Elemental Awareness - by: Jane Kifer

The part that resonates the most, or rather how Feng Shui sits right with me, is that it encompasses so many aspects I believe in and have been drawn to in terms of modes of understanding and organizing our world- from physics, spirituality, energy in a physical form and a non tangible form, it is intellectual, it is earth based on elements and natural factors and the relationship between each. It just all makes sense. When we talk of a "better Feng Shui", it is literally discussing the relationship between the spaces and parts, how they relate. It is all based on a natural cycle of the elements as we see in the chart or map that we apply. Different areas represent different things, but the parts I find fascinating and so deeply rooted in my soul and my entire existence of growing up in nature are the elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood. Fire produces earth, Earth produces metal, metal produces water, water produces wood, and wood produces fire. They all relate. One feeds or gives life to the next. And the opposite is true, they can overcome each other as well. This natural cycle and base gives so much understanding to the relationships in Feng Shui. Shapes, material, color, symbols, body parts, family members and many other categories, represent each element in some way. Like white and circles represent metal, Triangles and red, fire. These representations make it really fun! In my helpful people area of my plot by my front gate of my house, I hung an off white curtain with ellipses embroidered on it, from the frame just inside the entry gate. My very guarding neighbor's dog used to hang out there and guard our home. He definitely kept people out! When he left, I didn't want a straight shot of energy from the street to my front door past my gate so I hung a curtain of sorts. Since I started studying Feng Shui, I chose one that was good in color and shapes for that "helpful people, travel" area. It was a good choice. Since doing that, things have definitely aligned for the better and goodness in this area has flooded to me easily.