Happy Chinese New Year! May the year of The Dog bring you the comfort of loyalty, companionship, and deepened relationships.



You most likely already know that with Feng Shui, the Chinese art of placement, you can move furniture, use different colors, and place accessories in specific areas of your home to Increase Wealth, Deepen Love, and Improve Health.* But, I bet you didn't know that your Feng Shui also changes every year. Now, before you think that you have to redecorate every year, you don't! All you need to do is move 9 items in your home according to a sage-old formula. No formulas today, just the quick concept with what to move and where to place it!

Concept of Yearly Energies: Generic to everyone, unlike your basic Feng Shui,* there are nine yearly energies ranging from the best of the best, to the worst of the worst. Each of the nine energies sit in each of the eight magnetic directions with one in the center position of your home. Explained in a different way, each of the nine equal-sized sectors or areas in your home has an energetic influence with specific attributes that change every year. One sector will have the best energy, one will have the worst, and each of the others has a value in between.

What to Move and Where: The key is to enhance the good energies to make them even better and reduce the bad ones so you are not under their detrimental influence. Segment your home into nine equal sections as if you were putting an invisible tic-tac-toe board directly on top of it. Each square has a different directional location determined by a compass, each with a specific energy (North, South, East, West, Northwest, etc.). Look around your home to consider what existing items in your home that you can move to each of the nine areas to maximize this year's potential.

In the:

East: place “moving water” such as a fountain or fish tank to enhance “new beginnings and/or recognitions along with scholarly and academic endeavors.”

Southeast: place “moving metal” such as a metal wind chime (preferably with 6 or 7 rods) or chiming clock with a metal sound to seduce “sickness” (the second worst energy).

South: place “still water” such as a glass vase or something blue (a blue, glass vase is perfect) to reduce “cutting energy.” Cutting may mean broken bones, cutting your skin, and even cutting with your tongue so be careful and think before speaking in this area.

Southwest: place something made of wood in this area to help future good fortune. Because the southwest is energy of “intimacies and relationships,” create a double-good move by placing a wood sculpture of a pair (pair of lovers, dolphins, doves, etc.)

West: place “moving metal” such as a metal wind chime (preferably with 6 or 7 rods) or chiming clock with a metal sound to seduce “severed fate and bankruptcy.” (This is the worst energy - it is best to avoid this area as much as possible).

Northwest: place “quite metal” such as a metal bowl, sculpture, or accessory to reduce “arguing and bickering energy.”

North: place “moving water” such as a fountain or fish tank to enhance the best of the best energy. Whatever the room, good things will happen here. You may even have unexpected good luck specific to what room it is in.

Interestingly, the morning after I moved the bed with our heads pointing North (because of this year's best energy, it has good Flying Stars, and is one of my husband's good directions), the first words out of his mouth was, “Whew, I slept great!”

Tip: Always prioritize sleeping direction to combine good yearly energies, natal Flying Stars, and one of the best directions for the “more fragile” person sleeping in the bed.

Northeast: place something made of earth such as anything made of ceramic or stone to enhance my “just right” favorite energy which I call “ease and graciousness.”

To enhance “bright future” energy in the center, place “moving water” such as a fountain or fish tank to enhance the best of the best energy.

Deepen Feng Shui: Depending on the room that each energy is occupying, whatever happens in that room will be influenced by that energy. For example, if the East area is your bedroom, there may be new beginnings in your relationship. If East is your office, you may have new beginnings and/or recognitions that relate to projects especially ones that include writing.

Next year gets even easier to maintain your good Feng Shui: These items and the locations will help increase good things in your life all the way through February 3 of 2007. After that date, the energies move according to the formula that I told you about.

I sincerely wish you only good things!

*To clarify a popular misnomer, there is not one Feng Shui map generic to everyone. For consistent Feng Shui, only one is specific to you and your home.