Feng Shui

Front door feng shui

Wednesday, 20 February 2008 04:04

A number of people have written to ask me about a comment I made in my last blog about glass front doors being a Feng Shui no-no.

The reason why feng shui experts pay so much attention to the front entrance of a home is because it's not just  the main entry port for people, but also for energies. If you read up on this you'll find there's a whole list of feng shui do's and don'ts about front doors that vary from one feng shui school to another, but something they all seem to agree on is that a solid door is better than a glass one. The reason is that people feel more secure knowing there is a solid partition rather than just a piece of glass between them and the outside world. 

Space Clearing goes one level deeper in the understanding of why front doors are so important. The front door holds such a wealth of energies that each circuit of the Space Clearing ceremony begins and ends there. Many of the space clearers I've trained have developed their skills to such an advanced level that just by sensing the front door with their hand, they can discern the nature of the most prominent energies in a place and how they are affecting the occupants.

However, this is only possible to this degree if the front door is made of wood. If it is made of metal, glass or some kind of synthetic material, it doesn't anchor energies anything like as well, and the house or apartment tends to feel considerably less homely as a result. Similarly, at the end of the Space Clearing ceremony, when the place is consecrated to new, higher frequencies, the results are not as strong or as long-lasting. 

So what can you do if you have a glass front door? Some Feng Shui consultants advise hanging a curtain up to cover it, and this does makes a home feel a bit less exposed and usually a bit less draughty, but it doesn't address the much deeper issue of not being able to truly land your energy in the space. So when conducting a Space Clearing ceremony the best advice I can offer is that instead of beginning each circuit by engaging the energy at the centre of the door as you normally would, start at the door frame instead. That's assuming the door frame is made of wood, of course. If it's made of metal or some other substance then the best I can suggest is to place a fairly large permanent wooden something close to the door (a wood carving, ornament, picture frame, or piece of furniture), and start from there.

If you don't have much experience of Space Clearing your home then you may wonder what all the fuss is about, but if you ask any professional space clearer, they will be able to give you numerous examples of what a difference it makes to have a solid wooden front door.

Sydney Opera House

Written by Karen Kingston Monday, 23 July 2007 04:13

Do you know that Jørn Utzon, the architect of the Sydney Opera House, came up with the design by cutting shapes out of a hemisphere?

That’s why it looks so organic. I'm sure this is also why people develop such a personal relationship with the building. I drove past it today on my way to the city and my instinct was to reach out and stroke it, like you would a cute animal.

This brass display panel (below) on the front steps of the building shows how the four cuts were made to form the roof shapes.

Up close the building's even better than from a distance. The 1,056,006 glazed granite roof tiles are a work of art in themselves.

Made from a unique material produced by a Swedish firm called Höganas, they are self-cleaning when it rains and the unusual mix of glossy and matt whites, coupled with the intricate patterning, means they catch the light in very unusual ways, ranging from shades of white to delicious salmony pink or lilac hues.

As for the interior, if you're ever in Sydney it's well worth taking the guided tour. The vaulted ceilings and ingenious use of space are very impressive. Nominated as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, it didn't make it into the top 7 that were announced on 07.07.07 but was among the 14 finalists. It's one of those buildings you just can't 'drink' enough of with your eyes, and it changes not just with every angle you look at it from but also with the time of day and seasons.

An intriguing fact about the Opera House is that when Jørn Utzon won the international competition to design it, he didn't at that time know how to build it. It took him a further 3 years to figure that bit out. Imagine the audacity of a world-class architect submitting plans for something he could conceive of but didn't actually know how to create. You gotta admire his vision and his gall.

Apparently it eventually took 13 years to build it instead of the 3 years he postulated it would, and cost 102 million Aussie dollars instead of the initial budget of AUD $7 million.

But what price can you put on a building that has created a heart not just for the city but for the whole Australian continent?

Feng shui design for websites

Monday, 18 June 2007 18:41

Yay! This new website goes live today! It's been a 6-month project to migrate from the static content site spaceclearing.com has had for the last few years to this new open-source dynamic content management site that offers the look, feel and functionality that's now needed.

All my books have been written using feng shui principles, and this website is the same.

Feng shui is all about creating physical spaces.
Space Clearing is about the energy of a space.
Creating a website is about creating a virtual space.

• In a home, good feng shui design creates an environment that supports the physical needs and nourishes the higher aspirations of the people who live there.
• On a website, good feng shui design creates a virtual space that is a vehicle to convey the essence of the subject matter and the space of consciousness behind it.

• In a home, good feng shui promotes health, wealth and happiness.
• On a website, good feng shui facilitates a healthy interaction with the world, promoting a constant flow of wealth and happiness in whatever form that takes.

• In a home, keeping the space clutter-free allows the energy to flow from room to room, creating a corresponding ease and flow in the lives of the occupants.
• On a website, good feng shui structure makes it is easy for the visitor to navigate their way around, so they can flow from page to page and find everything they are looking for.

• In a home, the furnishings and décor reflect the inner essence of the occupants, creating a mirror of who they are and allowing them to feel completely ‘at home' in the space.
• On a website, the right imagery and style reflects the essence of the content so that visitors can resonate with what is being passed and feel ‘at home' with the site.

• In a home, Space Clearing needs to be done on a regular basis to keep the energy fresh and clear.
• On a website, stagnant pockets (out-of-date postings) need to be cleared or revised so that every part of the site is current and vital.

The list of similarities goes on.

Hope you like the new website. I've certainly enjoyed creating it, and there will be new features and sections introduced in the coming months to keep it interesting and exciting.