What you see is what you get

By on November 29, 2008

One of the reasons that Feng Shui is known to the general public is its reputation for helping people manifest their desires. ‘The money corner’ and ‘love corner’ of a home are two areas often referred to that are, if decorated appropriately, said to lead to success in the aforementioned aspects of one’s life. Is this true? And if so, how do you know where what theme is located where and what decorations to buy? The ancient ‘Bagua’ map will tell you.

The term ‘Bagua’ can be translated as 8 trigrams – a trigram is a diagram of 3 solid or broken lines, and the 8 possible permutations of these lines create symbols that form the basis of the Chinese oracle the ‘I Ching’. The Bagua map shows these 8 themed kuas or ‘centers’ forming a clockwise spiral around an un-themed central area. Each theme relates to various expressions of life aspirations that emanate from our centre, our essence. The modern translations of these areas are: Career & Life Path, Self-Cultivation & Knowledge, Family & Health, Wealth & Blessings, Fame & Reputation, Love & Partnership, Children & Creativity, and Helpers & Travel. Expressing these themes in your physical surroundings can provide a focal point for your intention to achieve balance in these life areas, and as popularly expressed in the (in)famous film ‘The Secret’, you magnetize to you what you focus on.

While such a concept can be seen as New Age mumbo jumbo, it is based on psychological reality: what you see creates an impression and affects how you express yourself. This is the foundational principle of advertising. If seeing a commercial for a matter of seconds is meant to impact your consciousness (and corporations wouldn’t spend vast sums on it if this weren’t the case), what of the effect of images and objects that you observe over a period of weeks, months, or years? Scientific American Mind magazine recently presented a cover feature article about the instinctive human need to imitate what we see – this applies to any visual stimuli we observe, physical or not, inner or outer.

The ancient Chinese approach to using the Bagua involved applying each theme to a compass direction: North was ‘Career/Life Path’ while South was ‘Fame & Reputation’. In recent times, some consultants have begun overlaying the map over the physical space using the door as the guiding principle – as the physical entrance represents the source of ‘Chi’ (life-force energy) entering the space, the wall on which it is located symbolically represents the areas shown on the lower part of the map, the ‘Northern’ quadrant of the ancient map. ‘Career & Life Path’ is therefore located in the center of the wall that holds the entrance – interesting, as your life path is central to how you enter all the areas of your life.

To use the Bagua map, overlay the four-sided template over your entire home or workspace, as well as over each room itself. The floor plan should be viewed with the main door at the bottom of the page, so that it looks like you would walk up the page into the home; then place the Bagua map over the floor plan. You can repeat this process for each room, rotating the map so that the bottom of the map is superimposed on the wall with the door. This means that each self-contained space will have its own ‘money corner’ and ‘love corner’, much like each space has its own door (having a front door does not preclude each room having its own door). When looking at the whole space, include the outermost areas within the map. Any areas ‘missing’ caused by an unevenly shaped domicile represents areas in your home that require more ‘funding’ – it is therefore recommended to pay special attention to these areas in each room of the space. While the layout of and placement within the overall space will have the greatest impact on your life themes, each room should be focused on to ensure a consistency of how you can manifest your inner vision in the outer world.

Decorating in a manner that supports the balanced integrity of the Bagua map can be done in a number of ways: through colour and materials representing the 5 Elements that make up all matter, as well as through images and objects that reflect the various themes. You only need one object in any area to get the ball rolling – it’s best to build things up step-by-step, and to use objects and images that are meaningful to you and that work in the context of the space you are in. Choose an area whose theme appeals to you and choose an object that speaks to this concept for you. There is of course more to using the Bagua than this, but a simple beginning is an excellent way to start focusing your awareness on consciously surrounding yourself with what inspires you to be your best.

About Mark Ainley

Mark Ainley is a Contemporary Feng Shui Consultant and Emotional Stress Consultant living in Vancouver. A former 5-year resident of Tokyo, Mark consults with clients internationally to help them design living and work spaces in alignment with their goals. He also provides consulting in emotional stress management, as well as in the connection between facial structure and innate behavioural and communication patterns. He can be reached through his website: www.senseofspace.com and www.markainley.com.