Now what does 3-Wood mean? The energy of 3 (the Zhen Trigram from the I-Ching), is associated with arguments, gossip, and legal conflicts. Not very positive energy, to say the least! If you have an important area of your home in the North quadrant of the floor plan, such as a bedroom, office or entrance door, then you could be looking at a year that will be complicated by potential legal problems, gossip, or arguments. This is where the feng shui remedy comes in: since I have just described a type of Wood energy which is negative, the goal is to reduce it with fire. Just like nature, wood gets eaten up by fire, so when you want to reduce Wood's potency, you add real fire or the color representation which is any shades of red.

Let's say you have an entrance door in the North: for 2002 you may want to put a red entry rug right inside the door. What about a bedroom in the North? Maybe some maroon pillows on the bed or a burgundy comforter could be added. If your home-office is in the North part of your house, perhaps you can put some red artwork on the wall, or drape some red fabric over a file cabinet. A red chair would work as well.

Keep in mind that this is only a yearly remedy and that it is not a permanent recommendation for every house or always for the North. In order to know what truly is the North Quadrant of your house you have to do the following:

1.. Sketch out a precise to-scale floor plan.       

2.. Do an actual compass reading in front of your home to see what direction your house is facing. Compare it with the back to make sure it reads the opposite. In other words, if your house faces east, then the back will be to the west.

3.. Divide up your floor plan in equal thirds, both the length and the width in order to grid out the areas as directional quadrants, with the front middle quadrant being the direction the house actually faces. This will let you see where all the directions are within your house, including the North.

Following is a quick run-down of the number/element for each direction in 2002, the potential effect, and the remedy or enhancement for that area:

a.. North: potential arguments, gossip, legal problem, robbery. Reduce with fire (red color is best, real fire is not practical or safe.)

b.. Northeast: annual 1 water combining with an inherent earth direction can cause problems with blood, kidneys, circulation. Strengthen area with Metal objects.

c.. East: potential arguments, accidents, pain, set-backs. Add lots of Metal objects to reduce the power of this negative annual 5 earth energy.

d.. Southeast: Annual metal combining with an inherent wood direction can cause leg or back pain, injuries. Add real water (like a fountain) to strengthen this area.

e.. South: Annual 2 earth indicates potential for sickness, bleeding, loneliness. Add lots of Metal objects to this room or area to reduce its power.

f.. Southwest: Annual 4 Wood associated with academic achievement, public recognition, writing, art, music, and romance. To enhance any of these good features, add a water feature (like a fountain or aquarium.)

g.. West: Annual 9 fire combines with the inherent Metal direction of West to potentially cause dental or chest problems. Strengthen the West with Earthen objects (like a clay pot, natural stones).

h.. Northwest: Annual 8 earth in the NW is really good for Money-making! Stir up this energy with an oscillating fan, a little water, even the fire element, such as something red.

                               

Five-element theory is a major part of feng shui. You can see by this list that you should have certain items in your home that you could move around from year to year in order to protect yourself from some of the harmful influences and to activate the positive forces.

And keep in mind: even though some of the annual influences sound quite dramatic, they will only effect you if you spend a lot of time in that particular area. For example, the direction of East is a big concern for 2002. If that happens to be your kitchen pantry or a bathroom, it is not going to be very active. But if it falls in the important areas, add pounds and pounds of metal to cancel it out. Metal is anything made of copper, brass, bronze, steel, iron, silver or gold.

For more Feng Shui click here to view back issues.

Visit Kartar's Website @ www.fengshuisolutions.net