Astro Feng Shui: Making
Magic in Your Home by Simone Butler
Simone
Butler is a consulting astrologer and writer whose articles have appeared
in The Mountain Astrologer magazine and Tarot.com. Join San Diego NCGR on Saturday,
February 6, 2010 as we welcome Simone for a lecture on Astro Feng Shui - details
here!
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First
printed in the Aug/Sept. 2009 issue of The
Mountain Astrologer In
April of last year, the gift of a dinette set coincided with the New Moon in my
11th house of friendships. For several weeks, people called with unsolicited offers
of assistance - computer troubleshooting, healing treatments, delicious meals.
My
kitchen is in the Helpful People sector of the Bagua map - a Feng Shui method
of charting energetic patterns. Months earlier, I'd had my home Feng Shui'd and,
since then, had been contemplating the connections between Western astrology and
Western Feng Shui. Suddenly, it was obvious: The guas (sectors) of the Bagua correlate
with the astrological houses. The
two systems are so similar. "As above, so below" is a guiding maxim in
astrology. The celestial map is a mirror, reflecting our true nature and timing
on Earth. The Feng Shui maxim is, "As without, so within." The objects
in our environment reflect our internal state of being, and vice versa. Feng
Shui is the art of placement - purposefully arranging one's environment to produce
beneficial results. The traditional Chinese system uses Chinese astrology and
compass directions to determine optimal placements. Western Feng Shui emphasizes
the Bagua, an octagonal map that correlates with one's living space. The nine
basic guas, or aspects of life - Career, Knowledge, Family, Prosperity, Fame,
Love, Creativity, Helpful People, and Health - fall into different parts of the
home. According
to the system I devised, the 1st house of self-image and pioneering efforts links
up with the Career/Life Path gua. This is where you assert yourself in the world
and develop your life direction. Career and Fame are directly opposite each other
on the Bagua Map and represent two ends of the same axis: Essentially, you assert
yourself in the 1st, Career, and see the results in the 10th, Fame and Reputation.
The 4th house of home and family equates with the Family gua; the 5th house of
creative efforts and progeny, with the Creativity/Children gua; and the 7th house
of marriage, with the Love/Marriage gua. The 10th house of reputation is a natural
for the Fame gua, and the 11th house of friends and community dovetails with the
Helpful People gua. Since
there are nine guas and twelve houses, some of the houses do double duty. For
instance, I associate both the 2nd house of personal earnings and the 8th house
of shared wealth with the Prosperity gua. And the 3rd house of the "lower mind"
and the 9th house of the "higher mind" represent the Knowledge gua. Finally, the
Health gua at the center of the home connects to both the 6th house of physical
health and habit patterns and the 12th house of mental and spiritual health. A
Little Detective Work The
dinette set had arrived unexpectedly, without my setting an intention of any kind.
What would occur, I wondered, if you consciously activated a particular gua during
the New Moon - the seed point for the month - in the astrological house to which
it related? To
test my theory, I enlisted friends and clients in a research project. Thirty intrepid
souls committed to performing New Moon rituals in different parts of their homes
each month. A
year later, I am amazed by what unfolded. Some results were subtle: a feeling
of greater empowerment and clarity in the targeted area of life. Others were more
dramatic: A skeptical client activated her Family gua at the New Moon in her 4th
house, and suddenly her sister, who'd always been a taker rather than a giver,
sent her a homemade strawberry rhubarb pie. The sister also called to thank my
client for all she'd done for her over the years - which catalyzed a healing in
their relationship. One
of my most interesting findings related to the fixed or succedent houses: the
2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th. More than any others, rituals in these houses and their
corresponding guas boosted my participants' abundance. Though I expected this
with the 2nd and 8th houses, the 5th and 11th surprised me. One participant spiffed
up her bathroom in the Creativity gua at the New Moon in her 5th house and immediately
won $3,500 at a local casino. Of course! The 5th house is associated with gambling.
