uneasy? The house is like a second body that you wear. Performing this exercise is like looking into the mirror to see what that second body looks like and how it feels.

This exercise gives you an indication of the kinds of impressions and effects that you receive each time you come home, effects that strongly influence, your daily psychology. The most effective time to do this exercise is when arriving home after being away for several days.

Looking Out from the Inside

Another important factor is the view you see as you exit your house from the front door. As you stand in the front doorway of your home and look out, what do you see, A vacant lot across the street, a factory, a condemned building? Is it a beautiful home across the street, a door across the hallway of your apartment building? Are you lucky enough to see a pleasant green field stretching in front of you with a beautiful view of water in the distance? This last example is a Feng Shui concept of an ideal view

Taking a look out from the inside helps, in part, to define your relationship with the outside world. You may not have stopped to consider it before, but your first view when you open your door is essentially how you see the world. Needless to say, this view does affect you. If your first daily glimpse of a dead tree in your front yard, guess what? It's not good Feng Shui! Surprised?

Knowing the importance of this first impression of the outside world may motivate you to create a vision of beauty, serenity, and charm. If a charming sight is what greets you each day when you leave your home, the world tends to look brighter; your attitude and actions tend to reflect this perception, which naturally boosts your energy and participation at work, resulting in positive, practical benefits.

Fixing Irregular House Shapes

Fixing Irregular House Shapes

The reality is that most people don't live in perfectly shaped houses. If your house fits such shapes, you can balance the shape with the proper feng shui cure.

L shapes and boot shapes

An L-shaped house or lot is missing one-fourth of an area. An L-shaped house can negatively affect one Life Area greatly and negatively affect the three rather Life Areas to a lesser degree. The suggested exterior cure for an L-shaped house is to place a tall spotlight or flagpole (for both: the taller, the better) where the corner would be if the house were a complete shape. The spotlight should shine towards the roof of the house. This cure serves to balance and complete the shape of the house and provides the area with additional energy. You can also place a water feature at the location where the corner would be if the house was complete.

Suppose you live in an L-shaped apartment or, for some reason, can't apply an outside cure to your L-shaped house, interior cures can set you straight. Place mirrors at points along the walls of the missing area to energetically complete it. In addition, you can place a bright light or a faceted crystal sphere at the interior missing corner point to strengthen the area.

The boot shape

similar to the L-shape, can also kick up trouble. A door, bed, or stove located at the ball or toe of the boot can cramp your style. Results can prove harmful to your health, relationships, and finances. The cure for this situation is to move the door, bed, or stove away from the danger zone. (Moving the door means creating a new front door in a better position.) If implementing this option is not impossible.

The mirror solution can be the best for it.The mirror pulls the door, bed, or stove away from eve the pressure. A good exterior cur to balance the boot shape is to place a pool of water at the point where the corner would be complete.

Cleaver Shapes

a Chinese cleaver - can have unfortunate effects if the stove the front door or the bed is placed along the cutting edge. This placement can lead to fortunes being cut or lacerations of the body. Accidents involving visible blood are possible. To apply a cure for this situation, you can move the stove, bed, or front door away from the cutting edge. For example the bed can be moved to another wall of the bedroom that is not the cutting Wall.

Place a mirror in line with the stove, door, or bed. The mirror pulls the stove away from the cleaver's sharp edge. This solution can dramatically remove any negative effects from the unfortunate placement.

One tricky cure for cleaver-shaped house is to place the main entrance in the end of the cleaver's handle. This way, you can control plenty of active energy and can use cleaver shape to your advantage.

Dustpan and Money-purse lot shapes

Your cleaning habits aside, you may be living in a dustpan if your house or lot shaped like that. The dustpan shape can attract chaotic or negative energy. Likewise, the money-purse shape is not completely ideal, though it is far better for attracting money to the site. Of these money-purse ranks more preferable than a dustpan. However, shapes are awkward, because each shape has two slanted sides.

One cure for dustpan lot is to change the entrance to the other side so the shape looks like money purse. This way, although the front of the lot is pinched, it widens at the back and symbolically holds wealth energy. If moving the entrance is not feasible, you can place spotlights or flagpoles featuring green flags (for either solution, taller is better) in the corners.

To further empower the money-purse shape, place lights in the front lot corners, shining forward the house.

Triangular Shapes

Triangular shapes, though great for pyramids, are lousy for houses and lots. The sharp corners and angled sides promote conflicts and accidents in the household. Effect is negative, because the path away from the front door leads to a vanishing point in the lot, indicates diminishing future. if your house and lot have this shape, you need to cure such shapes:

• Place the cures in each corner of the triangle. Cure items include plants, Bushes, or trees.
• Place a bright shining light inward or a flag on a tall pole at the vanishing point.
• Place flagpoles of the three corners. The most effective flagpoles are tall ones bearing green flags.

Angled lot side

If one of your lot is angled, unbalanced living can result. You can cure this by planting healthy plants or bushes along the angled side, infusing this area with living and healthy chi.

Multi-corner and oddly shaped lots

an odd number of corners (or any number greater than four) and slanted sides are negative conditions for a lot or house, because they can result in fusion and imbalance. These shapes are common in, but not limited to, cul-de-sacs. A recommended cure is to place spotlights or green flags on flagpoles at each corner of the lot or house exterior. This cure balances the energy of the lot, promoting harmony, cohesion, and forward progress for the residents.

Cures for missing lot areas

Cures for missing lot areas

A missing are of the lot is a little trickier to cure because you can not get outside the lot to put something at the missing corner. The exact corner spot may be a part of someone else’s lot. But you can fix this problem in several ways:

• Place a bright spotlight on a tall pole at the corner of the missing area. The light ideally shines at the roof of the house. Another version of this cure is to place a flagpole with a colorful flag at the corner. Green is always a good choice, or you can use the color of the Life Area you are improving. The taller the flagpole, the stronger the cure. The added light chi or the color and motion of the flag energetically compensates for the missing space of the lot.
• Install three lights of flagpoles, one at each of the three corners. This cure is a stronger version than the previous one. Shine the light towards the house. This cure will help energetically compensate for the missing space of the lot.
• Plant the healthy green plants or a lively hedge along the perimeter of the missing area to put life chi in the area. This cure uses the power of living energy to compensate for the missing area, and jazzes up the corresponding Life Area. For, extra credit, plant flowers the color associated with this Octagon Area. Fruit-bearing plants generate even stronger Feng Shui cures! The living energy of the plants adds needed chi to the area by replacing what is missing and boosting your energy quotient in the Life Area.

Curing Missing Areas

Curing Missing Areas

If your house or lot includes a missing area, this area can crate problems in the corresponding Life Area of your Feng Shui Octagon. For example, a missing area in the Children Area of your lot or house can contribute to one or more of the following effects depending on your particular life circumstances.

ü      Problems conceiving or bearing children

ü      Health difficulties with the children in your household

ü      Communication difficulties or a lacking feeling of creative energy or inspiration

Similar types of problems can arise for any Life area associated with a missing area. A missing area can hold you back from realizing your full potential in its corresponding Life Area. So you need to minimize or counterbalance any negative effects and to positively influence situation in that particular Life Area.

There are two cure options for missing areas in your houses: interior – inside the house cures and exterior – outside the house cures. Generally, exterior cures are a bit stronger than interior cures. Bus the ones that work the best for your overall situation.

Exterior solutions for missing house areas

The exterior cure for a missing area symbolically completes the area that is missing. Determine the spot where the corner would be if the house were complete. This point is the one you want to activate with your cure. The principle is that, by placing your cure here, you symbolically fill in the whole area. Thus, you restore energy to the structure and, more importantly, to the Life Area in need. You can activate the magic spot by performing one or more of the following cures:

ü      Place a bright light on a tall pole at the indicated corner. The light should point towards the house generally at a 45-degree angle and shine at the roof if possible. The taller the light, the better, although a light of any height is better than no light at all. The chi of the light fills the missing area, creating energy where a void once reigned.

The light does not need to shine all the time, especially if it can bother your neighbors. Bothering neighbors is bad Feng Shui. But the light does need to be in good working order for the cure to be effective.

ü      Place a flagpole rather than a light at the indicated corner. This cure serves to uplift the chi and complete the area. If you wish, you can choose a flag with the color scheme of the associated Octagon area as an extra additional cure. Otherwise, a green flag is generally effective, because green symbolizes life, healing and energy.

ü      Position a smooth heavy rock, boulder, or statue at the corner. The health heft and solidity bring energetic weight to the area to fill the gap. Size is important in this situation, and bigger is generally better.

ü      Plant a heathy tree or large plant or bush at the corner spot. Or you can fill the area with flowers the colors of the missing Octagon Area. For example, planting white flowers in the Children Area can do the trick.

You can mix and match any of the previous solutions and apply more than one at the same time for an additional punch. For example, a large stone at the corner area combined with a patch of appropriately colored flowers suits your fancy.

Interior solutions for missing house areas

You can choose from two main options for correcting a missing area inside the house. One option is to remodel the house and fill in the missing area. This cure can be the most effective cure. But unless you are a professional contractor with lots of free time or have piles of cash to spare, remodeling may not be the most practical option. Plus, remodeling tends to disrupt the household, can take two to three times longer than planned, and costs 20 to 30 percent more than you imagined.

