Fixing ‘Bad’ <i> Feng Shui </i>

Here are some pointers on good and bad feng shui , plus some tips on how to correct those less-than-ideal feng shui spots around your home or office.

For the Office

Colors are important. If you want power, choose deep red, purple or plum--a color that inspires respect. Stay away from white, which symbolizes mourning and death. Black is considered a lucky color and will attract prosperity, especially if placed on the north side of the room.

The head of a business should never have an office with a door facing the entrance to the building. Money will flow out the doorway.

Try putting your desk cater-corner to the door with your chair facing the entrance. This way you won’t be startled by visitors, lose your train of thought and break up the flow of ch’i (positive energy).

The ideal placement of your desk will depend on your business or career goals. A northeast-facing desk will bolster your intellectual talents and enhance academic or scholarly pursuits. If it’s fame and fortune you’re after, put your desk on a south-facing wall, add red desk accessories--and watch out world!

If you have a shop or store, a mirror on the left side of the cash register and wind chimes in the entrance will guide ch’i-- and money--your way.

Around the House

Trees planted on the northwest side of the house protect it and bring happiness to the family. Wind chimes outside the door encourage good spirits and ch’i into your home.

A tree directly outside the front door can block prosperity from entering. You can correct this by placing a special invocation for wealth on the tree.

If your front and back doors are in an unbroken line, the ch’i can pass swiftly in and out again. Remedy this by placing a folding screen or some other object by the front door to break the direct line.

If your staircase faces the front door, you can help alleviate this evil by putting a mirror on the landing.

Generally doors that open opposite one another are unlucky. Hang a crystal sphere at the entrance to one of the doors.

Sharp corners or columns are considered threatening. Adding mirrors can help deflect ch’i away from those ominous jutting edges.

The most personal part of the home, the master bedroom is regarded in feng shui as the most important room in the house.

Although mirrors are usually desirable because they conduct ch’i around a room, they are not so good for bedrooms because the ch’i may flow too quickly and make the room less restful.

Mirrors should especially not face the bed. The Chinese believe that the sleeper’s spirit could be frightened by seeing its own reflection.

The foot of your bed should not face the door. This goes back to Chinese practice of laying out the dead with feet to the door and carrying the body out feet first. If possible, put the bed sideways to the door.

If you’re trying to have children, it’s especially important to shield the marital bed from evil spirits. You may want to place a screen between bed and door if there’s a direct line between them.

Don’t put your bed under a ceiling beam as it may cause illness in the part of your body resting under the beam. Also, a ceiling beam in the master bedroom should not run down the center of the bed between the husband and wife because it could split them apart.

The ideal placement for a house is on a lot with a wide yard in front and a hill or slight incline to the rear.

Ideally, a house should face south and the kitchen east or west.

If you’re lucky enough to have a front door that faces south, paint it red to enhance that lucky aspect and get ready for fame and fortune to come your way.

If you’re unlucky enough to have a house at the end of a cul-de-sac . . . well, some things you can’t change. That may account for the old Chinese proverb: “When the feng shui master comes, be prepared to move!”