A
struggling realtor enhanced the Helpful People corner of her living room at the
New Moon in her 11th and placed her client files there. "I'd been feeling so beaten
down," she confided, "so I lit a candle and told the Universe, 'I need help!'
" To her amazement, the inactive clients paid her for her time and left. And at
the Full Moon, two of four pending offers were accepted (the Full Moon often gets
New Moon seeds blossoming). Practicing
Feng Shui on a regular basis to activate specific intentions raises your consciousness.
I discovered that working with a different part of my home each month kept my
ch'i, or vital energy, from stagnating. The guas are sensitive to neglect and
require regular maintenance. It's easy to let papers pile up on your desk or have
boxes take over a neglected corner. Adding
extraneous elements can also block the flow of ch'i. The arrival of an old piece
of office equipment given to me by a well-meaning friend corresponded with a downturn
in my income, until a spring cleaning at the New Moon in my 2nd house identified
the culprit. Discord reigned in my relationship until I removed a withered poinsettia
on the deck outside my Love gua at the New Moon in my 7th. Be sure to include
outside portions of the home in your rituals - a messy, dirty garage or storage
room is bad Feng Shui. Working
the System It's
easy and fun to work this system. Here's what you need to do: Make
a rough sketch of your home's floor plan, preferably on tissue paper, and
place it over the Bagua map to determine where your guas are located. The middle
section of the wall that contains your front door is the Career gua, your starting
point. If you live in a two-story house, include both levels. The guas merge fluidly
into one another, so don't worry about dividing your home exactly.A house that's
missing a chunk of the Bagua may require advanced Feng Shui treatment. If in doubt,
clutter-busting with intention is the best way to get stagnant energy to flow.
Find
out which part of your chart the upcoming New Moon activates. For couples
living in the same house, each person would work the gua that pertains to his
or her own chart. Working the composite chart would also make sense. The
ephemeris tells us that the August 20 New Moon falls at 27 Leo. If your 3rd-house
cusp is 22 Leo, the New Moon will activate your 3rd house - and the Knowledge
gua. (I use the Placidus house system.) If the New Moon falls within five degrees
of a cusp, activate the succeeding house; for example, if you have 0 Virgo on
your 2nd-house cusp, the New Moon at 27 degrees Leo will trigger your 2nd house.
Pay particular attention to solar eclipses - they often spark significant results!
Determine
which gua corresponds to that astrological house, and perform a thorough cleansing
of the targeted area. This can be done up to a week before the New Moon. Remove
all clutter, dirt, and dust. Banish anything that's broken or not functioning
- this is particularly detrimental Feng Shui! Clap your hands, shake a rattle,
burn sage, toss salt, or spray an aromatherapy mist to disperse any stagnant energy.
Add
colors, elements, or enhancements that strengthen the gua at hand. (see sidebar
at the end of this article). Set
intentions and perform your ritual. If the New Moon falls in your 7th house,
write down what you're seeking in a new relationship, or improvements you'd like
to see in an existing one. Write these intentions as if they'd already happened.
For example: "I give thanks that the perfect person for me, ready and willing,
is now in my life." Then, within twelve hours of the New Moon (preferably before),
light two pink candles (one for you and one for your mate) in your Love gua (pink
is the color for this gua), invoke the Love Goddess, and speak your intention.
