Fixing 'negative qi' at your front door...

Feng Shui has lots of rules and regulations doesn't it? :) And while some of it is chucklesome, some of it profound, a LOT of it is unnecessarily rigid in its 'dos' and 'donts' to the point that it drives a lot of people away, shaking their heads at the inaccessible meaning of it all...
The rules about your Front Door, Entrance or Mouth of Chi, seem endless!
Curved pathways, no pointy fences, no tapered shrubs, have certain things on the left, some things on the right..Green Dragons, White Tigers, and Red Birds...what are they on about? And there IS that fear issue when there is so much talk about 'bad luck' and 'negative qi' in a lot of the literature relating to Feng Shui. Another way of saying 'negative qi' is to say 'unbeneficial' or 'unfavourable', even 'unwanted' energy. So lets just keep to the basics and see what's needed...

Classical Feng Shui is the use of theories derived from the I Ching, The Book of Changes, which is an ancient text used not only as the fundamental for Feng Shui studies, but also for Chinese Medicine too. This is because it describes the 'types of energy' using the Trigrams (three lined drawings to 'describe' a kind of energy), and uses the Five Element Theory, which is used to balance and bring harmony to energy in any space or form. The Five Elements are, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. (I would also like to describe them as Initiation, Consolidation, Manipulation, Confluence and Growth respectively, but that's my interpretation of them....)

When you think of your Front Door, you should be considering it as the invitation you are sending out to the Universe or World. Naturally you want it to bring you the best possible energy right? So what is your front door inviting to your house? Five Element Theory can be easily implemented at the front door along with some Classical Feng Shui principles, to align your intention with your invitation to the World.

First of all start with clearing the area of anything that is ugly, sharp, smelly, broken, dangerous etc...yes, anything that is unbeneficial, unfavourable or unwanted...get rid of any possible sources of 'negative qi' ;)
Things like brooms, stinky mops and buckets, filthy shoes, grubby doormats, dead potplants, broken steps or paving that is dangerous to walk on, are just some examples of what would be called a 'Sha' energy in Classical Feng Shui. Sha basically means 'low level' or 'unbeneficial' energy. Cut back vines that can 'grab' at your visitors, and move harsh spikey plants away from the doorway if possible to remove 'pointy' energy, or the physical problem of people actually being scratched by them on the way to your door.

Then you need to follow a few guidelines of Five Element Theory to balance the overall Energy Signature of this space. You'll need to step back and observe the architecture of the area first.

Is it an open space or an enclosed space?
This will enable you to make a choice regarding colours and more...ie: do you need bright colours, more lighting, or, do you need to make some shade here, and use subdued hues...

What is the overall Element combination here?
Fire is triangular, pyramid and red, Earth is rectangular, cubic and earthy tones, Metal is circular, globular and all metallic colours as well as white, Water is wavy, irregular and dark blues or black, and finally Wood is tall, cylindrical, and all light greens, deep greens and pale blues (like a pale blue Springtime sky).
Observe the structure and identify the dominating element/s. Is it all rectangles and earthy tones of brown and beige? or have you got an abundance of woody feeling textures and colours; tall, cylindrical shapes and shades of light green from planting or paintwork....

You get the idea,...observe what Element of the five is most present, or what combination of Elements is dominating this area. Then you can choose some decorations, plants, or colours (for a doormat or paintwork) that you could implement in this area to bring about a balance of the whole five elements and create a harmonious relationship of the Elemental energies.

There is no need to use any trinkets, tassels or icons unless you want to. These things are above and beyond the necessary Elemental Balancing :) If an icon or statue resonates with you eg: an angel, a fairy, a goddess, or a Buddha, then place it at your door, because it will make YOU feel good when you walk towards it :)

If you'd like to have some more information about how to use Elemental Balancing for your front door area, and your whole home, please have a look at the Home Chi consultation offered at www.HolisticTherapyConnections.com, and contact me to make an appointment.