Feng Shui Blog - The House of Light and Harmony

FENG SHUI, THE FIVE ELEMENTS, THE SCIENCES, AND BALANCE IN YOURSELF AND YOUR HOME

According to Feng Shui, there are Five Elements which interact and interrelate in all aspects of our lives. These elements make up the constituents of our anatomical and physiological bodies. The planet is primarily made of these five elements. When buying, renovating, remodeling and furnishing a home, one would be wise to consider the balance of the five elements. This article suggests there is a very unhealthy lack of fire and water elements in most homes. It is also interesting to note that there is a difference between this model and the Vaastu model which also incorporates “ether” and “air” as elements.

WHAT ARE THE FIVE ELEMENTS?

The Chinese start with Earth in the centre of a fourfold-square. Earth is the planet’s most prevalent elemental nature. Earth is grounding. It includes soil, concrete, stone, and all human-made materials incorporated into housing structure and anatomy. The physical sciences such as geology, geography, engineering, physical anthropology, medical science, architecture are focused on the element of earth.

Metal is condensed within the earth over long periods of geological time. This is the interest of metallurgy, alloid structures in building materials, engineering and geology.

Water is an element held by metal and earth. It predominates on our planet. It is the lifeblood of all our interdependent, sustainable ecological systems. Hydrology, hydrogeology, flow science, capillary action, human circulation, house and car heating systems, house and car cooling systems, steam engine are some of the sciences concerned with the element water.

Wood, including plants and trees, is nurtured by water. Without wood, our planet would not survive, nor would we. The production of oxygen by our global forests deal with the increasing amounts of greenhouse gases produced by humans and their technologies. Botany, agriculture, permaculture, forestry, and the lumber industry are some of the sciences.

Fire is fed by wood; the ash from this makes earth. Vulcanology, gunpowder, atomic and fusion-fission sciences are concerned with fire element.

A DREAM AND THE SEARCH FOR BALANCE AND HARMONY IN SCIENCE

Last night I had a dream that the search for an integrative, holistic science may well create balance and healing in our increasingly chaotic lives and world. The specialization of information accumulation and technological utilization within the separate sciences at universities worldwide has concerned me for some decades. Without some wise melding of knowledge which understands, integrates and harmonizes all that we research, we could be in danger of destroying what we have by only looking at the world from within one tiny perspective. To paraphrase Einstein, “the solution to a problem is not at the level of the problem; it’s at a higher meta–level.” When we can clearly see in the light of day what all the fingers of science are doing, AND coordinate them to our and the Earth’s benefit, then we might be wiser than presently. The ten fingers of science need to work together.

Each of the five elements has a deep relationship with the other elements; we can and must learn to create harmony. Let’s start at the personal level.

YOUR HOME AND HARMONY OF ELEMENTS

Consider our homes. By creating our safe haven, our sacred resting and playing spaces, we find solutions to a chaotic world that seems to be stalling, misfiring, and changing daily. Issues of the economy or social justice take one step forward and two steps back typically.

Earth is the major element of your home given the underpinning is the earth itself, concrete foundations and concrete basement floors.

Wooden walls, doors, floors, joists, and roof beams add as much of this element in your home as earth. When we add wooden tables, chairs, windows and floors, likely wood is the predominant element in your home.

Metal is used more and more in homes, particularly in pipes, doors, window frames and glass (remember glass is classified ‘metal’), roofs, venting, skylights, gutters, soffits and downspouts. As well, we utilize metal in light fixtures, tables, chairs, ornaments and sculptures.

The two elements usually missing from the balance in a home are fire and water. Interestingly enough, these are precisely the two elements most ‘feared’ for their powers by us and insurance companies. We are insured against fire and water damage mostly. In nature, forest fires along with floods and hurricanes do the most damage to our lives and the economy.

BRING IN THE FIRE AND WATER!

I would like to claim logically that we need to bring in much more fire and water into our homes and lives. What we resist, persists! What we fear most will come to pass, because we focus on it with your mind and intention. The solution and antidote is to bring more fire and water into our lives.

Other cultures use fire and water in many cultural ways. In India, as in the Arab world, fire purification rituals have been the daily status quo for millennia. Daily Hindu fire rituals with aarti, burning of incense and sacred cremation bring fire to homes and temples, and release to the souls of the dead and the living. Zoroastrian fire worship continues the practice of old to this day. Australian aborigines burn the open ancestral lands to bring lush new growth. Foresters do likewise. In Canada, we have wood-burning fireplaces as a ritual place of joining family together for story-telling, remembering camping and canoeing trips, and enjoying the brightness of the flames on a winter’s night. But is this enough for us? Do we need more?

As for water purification rituals, most cultures have instituted these -- Hindus bathing in the Ganges, the famous Roman baths throughout the empire, western steam baths, hot tubs, hot spring retreats. We have daily showers or baths as a way to cleanse spiritually, emotionally and physically. Again, is this enough?

Feng Shui suggests that there is a great imbalance in most people’s homes, offices and lives regarding the elements of fire and water. Given that they are so prevalent on earth – volcanic rock on seven continents and the seven oceans – we are sorely out of balance. The Hopi call this Koyannasqatsi. A preponderance of three elements out of five is not good. Especially when these three of earth, wood and metal are the more inert, stable and unmoving elements, the elements that lead to spiritual, physical and psychological inertness, depression, pent-up feelings, and meaninglessness. The inertness of these elements and materials of our buildings cause inertness in our minds, hearts, passions, goals and lives. Four per cent of our potential is being used and that’s about it.

The two elements of change, subtlety, transformation, alchemy and movement – fire and water – are the ones missing. No wonder we devolve into couch potatoes when we get ‘home.’ There is no mirroring energy of quixotic fire and flowing water to surround us and keep us moving. On a spiritual level, perhaps we are missing the spiritual fire and Source light in our lives, such as we experience in yoga and meditation. Water has always been called the ‘water of life,’ the ‘elixir,’ and is a spiritual healing element of great significance. Our physical bodies are 90 per cent water and perhaps we need to have more flowing water in our homes, for healing, for sound, for enhanced flow. Remember that Feng Shui means ‘energy water flow.’

How do we rectify and change our living spaces to bring in more fire and water? How do we balance fire and water in the living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, family room, conservatory and garden? What colours, fabrics, shapes, designs, house quadrants (north, east, south, west), establish fire and water for us? How close can fire and water be placed together?

“What we do not embrace consciously, we experience outwardly as fate!” Carl Gustav Jung suggests.

I have consulted with many Feng Shui clients who have had severe fire and/or water damage to their homes. In every case, the internal balance of fire and water elements was missing prior to the catastrophes. Do we need to go there?

TAKING THE NEXT STEP

How we can establish a continuous flowing energy of good Qi to create health, movement, flexibility, creativity, growth, intelligence, new business possibilities, romance, and positive family relationships? For starters, you can consult with your Feng Shui specialist about how and where your fire and water elements are missing. This has only minimally to do with adding a wood fireplace or a water feature. You wouldn’t do surgery on your own body when you needed it. Hire a professional who can analyze your entire elemental and building systems and find the holistic balance that will bring continuous harmony to you and your loved ones and pets.

Posted by Joseph Monday Aug 23, 2010 11:43
Categories: | Tags:

1 Comment: