Episode 201: Problems Diagnosed with the Five Elements

This is my final Five Minute Feng Shui podcast.  Remember always, YOU ARE YOUR BEST FENG SHUI!  When times are good, indifferent and/or bad, you can make things better with your own feng shui.  Never, ever forget this! It has been a pleasure recording these podcasts over the past 5 years and hearing from you, all my listeners!  And as Gene Autry sang, "Happy Trials to You, Until We Meet Again...Happy Trials to You, Keep Smiling Until Then!"

The Year of the Rabbit is coming and with a gentleness that only a bunny can bring. It will offer us a sweet exhale like you do when you sit down in your favorite chair after a long day. The rabbit is associated with the moon, as you may often see the outline of a rabbit when the moon is full. The tiger that precedes the rabbit is the sign of the month of February and the rabbit is the sign associated with the month of March and the Pisces zodiac sign. This podcast discussed the good fortune energies in 2023, Year of the Water Rabbit.

After the past few years that have been marked by upheaval and uncertainties, the energy coming to 2023 will be replaced by a new light, hopeful, and sweeter energy. The Year of the Tiger was the first to bring in springtime energy as it is the first of the 3 spring zodiac animals of tiger, rabbit, and dragon. The rabbit represents the fullness of spring when nature is flowering, and green growth appears. The energy of the rabbit will offer us a respite from the cold austere energies of the past few years that were aligned with the metal element and winter-time animals of the pig, rat, and ox.

The five elements are the five building blocks of feng shui. The elements are made up of water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. If your home or office feels “off” or uncomfortable, it might be out of balance. Just taking a quick look around your home or office will help you to diagnose if there is too much or too little of an element. In a perfect feng shui world, you’ll find all five elements present in a room. This helps to keep the room feeling comfortable, harmonious and balanced – and thus making you more productive, effective, and successful.

In feng shui, you can look at someone’s office and home and often see the level of success they enjoy. But can you take those same traits and apply it to something more personal, like your handwriting? Just like there’s a flow and movement that translate into qualities in your life, there’s flow of handwriting that can indicate – and even influence — personal qualities. The art of handwriting analysis, graphology, is much like feng shui. Graphology is undertaken seriously by those who practice it, and those who don’t, often treat it esoterically. But, look at some interesting facts about handwriting analysis, or graphology.  The CIA, FBI and many police departments in the US look at handwriting to understand the minds of those they’re investigating. How does graphology relate to feng shui? In feng shui, the mind and thinking are related to the hand, so by extension, the style of writing someone has provides some insight into that person’s personality and can influence their lives. In my own feng shui training, my teachers encouraged students to look at our signatures to make sure they looked successful and prosperous, with an emphasis of writing that had bold strokes that tilted up and to the right.

There’s one image that gives you support at work and represents wealth, resources, strength and support and that image is a mountain. Mountains, whether images, real, such as the Rocky Mountains or Himalayas, or symbolic, such as a screen, all give support in feng shui. This is a critical concept in feng shui because without support, there is struggle and a feeling of rolling a boulder up, well, a mountain. Support from behind The idea of being supported makes a lot of sense when you think about it. If you sat on a stool all day, your back would ache. But when you have a comfortable and high-backed office chair, you are supported and can work longer and more effectively at your job. The same is true in your home. Having a support at the rear of the house symbolizes the black tortoise, a celestial creature that provides support and adds vigor and longevity to your life and home, helping to protect you from unpleasant surprises and misfortune. The black tortoise is represented by a slight rise at the rear of your home, supporting your home, much like the tall back on an executive chair supports you as you work.

Windows are a natural part of the exterior of a home or office building. In a sense, they’re the eyes of the building. Their openings let in light, views and without them, life would dark, dull, and depressing. Yet, having not enough windows is just as bad as having too many. Because of their energy, windows can affect our home’s feng shui – and ultimately – our lives. Like all things in feng shui, balance is important. The same is true with windows. Too few and it’s dark and we feel hopeless, too many or too large, and we feel scattered, frenetic, and exhausted. The key is to balance enough light and views with privacy and exposure.

If you’ve ever wanted to make a change, a move, or leapfrog to another place in your life, this is the star that will help you do it. In feng shui, the White 1 star is a star that can bring you all those things, plus these benefits: Opportunities Victory over the competition A new way of being or living Sudden luck, like a star falling in your lap Increased income When you look at benefits like these, it’s no wonder that the one (1) star is so popular in feng shui. This star is part of a group of stars called the White Stars. These include 1, 4, 6, and 8 (and sometimes 9). The stars in this group are considered to be the most favorable. The 1 star is governed by the planet Jupiter, and whenever this planet appears, it is said to create good luck. Like western astrology that confers good luck with Jupiter for expanding good luck, so, too, is the 1 star. When it shows up, luck expands wherever it flies.

If there was ever a star that represents wine and roses, the 4 (four) star is it. In feng shui, the number four and the 4 star represent education and romance, but it also has other benefits that are like a motorcycle with a sidecar filled with roses. For entrepreneurs and the career-minded, any kind of publicity, marketing, writing, podcasting, sales or speaking falls under the purview of the 4 star, making it a great star for students, teachers and writers. This is the star whose home sector is the wealth sector and represents that tiny green shoot that signals vibrant new growth and life.

The 6 star is one of the most favored and highly regarded of all the stars in feng shui. This star has a bountiful energy star that bestows favor and brings achievements, power, influence, authority — and perhaps the best of all its attributes — windfalls, favors, and opportunities laid at your feet. The 6 star is like a big cosmic shower of meteors that rain down like diamonds from the sky and into your lap. Better still, the 6 star represents the energies of helpful people that bring assistance when you need them.