The tendency of Western culture is to represent dragons as fierce demons out to destroy everything in their path, but in the Orient, a feng shui dragon is considered an extremely powerful protector, it represents success, wealth, prosperity, power, good luck in love, and spiritual growth. The dragon is a very important symbol in feng shui because it is believed to create precious celestial Chi and bring good fortune into our homes and workplaces. We should use the figure of the dragon to encourage balance in our lives and the space that surrounds us.

How can we use dragons in feng shui?

Dragons are considered the most powerful gift you can give to a loved one, since they are symbols of power and love and exude positive energy and power.

A dragon figurine or a dragon statue is a powerful enhancer for luck in business.

They bring wisdom to the elderly.

They bring honor to the family, and they save children from harm.

Dragons are a very powerful 'Yang' symbol which can manifest itself as fearlessness and courage.

Dragons guard your home, they bring strength and fortune, and surround you with protective energy.

Place a dragon figurine in the Career Area, or the East of your home's Bagua, to attract success and wealth. Although dragons provide very auspicious energy wherever you place them because they can embody any element, particularly water or fire, they are the most powerful when placed on the East.

Choose the color or the material that will match your objectives and the area of the Bagua you really want to enhance. The best colors for dragons are turquoise (the color of water), red (the color of fire), and gold.

Place a feng shui dragon in your love and relationships area to bring you good luck and attract love. Combine the image of a dragon and a phoenix to enhance the love energy even more.

Dragons also symbolize wisdom. A 2000 years old legend says that "the souls of people make a journey into the higher realms on the back of a dragon". They are also considered mediators that transmit human desires to the Universe to make them come to life, enhancing the Law of Attraction.

Always treat the dragon's image with utmost respect. Do not display images of crippled or dying dragons, and be careful not to place them in zones with low energy levels like closets, bathrooms, storage areas or the garage.

Dragons have a very strong Yang energy and they will activate the Chi of the room they are placed in, so you will be better off placing them in your living room or dining room, and not in your bedroom, since that very same Yang energy will not allow you to rest peacefully.

Don't use a carpet with the image of a dragon, since dragons are supposed to fly free in order to protect us.

The dragon figure will improve your life. Enjoy all the benefits this powerful animal can provide you.

Photos courtesy of:

miheco

Mary Kaye

angelrravelor

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese practice of achieving harmony with the specific placement of certain objects in your home or office, which affects the flow of energy in your surroundings, the Chi (Qi), and this can be positive or negative. Obtaining luck, health and prosperity is usually the main focus of using Feng Shui. My own theory is that Feng Shui creates such harmony in your surroundings, that everything that you look at gives you a feeling of well being. If you look at a broken TV screen or that radio that's been sitting there for the last 2 years, you will not feel good, right? Feng Shui cures are used whenever some area of our lives is not going as well as it should, like Romance, Family, Health, Wealth, etc.

Now, what does this have to do with your fish tank? Well, it's always good to add an aquarium to obtain wealth and abundance. Having a fish tank can help increase positive Chi in your life. When you are thinking of using a Feng Shui Fish tank, you should also think about putting 8 goldfish (since gold symbolizes wealth and luck) and 1 black fish (to absorb any bad luck). However, if you can't place such a big tank in your house, just keep an odd number of goldfish. I believe that just having a nice, clean fish tank with a good balance of all the elements is enough.

Aquariums are auspicious because they present a harmonious combination of wealth attracting Feng Shui factors, and a perfect balance of all 5 Feng Shui elements:

Feng Shui Water element (the water in the aquarium) Feng Shui Wood Element (the plants in the aquarium) Feng Shui Metal element (use some white and gray rocks in the fish tank, or a round aquarium) Feng Shui Earth element (the rocks and gravel at the bottom of the fish tank) Feng Shui Fire element (gold /yellow, orange and red colors of the fish, as well as the aquarium light)

The best area to place your Feng Shui aquarium is in the Wealth and Abundance area of you Bagua map; the Career area is also a good place to position your aquarium and so is the Health and Family area.

If one of these areas turns out to be in your bedroom, the kitchen, or another unsuitable area, choose the room where you want to put your tank and place it in the Wealth and Abundance area of that room. However, do not place an aquarium in the bedroom or the kitchen. These are the two places where a fish tank can stimulate the Chi too much, making you eat in excess and sleep restlessly (plus the noise of the filter would not let you sleep).  The entrance to your home is a nice place to put it if it represents the Career area.

In order to get a good flow of Chi, your tank has to be clean and well taken care off, with happy and healthy fish. A dirty tank and sick fish can emit bad chi and it will do more harm than good. You can use real plants with almost all kinds of fish; just keep them healthy and beautiful. I do not recommend them with Goldfish because they eat them, so you can use plastic plants. It's the appearance that counts. They have to be clean and pretty.

Remember what I told you about looking at things that make you feel good? Using a Feng Shui Fish tank will always give you a good feeling.

Give it a try. Sometimes just believing that things will change, changes them. But with a Feng Shui fish tank, I can tell you from my own experience, you will be surprised and shocked by the changes you will feel almost immediately.

These days work can be extremely stressful. More and more people are working longer hours and that is leaving them feeling incredibly worn out. Trying to balance work with family life as well as fitting in time for you can be a struggle. However, there are ways in which you can make life a little more relaxed and less stressful with Feng Shui.

One way is to apply Feng Shui to your working environment. Since it would enable you to relax while you are working, using Feng Shui in your office could be the best thing you ever did.

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui goes by the theory that everything in life has an energy source or Ch'i. Controlling the positive energy sources allows us to benefit and live a more positive life. Feng Shui teaches us how to feed that positive energy and using it to improve our lives.

Feng Shui in the office will consist of re-arranging the furniture if needed, as well as adding different objects or colors representing the elements of nature. We will be following what is called the “Ba Gua”.

A Ba Gua is a tool used to help determine the best locations in your home or office for certain functions, such as wealth, career, health, fame, love, travel and more. The ba gua is a map of the energetic qualities of your space. It is usually shown as an octagon with eight sections surrounding a central area, the tai chi. For practical use, the corners of the ba gua are extended to form a square, and then divide it into nine equal sections. The ba gua divides any space into nine areas. Each area corresponds to a different aspect of your life. Whether there's good or bad energy in that part of your space will affect the related aspect of your life. You will use this "map" to arrange your office.

-WALL WHERE THE ENTRANCE IS-

Using Ba Gua within the Office

When you are ready to begin, make a rough blueprint of your office space and use the ba gua map to split the area in 9 sections. Then check the map and see which elements you need to incorporate into the office. Aim to keep a good balance between each area so that every aspect of your life benefits from the layout. A good balance is achieved by not having too much of one element and lacking another. Your space has to have a balance of the five elements of Feng Shui: Water, Wood, Metal, Earth, Fire.

One rule of Feng Shui that you should pay attention to in the office, is that the desk should be facing the doorway. This will not only help in a Feng Shui aspect but it will also help you to greet any incoming guests and you'll never be caught by surprise. When a person enters the room, the first thing that they will see is you at your desk. This gives you an air of importance and helps you look more professional.

Also make sure your back is against a wall, not a window. You need something solid supporting you. If you don't have another option, try to put a heavy piece of furniture like a bookcase or console between your chair and the window.

If you are interested in increasing your wealth (who isn’t!), then you may want to place a picture of a waterfall on one of the walls related to your Wealth Area. Water is the element responsible for drawing wealth into your life, so items such as a fountain or an aquarium will help too. Plants also brighten up your space and help move the good energy around you. So why not place a plant on your Health and Family Area?

Follow your heart. You'll feel different about every change you make, so just keep what makes you feel more comfortable. Enjoy!

When you think of Feng Shui, you mainly associate it with the home or the office. Rearranging the furniture and surrounding yourself with objects that attract good luck. However it is not only the indoors that can be designed using Feng Shui; you can also use it to create the perfect garden environment.

If a garden is part of your property, Feng Shui should be incorporated into it. That will really help to bring you the best results. We all like our gardens to look impressive and beautiful. It allows us to appreciate our environment a lot more and it helps to release positive energy that helps us flourish. Feng Shui gives us the tools needed to create the most positive outside environment and the best part is that you don't need a huge garden to use Feng Shui arrangements.

Incorporating Feng Shui into the Garden

One of the main factors that you have to take into account when it comes to Feng Shui is that clutter is always a bad thing. This also applies to the garden. If you have a lot of clutter outside of your doorway you won't attract good energy. Make sure that the entrance to your home looks welcoming and tidy. Also make sure you clean up once Winter is gone. The cold weather and the snow will cause leaves to stick to your lawn and in your flower beds. Once you have tidied everything away, you can truly start to incorporate Feng Shui into the garden.

If you want to plant trees in your garden, aim to plant them at the sides and around the back of your garden. Don’t plant them too close to your home as, although they are fantastic producers of positive energy, they can overshadow the home and look a little too imposing if placed too close. There should always be plenty of natural light shining into your home, so don’t place anything in the garden that will block out the light.

To draw positive energy into your garden, it's a good idea to attract birds and butterflies. You can do this by providing a birdbath and plants that attract butterflies. These animals tend to bring positive energy with them, which will help you in your Feng Shui garden goal.

Also apply the ba gua to your garden. A lemon or orange tree in the Wealth Area is fabulous to attract prosperity to your life. A fountain or pond is also an amazing thing to have in your garden or front lawn to the left of your front door. Also make sure that you don't have a tree directly in front of your front door or this will block the entrance of energy to your house.

If you like cacti, never have them inside your home. Instead, try to put them outside the windows, where they will act as protectors of the home.

Statues are also a wonderful addition to your garden, but if you are single, try not to use a statue depicting a single person, try to use pairs of things. Such a statue would do wonders in your Love and Relationships Area. A statue of children playing in you Children and Creativity Area is another option.

Finally, remember that water is the "blood" of your home. Make sure there are no leaks in your sprinklers or anywhere else, since this will be draining your wealth.

If you live in an apartment and you don't have a garden, but you have a balcony, make sure you don't use it as a storage area. Apply all the same principles only at a smaller scale.

The idea is to make your garden, or balcony, as peaceful and relaxing as possible. You can spend months creating the perfect home using Feng Shui techniques. However, if that area isn’t arranged properly, you might be wasting all the efforts that you made inside the home.

Once you have created a nice peaceful garden setting, you will find that it really helps to rejuvenate the mind as well as the body and nothing but good energy will come into your home.