Watch
for results. They may not come in the form you intended, but there will be
some kind of manifestation associated with the astrological house and gua you
activated, often around the Full Moon. Even seemingly negative results usually
lead to improved conditions for that area of life. Inspiration
for Each House / Gua My research participants came up with a variety of unique
rituals. To inspire you, I've spotlighted one for each astrological house. First
House / Career and Life Path: This woman redid her front porch. She got rid
of plants that were struggling, moved other plants around, and bought a new welcome
mat and bamboo screen to make the space more inviting. She taped her own company's
brochure over the inside of the front door, and wrote affirmations on 3 x 5 cards
and left them on a table inside the front door for a week after her ritual. Then,
she gave her brother, a successful businessman, a large plant that had been partially
blocking her entryway. "It really opened up the porch," she relates, "and reminded
me of how I block my own access to success." In a fascinating twist, her brother
has since begun working with her, and her business has tripled! Second
House / Prosperity: Another participant transformed an unused sauna in her
upstairs bathroom into a sumptuous wealth altar. She spread a cloth over the bench,
hung a painting of Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), and added a basket of coins, some
candles, a chalice of water, an open treasure box, a belly-dance coin belt, and
some silk plants. (Note: Silk plants are acceptable; dried plants are not, as
they equate to dried-up life force.) She wrote out an affirmation for wealth,
lit the candles, and spoke her intention, sealing the energies by burning sage.
In the garage below the bathroom she replaced an old, leaky water heater with
a new one (leaks in this gua can drain your resources). Since then, she has begun
presenting seminars, which in turn has increased her wealth. Third
House / Knowledge and Wisdom: One person made a vision board depicting the
East Coast town where he wanted to live, including the words "alternative health
network," which related to his ideal job. Creating a vision board that incorporates
words and images is a perfect 3rd-house ritual, as it engages both the conscious
and unconscious mind. And though Feng Shui assigns travel to the Helpful People
gua, I relate it instead to the 3rd and 9th houses of travel - so it was an appropriate
gua in which to manifest a trip. The day after this man's New Moon ritual, he
called the owner of the TV station in that town, who sent him a contract to begin
a new job. Soon he was on his way across the country to a whole new life. Fourth
House / Family: A participant painted her Family sector green, a power color
for this gua. Next, she hung photos of friends and family (close friends qualify
as family). This triggered a significant psychological shift. "I distanced myself
from an old friend who has emotional outbreaks that confuse and hurt me. And I've
welcomed one of my oldest friends back into my life." She also set limits on how
she was to be treated by her boyfriend's mother and other family members. As a
result, she says, "I feel truer to myself now and have a solid foundation to work
from." (The 4th house is associated with foundation-building.) Fifth
House / Creativity, Children, and Speculation: The 5th is a good house to
activate when you need help releasing a child, as one friend discovered. "So much
of my life has been wrapped up with being a mother," she explained, "but now that
my son is 17, he needs to spread his wings." On a small glass table in this gua,
she placed the Page of Cups Tarot card to represent him ("he's a really gentle,
sweet-natured boy") and added a jade dragon (his Chinese animal) and two candles.
She called on her personal deities to help with the process, lit the candles,
and smudged herself with sage at the moment of the New Moon. "Now I feel more
able to let him go," she reports, "and my professional life is taking off." Sixth
House / Health, Work, Service: "My improved health is my biggest win from
this cycle," one participant told me. Her ritual was simple - all she did was
light a candle in the center of her home at the New Moon and invoke good health
(she had been suffering from an intestinal disorder for years). "Soon thereafter,"
she relates, "I discovered this Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and I've lost 15 pounds
and have more strength and energy than ever before! I'm 80 percent symptom-free
and am working out regularly with a trainer." Her work is also advancing, because
she is feeling better about herself. Seventh
House / Love and Marriage: A solar eclipse dealt a resounding blow to this
friend's 7th house last year, triggering issues that had been festering beneath
the surface. I'd noticed that her husband's presence was not reflected in their
home - you'd think she was still single. And between them, there was a struggle
for dominance. "I was in a rut," she admits. "The eclipse hit us hard, and I knew
that change was in order. For the ritual, I placed my husband's trophy in a prominent
place in the bedroom, to give him a place of honor. We just had the hottest sex
we've had in ages! Our marriage is in a much better place now, because I have
shifted emotionally." Eighth
House / Prosperity and Transformation: Even though the 8th house is usually
associated with shared wealth, this ritual effectively boosted my friend's personal
income. In preparation for the New Moon in his 8th, he performed a thorough cleansing
of the closet/storage space in his Wealth gua, donated several pieces of clothing
to the Goodwill, cleaned the floor, and reorganized the space. He also dusted
the nearby display shelves and art objects and washed the leaves of a resident
plant. At the New Moon, he performed a short ritual affirming his financial, physical,
and spiritual wealth. "My phone began ringing immediately," he reported, "and
within the next week I had seven new clients - a significant number, considering
that 60 is my maximum client load per year!" Ninth
House / Knowledge and Wisdom: A writing buddy came up with this unique ritual.