The second choice – easier, faster, and cheaper – is to complete the missing area by performing an energetic cure, rather than a structural modification. The energy solutions are quite effective, even though you have not moved any of the walls in the house.

You can choose from several effective interior cures such as the following:

ü      Line one wall – good or both walls – better with sizeable mirrors to energetically expand the area to make up for the defect.

ü      Hang a wind chime or large faceted crystal sphere – 2 inches in diameter or larger right at the interior corner. As with many Feng Shui cures, use a red ribbon cut to a multiple of 9 inches for the greatest results.

ü      Position an odd number – a bit stronger than using an even number of healthy new green plants along the two walls of the missing area. The vital, living chi of the plants attracts the energy to the space and helps compensate for the missing area.

Enhancing the Benefits of Projections

Enhancing the Benefits of Projections

Because the projection helps its corresponding Life Area, you don’t need to cure anything. That’s true but you can do at-least one thing to enhance the benefits of a projection.

For example, if you have a projection in the Family Area of the house. Things are pretty good and fine in your family right now. You may think why to mess the right and good thing? Absolutely right there is no need to mess the good thing but you can make it better and far better. Now for that the technique is: To increase the beneficial of the projection in the Family Area, you can perform the Three Secrets Reinforcement for this area. Performing this simple Reinforcement can significantly enhance the beneficial effects of your projection.

The Three Secrets Reinforcement, typically performed right after you apply the physical portion of a Feng Shui cure, fully activates the power of the cure. In this case, the positive element, the projecting area of the shape is already in place. You can magnify the positive effects of your projection using the Three Secrets Reinforcement.

Locating Projections and Missing Areas

Locating Projections and Missing Areas

You may be able to figure out if the sides of your house and lot contain projections or missing areas through given step by step method.

1. Obtain or create scale drawings of your house and lot plan. You can measure the house and lot yourself and draw it on graph paper, or use the architect’s drawings, blueprints, or plot maps. If the measurements are given on the drawings it can speed up the process.
2. If any sides of the house or lot are completely flat and even, with no variations at all, the side is fine. Skip it.
3. Apply either the 50% Rule or the 33% rule to any side that is not completely flat. How do you determine which rule to use? Follow these tips: If you have an apparent missing area in the center area of a wall – that is, if the side reminds you in any way of a U-shape – apply the 33% rule to the side. Otherwise, you can safely apply the 50% rule.

Using the 50% Rule

Measure the entire length of the side in question with a ruler. Say the length is 6 inches on paper with a 1:5 ratio, meaning 30 feet in real life.

ü      If the part of the house or lot side that appears to be sticking out is less than half of the entire length of its side. Translations: Projections enhance the Octagon Life Area they are located in.

ü      If the part of the house or lot that appears to be indented is less than half of the entire length of its side, call it a missing area. You should use cure for “Missing Area”.

Another way to apply 50% Rule

ü      If the part of the side which appears to be indented or missing is more than half the length of the entire length of its side then you do not have a missing area, but a projection. The part of the wall that appears to be sticking out is your projection.

ü      If the part of the house or lot side that appears to be indented or missing is less than half of the entire length of its side, then it truly is a missing area.

Using the 33% Rule

If the side of the house or lot in question appears U-shaped, or has two parts sticking out with an area that looks like it may be missing between them, apply the 33% rule.

You need to measure the entire length of the side, or you can read the length from your accurate diagram. Say you are working with the backside of the house or lot, which features the Wealth, Fame, and Marriage/Partnership Areas. Say the length of the side is 6 inches on paper – 30 feet in actual distance. Your eagle eye spots an indented area in the center of the side around the Fame Area, which looks like it may be missing. Now determine which of the measurements the indented area is:

ü      The area that appears indented is more than 33% of the total length of its side. If your indented area meets the description, you don’t have a missing area. What you have instead are two projections, one on each side, each reflecting a positive influence in its corresponding Life Area. If you wish you can perform the Three Secrets Reinforcement for these projections to further enhance their positive influence.

ü      The area that appears indented is less than 33% of the total length of its side. If your indented area fits this description, you officially have a missing area in the Life Area of the Feng Shui Octagon, and you may want to perform a cure for it.

Projections and Missing Areas

Projections and Missing Areas

When you place the Feng Shui Octagon on any regular shape, all the life areas are somewhat evenly represented, indicating balance and harmony. However, if one or more sides of your house or lot shape is not completely even, you may have either a projection or missing area in one or more corresponding Life Areas.

Projecting Areas

The short version of this principle is that projections expand the space in the house or lot and allow more chi to circulate, resulting in better fortune in the corresponding Life Area. For example projection in the Wealth Area of your house can positively influence your financial situation. But a missing area in your house or lot shape produces the opposite effect.

