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Colors
and Numbers in Feng
Shui
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COLORS
AND NUMBERS IN FENG SHUI Feng
Shui based on the effect of colors and numbers
Though the Yin
and Yang Theory explain to us the foundation of Feng
Shui mechanisms, the rules and remedies of this are also
greatly influenced by the Theory of the Five Elements.
The Chinese believe the interactions of these five
elements - earth, wood, fire, metal and water - can be
combined in different quantities to create all the
permutations that are found in the forces of nature. A
significant portion of Feng Shui practice is based on
interpreting how these elements interact in the physical
environment to create good or bad luck.
The elements
have various connotations as follows-
Fire is red, an
auspicious color. It represents summer and is placed
south.
Water is black
or dark blue, a solemn colour. It represents winter and
is placed north.
Wood is green,
a prosperous colour. It represents spring and is placed
east.
Metal is white
or golden, an intense colour. It represents fall and is
placed west.
Earth is yellow
or brown, a colour of attainment. It represents the
centre.
The elements
are, in fact, involved in two kinds of cyclical
relationships: the productive and the destructive
cycles. In the productive cycle, fire produces earth,
which produces metal, which produces water, which
produces wood, which in turn produces fire. In the
destructive cycle, wood destroys earth, earth destroys
water, water douses fire, fire melts metal, which in
turn will chop down wood. Feng Shui practice requires
that these individual symbolic elements be incorporated
into the positioning of homes and workplaces using the
Chinese system of categorising everybody's date and hour
of birth according to the elements.
It would not be
beneficial for some one born in a fire year to have much
water in the home, so fountains, aquariums, and dark-coloured
objects (black or blue - the water colors) should be
avoided, because water destroys fire. On the other hand,
plants and green objects representing wood are
considered auspicious, since wood produces fire.
Additionally, it would be beneficial if one slept in the
room located on the south side of the apartment. But too
many plants in the home would not be very auspicious if
you were born in an earth year, because wood destroys
earth. Instead, decorating with red objects and bright
lights would be conducive, since fire produces earth.
Since earth is the central element of the five, earth
people should sleep at or near the centre of the house.
These examples
demonstrate the various combinations that would or would
not work from a Feng Shui point of view. In the case of
a family, where each member is born under a different
element, it is the element of the bread-winner or the
head of the household that is deemed the most
significant. It is his or her element that should thus
be considered when diagnosing for appropriate positions
and furnishings. Other rooms in the house can be
designed to benefit their principal occupant.
Thus on the
basis of the five elements, practically all phenomena
have been categorised. Everything, from a river to
sounds to the organs in our bodies, can be described in
terms of the five elements. How the things are
characterised depends entirely on their individual
qualities. For example, earth is associated with growth
and nourishment, so the spleen, which monitors the blood
- digesting debris and producing antibodies when
necessary - is categorised as an earth element!
To conclude, it
must be said that you should not use any of these
elements haphazardly. Ideally, a proper Feng Shui
analysis should be performed by a qualified
practitioner. Used incorrectly, the elements can cause
harm to relationships, health, or money prosperity. When
used correctly, they can strengthen relationships,
health, and money. They permit the right amount of Chi -
the auspicious or the good forces and hold back Sha -
the unsightly or bad influences. Further ahead, we shall
explore the elements in much depth, especially with
focus to health and interiors.
Chinese
philosophers believe five things determine a good life:
fate, luck, accumulated good deeds, education, and Feng
Shui. We may not be able to control external
circumstances, but we can control our immediate
environment by reaching out to opportunity and fortune.
If your heart doesn't lift when you return home each
night, you need Feng Shui. If you don't leave home in
the morning refreshed, comforted, and confirmed in your
innate worth, you need Feng Shui. That’s the gist of
this science. Wherever you live, an efficiency apartment
or a mansion on the hill, your home should be a
sanctuary for repairing hurts and celebrating joys.
Feng Shui uses practical means to alter the physics of
space and infuse rooms with harmony. Thus, our lives
improve because energies in the home are focused. Life
opens up in remarkable ways. For example, a lady resumed
her social life after a five-year hiatus when she placed
a four-foot statue of Kwan Yin, goddess of compassion,
on the crest of a low hill overlooking her garden and
lit the figure with nine (the most auspicious of numbers
in Feng Shui) lights. The illuminated Kwan Yin smiled
down on guests gathered on the moon-lit terrace. The
effect was magical. You can replicate this effect on a
balcony, in an alcove, wherever sufficient space sets
off a symbol of affirmative emotions.
In Feng Shui, everything in the universe is linked by
Chi, a universal energy, which, when flowing smoothly,
that is, neither too fast nor too slow, conducts vital
forces to work on our behalf. If you doubt this,
consider where you thrived, did your best work, met
people who greatly interested you. You felt energized in
a particular way – well, that was Chi par excellence.
On the other hand, consider where you felt drained and
lacking in vital energies. This is because you, your
environment, home or office, were disconnected from the
energy at the centre of the Feng Shui system. When Chi
does not flow smoothly in life, difficulties grow, and
one can suffer inexplicable reverses in professional,
financial, and relationship spheres.
Numbers in
Feng Shui
1 is considered both lucky and unlucky. As the
first of all numbers, it is associated with the energies
of birth and other beginnings, but its ideogram looks
like a bar across a door, which is inauspicious in Feng
Shui.
4 is considered very unlucky because it sounds
like the Chinese word for "death" and is
therefore associated with loss, death, and misfortune.
5 is lucky because it is the number of the
Chinese elements: fire, water, earth, wood, and metal.
8 and 88 are both very auspicious numbers.
8 is associated with prosperity and creativity and
resembles the infinity symbol. There are also eight
immortals and eight triangles of the I-Ching or Book of
Changes, an ancient Chinese system of divination.
Eighty-eight resembles the Chinese pictograph for
"double happiness."
9 is extremely auspicious and considered
incorruptible. It is associated with heaven, longevity,
and fullness. It is also the centre number of the Ba Gua,
an octagon-shaped compass based on the eight triangles
of the I-Ching, with the yin-yang symbol in the middle,
used in Feng Shui.
13 is considered fortunate because it is the
number of lunar months in the year.
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