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Money mojo

By on April 2, 2012

For something that most people believe brings a lot of pleasure, money can be one of the major causes of stress in our society, and there are lots of beliefs about it in the collective group mind. Feng Shui has a reputation for being able to help people bring good luck to their financial state, yet both through spoken word and various cultural beliefs, a lot of superstitions have developed as to how it can be used to increase one’s fortunes.

The first thing to recognize is that money comes and goes, much like the air we breathe and the tides – Feng Shui does mean ‘Wind and Water’, after all, and all forms of energy follow this kind of ebb and flow. What happens when we keep the air in a room without opening the window, or when we keep water for a long time without drinking it? They stagnate. It’s the same with money: there needs to be circulation for it to continue to flow into your life in a nourishing way. Of course we want to be able to harness this energy so that there is more coming in than going out, and there is nothing wrong with having savings (you’d think there were given how few people have them). Keeping the need for flow in mind can help to ease stresses when things start getting lean. Do we worry where our next breath will come from? Hopefully not. Nor should we worry about money – we can be concerned, curious, and perhaps confused, but worry rarely brings a solution.

While working for a wage obviously brings money our way, our attitude is key to financial well-being and this can be highlighted by our relationship with money-related objects in our possession. This is the first thing to consider: it is our attitude that makes us lucky and that empowers the various talismans and good luck charms that we possess more than the objects themselves, though they of course have their own energy. In Japan, lots of people still talk about a yellow wallet being good financial Feng Shui because the local consultant Dr Kopa had said a few years ago that this was a beneficial colour for that particular year. Conveniently enough, Dr Kopa was also selling yellow wallets, so it was certainly good for his own financial well-being.

I would advise that choosing something that feels lucky to you would be more advisable. Gold is better than yellow in general, and purple is a wealth colour (it fuses fiery red and watery blue). Some wallets have cute expressions on them – “Save for a rainy day” for example – and some of those can be great too (not the ones that sarcastically complain about lack). The notion that one should not replace a ‘lucky’ wallet might be misguided: it was once new and while it might have served you well, if it is falling apart and doesn’t fit with your image, you might consider transferring its contents as well as its energy to a new one. There is a belief in Japan that businesspeople should not purchase furniture from a company that has gone bankrupt because it retains the energy of the previous failed business. There is both truth and lie here. Objects do hold some energy of previous owners, though it can be cleansed both with your attitude and various other techniques (sage smoke, for example).

What is most useful to look at is the attitude with which these objects are purchased. Usually when you purchase something that is not in full alignment with what you want so you can save money, the inappropriately thrifty energy can be infused into that object for the duration of your relationship with it (I say ‘inappropriately’ because you are buying something that is not exactly what you would pay full price for).

I know of an office that purchased all of its furniture from foreclosure auctions. The desks were such that they could not be placed in Feng Shui positions (too bulky for the rooms they were in). The business folded within two years. When you consider that the operating thought that informed the purchase of everything in the place was ‘save money’, which comes from a fear of ‘not enough money’, it is little wonder that ‘not enough money’ came into the business.

Money is a form of energy that gives us the power to do things in the society in which we live. If you are experiencing lack, you might consider examining where you hold a belief at you cannot do what you would like. Whose voice in the past seemed to hold you back from doing what you wanted? What if you could change the script? What would you have your own voice say instead? Let yourself hear yourself say it.

May wealth flow easily into your life and may you use it well.

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.