Missing Areas

A missing area means proportionally less are for the all-important chi which is life-force energy to circulate or reside in any particular part of your house or lot shape. This situation implies probably negativity or lack of good fortune in the corresponding Life Area. Thus, a missing area in the Helpful People Area of your lot shape may explain why your network of supportive helpers and friends has shrunk since moving into your current residence. By the same token, a missing are in the Marriage Area can mean marital troubles or can make dating or finding the right partner difficult. Entering a blind date in a missing area is the Feng Shui equivalent of flying a small plane into the Bermuda Triangle during a hurricane!

You should diagnose these two contrary features and see what you can do to enhance the positive effects of projections and minimize or transform the negative effects of any missing areas you may have. For these you will have to consult Feng Shui Octagon section.

The Positive Effects of Regular Shapes

Enjoying Balance: The Positive Effects of Regular Shapes

In Feng Shui terms, regular shapes are the most favorable for houses and lots. Regular shapes include squares, rectangles, circles, and octagons. These shapes all promote even, balanced, and harmonious living. Because everything in your environment corresponds to your body and mind, the positive qualities of these four shapes have similar effects on you. Circular and octagonal houses and lots are rare – difficult to build and find, so square rectangular lots and house shapes are the most common, favorable, and practical shapes.

Many uneven or asymmetrical shapes can be interesting to look at, and to design. An asymmetrical shape is initially more arresting to the eye than a regular, balanced shape. But the problems with unbalanced shapes come not from looking at them but from living in them. Over time, the imbalance of the shape tends to produce an imbalance in the physical and mental well-being of the residents.

Living foursquare: Squares and rectangles

A square represents a solid, even, and stable existence. A rectangle has the same basic energy, however if the rectangle is much longer in one direction, the main entry to the house or lot is best located on one of the sort sides of the rectangle. If the entry sits on one of the long sides, the energy can quickly exit the property with nourishing it, leading to a loss of good fortune for residents.

Make sure your lot or house is a true square or rectangle – not an imposter! A true square or rectangle has only four flat, even sides and four 90-degree corners with no indentations, protrusions, or slants. If your house or lot is not a perfect square or rectangle the irregularities can either be helping or hindering you; it means can have featured projections – generally favorable, or missing areas – not so good. Feng Shui always provides a cure for enhancing the positive and countering the negative.

Round and round: Circles and Octagons

Round shapes denote unity, wholeness, and balance. A circle has a pleasing symmetry that is good for life in general. Octagonal shapes are powerful, strong, and lucky, and the have a special association with the Feng shui Octagon. Round and octagonal houses reflect the positive aspect of having strong, whole shape, but often their interiors have many unusually shaped rooms. Round and octagonal shaped houses and lots are quite rare in real life, so If you happen to live in one, the occupant should consult a Feng Shui professional to assist you with your home cures.

Shapes in Feng Shui

Shapes in Feng Shui

Shape is one of the most influential factors in Feng Shui. The shapes of our personal environments affect us energetically and psychologically, consciously and unconsciously. The shapes of particular living environments include the outlines of the house and lot, the elevation of the house, and the contours of the land. These key aspects largely determine how the energies flow within our personal living environment.

The shapes of your house and lot are important. Whether positive or negative, these shapes strongly influence your immediate experience and your long-term destiny. You may have a perfectly shaped house and irregularly shaped lot, or vice versa. This situation can enhance certain life areas and hinder others. The trick of Feng Shui is to discern which areas may be holding back energetically so you can cure them.

Discovering what shapes mean to you

Two of the most important Feng Shui factors in your environment are the shapes and sizes of your lot and your house. These factors directly influence the boundaries of the space and determine key Feng Shui characteristics, including placement and orientation. Room shapes and sizes also impact your chi and the energy flows in your house, though interior spaces tend to be more uniform and standardized.

These overall shapes lot and house influence general life factors such as the ease or difficulty of life, the presence or lack of obstacles, good fortunes or bad, and health or the lack of the same. The same general principles apply to the shapes of both houses and lots; the difference is the cures that are applied to correct the problems.

The shapes you inhabit mold your actions, feelings, and daily life path. Shapes determine energy flow and represent important symbol that act continuously on the subconscious mind.

Defects in the shape of your house affect you more than defects in the shape of your lot. This condition is due to the principle of proximity, meaning that the house is closer to you than is the perimeter of the lot, and therefore, the shape of your house affects you more profoundly and immediately but both are important.

The same principle applies for apartment dwellers. According to the Theory of Relative Positioning, the shape of our apartment is more important than the shape of the lot your apartment building stands on or of the building itself. Plus, the shape of your apartment is something you can energetically alter with Feng Shui; you can not change the shape of your entire apartment building and its lot – unless, of course, you own them.