"A very old, baby-poop-colored fridge sits in my Knowledge corner," she confided.
"Several times, I'd told my landlord about its state of disrepair. No response.
Every time I looked at the fridge I thought of him and felt resentment. So, I
started blessing him instead." At the New Moon, she scrubbed the inside and collaged
the outside of the fridge with images she loved, and she added a sign: "Soul-Satisfying
Nourishment for Body, Mind, and Spirit." Shortly thereafter, the refrigerator
died - and a brand new, self-defrosting model took its place. And my friend received
a grant to help finish a book (9th house) that she was writing. "When you pour
enough love into something," she noted, "the love transforms it!" Tenth
House / Fame and Reputation: Here is another example of how ritual can bring
things to the surface for healing. "Redecorating my Fame sector was a difficult
process," related an artist friend. Since fire is associated with Fame, she was
fortunate to have a fireplace there - but wasn't happy with the surrounding wall.
So, she painted it with a red Venetian plaster, which proved harder to work with
and took longer than anticipated. She decorated the mantel with her art, lit red
candles, and invoked business and reputation goals at the New Moon. Soon, she
received a commission for a painting and was asked to exhibit in two shows. But
a road trip to visit galleries that month was rocky. "I didn't realize the inner
conflicts I have about fame! I have really become aware of the rollercoaster ride
I've been on." Eleventh
House / Helpful People: This gua encompasses help from the "other side" as
well as this realm, hence the addition of angels and ancestors to the ritual.
This participant set up an altar on her bathroom shelves, placing a white and
silver angel, a photo of her grandparents, "star" candle holders and white candles,
and a silver box in which she placed the written intentions she had invoked at
the New Moon. A fundraiser she hosted that month for an ailing friend (11th house)
was wildly successful, and she began to feel more centered and focused. "The exercise
helped me to acknowledge the support I have from the other realms and to ask for
guidance." Twelfth
House / Spiritual and Mental Health: Earth is the element for this gua, and
since this healer friend has no earth in her chart, this ritual was particularly
helpful for her. She transformed her oak dining table at the center of the home
into an altar - adding terra cotta pieces and plants (growing in earth). She initiated
her ceremony with earthy-smelling Tibetan incense and Tibetan spinning, to invoke
spiritual health. The result, she reported, was "a general uplifting of spirits
and a more solid sense of contact with my spiritual core, and more 'aha' experiences."
She is now better able to trust her intuition and has renewed her passion for
quantum biofeedback and energetic healing. Each
individual, each home, and each chart is unique - these are only twelve examples
of what is possible when you combine astrology and Feng Shui. Intention and action,
teamed up with the powerful energies of the New Moon and the art of placement,
can transform your life. I encourage you to play with this system and keep me
posted on the results: I'd love to include your experiences in upcoming writings. To
order a personalized copy of my Astro Feng Shui report, click
here. Attributes
and Enhancements The
following chart is based on the creative and destructive cycle of the five elements.
Just as the planets rule certain houses in astrology and are harmonious or disharmonious
with other houses and signs, so it is with the elements and guas. In general,
it's good to emphasize the elements and related colors that strengthen each gua,
and minimize those that weaken it. (Some guas are more strongly associated with
colors than elements, so they have no restrictions on which elements to use).
