Art for Feng Shui

In the article Basic Feng Shui Cures (see the menu on the left), I mentioned briefly the potentials of (visual) art for the purpose of enhancing prosperity and well being. When the qi of a living space is stagnant and not flowing optimally, a colourful painting or photograph can lift up the qi and make the space instantly more friendly. Paintings and statues can also be used to give direction to qi and make it flow in a more beneficial way. For example, when arrow qi is a problem, perhaps caused by a long narrow corridor, beautiful art work hung along both sides of the walls can soften and cure the arrow qi. Additionally, the direction of the figures in a painting or photography will also lead the qi towards in the desired direction.

Using art work to support or drain the impact of the flying stars can be more challenging. This is because when we want to encourage or cure a star, we usually need just one or two elements, and yet most paintings usually entail more elements than those represented by their colours. If we can afford it, the best solution would be to commission an art work that represented the necessary element in both its colours and shapes. By properly understanding the element in question and knowing the colours and shapes that activate or weaken it, we’ll be in a better position to design a suitable image. When the metal element is needed as a cure, it will be much easier to use metal statues and installations using metal rather than the traditional metal wind-chime.

In this context, we can group flying stars into two categories. The first group are the stars with negative implications that we would like to remedy. The second consists of those prosperous and timely stars that are good to encourage in order to increase their beneficial influence. However, there are no stars with eternally positive or negative meanings. Perhaps it is more proper to call them timely and untimely stars. For example, in the current age of 8 (2004-2023), the prosperity star is 8 earth. Number 9 fire star is also very positive, representing future prosperity. Number 1 water star is somehow neutral at the moment as it represents distant prosperity. But after the year 2014, this star starts to be beneficial.

Stars that need cures in our current age are 3 and 4 wood, 3 being the more troublsome one, repesenting anger, conflicts, quarrels and robbery. Number 4 wood star is associated with scandals. They both need fire as a remedy.

From the earth group, only 2 and 5 are negative, since 8 is the timely star in this age of 8. 2 sickness star and 5 yellow danger both need metal and perhaps some water as cures.

Negative metal stars of our age are 6 and 7, 7 being the more dangerous one. Number 6 is associated with legal trouble and respiratory problems. Number 7, again scandals and general back-stabbing. The cure is water and some wood.

The stars can also be classified according to the five elelments:

Elements:	WATER	WOOD	FIRE	EARTH	METAL
Star Nr.:	1	3/4	9	2/5/8	6/7
Cures:	–	Fire	–	Metal/Water	Wood/Water
Enhancers:	Metal/Earth	–	Water/Wood	Wood/Fire (8 only)	–

After pinpointing on the flying star chart the harmful stars and finding out the directions of their influence on the floor-plan(s), we can select art work representing the correct elements for cures. Perhaps the easiest is to activate the prosperous stars 8 and 9. Just use the table above. The examples shown here are all paintings. But sculptures, installations and hand-woven textiles can be used as well, as long as they represent the desired elements.