Feng Shui Articles:
TIPS & INFORMATION ON THE ART OF FENG SHUI

In Feng Shui it is a fairly firm belief that all things interact with one another. This interactive flow of energy exchanged between things is believed to enhance, diminish, or neutralize the potential energy flow of each entity. This applies to non-living and living things equally. So, what we have in close proximity to us can have a significant impact on our energy at any given moment.

Most, when thinking of Feng Shui, optimization of a location think in terms of location, direction, lighting, living space shapes and such. However, I would encourage many to consider a location’s energy history as well when thinking of buying, renting or expanding to a new area. Take a moment to reflect back on your own feelings and experiences with places you have lived or visited. Have you ever just walked into a building and felt something was just “not right” beyond any flaw in design that you might be able to visually see? Have there been locations that some you know would think of as dumpy or just not posh and yet, you have found yourself feeling totally safe and “at home” in such locations?

Some might argue that only experts can give an accurate evaluation of a location’s Ch’i. I disagree. I have seen time and time again that many people when they follow their inner “gut feelings” can tell you how something feels in terms of positive or negative energy. When we get such senses of the feel of a location or a person it is critical that we follow this sense. Inner wisdom is not a small thing.

Many years ago I had a very dramatic lesson on location and Ch’i. I had been looking for an apartment with my partner and he had gone to a property management group to help us in our apartment search. With limited funds and not the best credit it was more of a challenge than your average apartment hunt. His “agent” ended up calling one afternoon with a “steal” of a place. It was affordable and within our budget. We were given the indication that we should jump on this place ASAP.

Visiting the place I was to find that it was a partially refinished attic and might not have been an exactly legal apartment to code. There was not even a bedroom door to separate the living room eating area from the sleeping area. The ceiling was highly slanted and the design shape was an absolute Feng Shui nightmare. Yet, we needed a place to live and this was after all a “steal”. Something bothered me about the feel of the place. I thought maybe it was the darkness or maybe the height. I was not sure what it was about the feel of the place that bothered me. Yet, my partner convinced me this was really a great place for the money so we signed a lease.

Prior to moving in together our relationship had been non-ideal in more aspects than should have been present. I had hoped foolishly that living together might improve the situation. Instead, living together in our apartment worsened the situation intensely. My partner seemed to be sliding further into an escalating cycle of moodiness, jealousy and lying. It got to the point I finally told him I needed a break and at the start of the next semester I was moving into the girls dorm at college.

Then the night before I was to take my driver’s exam my partner flew into a rage when I declined his sexual advances. His anger blew like a volcano as he attempted to sexually harm me and even attempted to kill me. It was an assault that lasted for hours. The details of which are not important to this story. I had tried to get to the phone to call for help. He ripped the phone out of the wall. I screamed for help hoping a neighbor might hear - but not a soul seemed to hear.

Obviously I made it through the ordeal for I am here today writing. You might be wondering okay - the lady was dating a psycho - what has that got to do with energy? Well a week after the ordeal I noted a small boy near the first floor apartment staring at me intently. I chalked his stare up to his probably having seen the police come to my apartment a couple times that week. I smiled at him and he replied with a question. “Are you doing okay?” I thought oh the little thing has seen the police and he is worried. So I replied of course. (I know horrible to lie to a kid, but why burst a kid’s bubble on the safety of the world was my rational.) Then the little boy started to apologize to me and tell me he was so sorry for what had happened to me. I played stupid. I asked him what are you talking about honey?

Next the little boy shared with me something that rocked my sense of safety. He told me he was sorry the bad man in my apartment had hurt me - that he had heard and that he had wanted his dad to call someone to help or to come up and help me. Yet, he told me his dad did not want to get involved so his father had not done a thing. The little boy had heard the struggle, heard my screams for help and to God, and he had sat in his kitchen hoping I would be okay. Then he told me something that really unsettled me. He told me this had happened before in that apartment. That another man living in that apartment had badly hurt a woman living there and he had heard that too. He wished that no man would ever move into that apartment again. I had no idea what to say to the poor kid. I knew I had been the one almost killed and I was the one with the protective order that was not being properly enforced. Yet, this child seemed victimized by what had happened to me as well.

Now if I had know that there had been a history of extreme violence in that apartment I never would have moved into it with the bad feeling I had when I first took a look at it. I don’t think most people want to move into a place where someone else was significantly harmed and where a prior couple’s relationship self-destructed. Yet, how many of us take the time to research the reason the last party really moved out or what bad things may have occurred on a property? How many of us take the time to clear the energy of the last occupants out or to have our homes blessed?

Now part of me wants to rationalize that maybe the reason the last couple in my old apartment also had situation where a man hurt a woman was because of chance, that those in lower financial situations are more prone to see battery by man toward a woman or maybe it was extreme heat that seemed to shoot out of the apartment. Yet, sometimes from the mouths of children come extreme tidbits of wisdom. Look to the history of something to see what it’s future might hold. If something has stayed the same why would you expect different results?

There are things that one can do to try to try avoid such things as what occurred to me. A good start is to follow the feel or intuition of a place or situation. Ask yourself if you had a child and you felt like you did about a place or situation - would you let your child go ahead and take the chance? Next, is to make sure when you are looking at a property that you take the time to really walk around the place to get a feel within yourself of how comfortable the places feels. This can be difficult when one has a pesky non-stop talking manager with you. But, assert yourself and tell the party you want to be alone in place for just bit to get a feel. Remember if the property has problems the last thing a selling/renting agent may want is for you to find or feel them. I also suggest you think of asking the neighbors about the history of a property and the people who lived/worked in a property if you can.

If you fall in love with a property and it feels good to you - but you find out that the last occupants are selling the place because of divorce (which happens quite a bit these days!), there are things you can do. You can make sure the relationship sections of your home are properly activated and you can use the knowledge as an opportunity to discuss your current relationship status and issues with your partner. Go with your feelings and empower yourself.

I suggest to people moving into a new place to do a space clearing before moving in. This can be done by one’s self or with the help of a space clearing “professional”. There are books that one can use to facilitate the space clearing ceremony of one’s choice. I personally am into a good cleaning, smudging, burning candles with intent to burn off the bad energy of a place, and having one’s house (and occupants) blessed by a priest. However, I am an occasional practicing Catholic and you might desire to do something else to clear the prior energy in your home. Out with the old energy - and in with the new!

© Desiree A. Krautkramer