As an example, water nourishes wood but puts out fire. Therefore, water elements
enhance the Career (water) and Family (wood) guas, but weaken the Fame (fire)
gua. This is why fountains are good in the Career gua but not in Fame. And, earth
muddies water but produces metal, so earth tones are less favorable in Career
and better suited to Health or Creativity. If you find this confusing, just use
your intuition--and see what works for you! First
House / Career and Life Path: Identity, image, physical self, presentation
to the world Attributes: Water, black, dark colors, metal, round shapes Elements
to minimize: Earth, yellow, fire, red, square, pointed shapes Enhancements: Wind
chimes, fountain, two evergreen plants, two heavy stone objects Second
House / Prosperity: Finances, self-esteem, priorities, values, well-being
Attributes: Blue, purple, red, gold, green Enhancements: Fish tank, jade plant,
gold coins, treasure box, picture of Lakshmi Third
House / Knowledge and Wisdom: Mind, communications, neighbors, travel, education
Attributes: Blue, black, green. Enhancements: Books, travel posters, office or
desk, treasure map, bells, lamps Fourth House / Family: Family, home, ancestral
patterns, foundations Attributes: Wood, blue, green, rectangles, columns Elements
to minimize: Metal, white, round shapes Enhancements: Family pictures, green candles
and plants, prized heirlooms. Fifth
House / Creativity: Creative efforts, children, romance, joy, speculation/gambling
Attributes: Metal, earth, white, pastel, round, square shapes Elements to minimize:
Fire, red, pointed shapes Enhancements: Crystals, original artwork, pictures of
children or baby animals Sixth
House / Physical Health: Health, habits, service, employment Attributes: Earth,
yellow, red, fire, square, pointed shapes Elements to minimize: Wood, green, columns
Enhancements: Yellow flowers, Kuan Yin statue, salt lamp, bowl of lemons Seventh
House / Love and Marriage: Relationships, love, marriage, business partners
Attributes: Red, pink, white, lilac, peach Enhancements: Two crystal rabbits or
ducks, new bed, pink candles, matching end tables/lamps Eighth
House / Prosperity: Shared finances, commitment, transformation, endings Attributes:
Blue, green, purple, red, gold Enhancements: Fish tank, jade plant, gold coins,
treasure box, picture of Lakshmi Ninth
House / Knowledge and Wisdom: Education, wisdom, travel, speaking, publishing
Attributes: Blue, green, black Enhancements: Books, travel posters, office or
desk, treasure map, bells, lamps Tenth
House / Fame: Calling in life, reputation, status, business Attributes: Fire,
red, wood, green, triangular, pointed shapes Elements to minimize: Water, black
Enhancements: Star-shaped mirror, framed certificates, barbeque, fireplace, red
candles, bamboo plants Eleventh
House / Helpful People: Community, friends, hopes and wishes, angelic realm
Attributes: White, gray, black, silver Enhancements: Silver box, pictures of angels
or spiritual guides, dining table, mirrors Twelfth
House / Spiritual Health: Spiritual and mental health, psychic experiences
Attributes: Earth, yellow, red, fire, square, pointed shapes Elements to minimize:
Wood, green, columns Enhancements: Yellow flowers, Kuan Yin statue, salt lamp,
bowl of lemons ©
2009 Simone Butler - all rights reserved, used with permission. Simone
Butler has been a professional astrologer since 1985, offering inspiring,
intuitive consultations that are practical and easy to understand. She also offers
Astro Feng Shui consultations and personalized reports to help you attract more
love, money, and well-being into your life. Simone writes New Moon and Full Moon
forecasts for Tarot.com, and daily forecasts for the Starscroll. She has lectured
widely on astrology and has a worldwide consulting practice based out of her home
in San Diego, California. You can read Simone's articles, contact her for a consultation,
or sign up to receive her entertaining monthly essays at www.AstroAlchemy.com.
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