Feng Shui Bagua Series #4: What Shape Are You In?

You’ve done a great job learning about the Bagua, drawing your floor plan and placing the Bagua on that plan. Now it’s time to mine some Feng Shui gold from the Bagua’s treasures!

One of the first things I look at when analyzing the Bagua is the shape and stability of the structure. I’m not implying that the physical structure of your home is in any way insufficient, but what shape are you in with regards to the energetic structure?

In Feng Shui, the most stable, or wholesome, shape for any structure is a square or rectangle like the floor plan at right. In my experience, finding a floor plan with one of these simple shapes is highly unusual. If you fall into this category, with your floor plan jutting out in one place or recessed in another, your Bagua Map can really start to help reveal imbalances and their solutions.

There are two unfavorable situations that emerge and should be addressed in this case. They are:

• All or part of a gua (Bagua area) is “Outside of Structure”
• One or more corners need to be anchored

All or part of the gua is Outside of Structure

Take a look at the four corners of your home’s Bagua Map. Are all four corners of the physical structure of your home touching the actual Map or is there a gua, (area) or two that falls out in your yard or in an adjoining apartment?

These areas can destabilize the energetic structure of your home. The ideal is to have nothing Outside of Structure; however, this situation often exists and needs to get the same care and attention that rooms within the home receive.

If a Bagua gua is entirely Outside of Structure, there are a couple of ways to use Feng Shui to make adjustments.

• Physically complete and fill the gua with room additions or covered porches
• Decks, patios or arbors can be effective if they are substantial enough
• Add and maintain beautiful landscaping

In essence, you are trying to make the area look and feel like a room that is as cared for as an interior room. It will then generate beneficial Ch’i that supports the area of your life the gua holds.

At left is an area of my Florida home’s Bagua that is outdoors. It is under the main roof of the house, has a ceiling and feels very much like it is a part of my home. However, there are sliding doors that separate it from the main house and hurricane shutters that can be lowered to protect it from harsh weather so it definitely also feels outside. I have decorated it, and keep it clean, with as much care and attention as the interior rooms. We also use it daily which is helpful for keeping the Ch’i flow going.

Anchor Corners

If building a structure or adding costly landscaping to complete a gua is not feasible, you can anchor the corner of the gua that is Outside of Structure. In the floor plan at right, two of the four corners are Outside of Structure and need to be energetically connected to the rest of the house.

Start by finding the spot where the two outer walls would intersect. I stand outside of the home and visually estimate the location. This is your “corner”.  Next, anchor it to the structure by placing one of the following items at that spot:

• Outdoor lamppost or flagpole
• Shrub or tree
• Fencing
• Small garden – shepherd’s hook – large flower pot
• Bird House on a pole or a stump with a bird house
• Sculpture
• Water features such as fountains or waterfalls. If the water comes out in one stream, it should be aiming toward the house or the water can come out in all directions.
• Large rock or pile of rocks
• A quartz crystal at least 2” long may be “planted” in the ground, point up, one foot below the surface.
• Paint a circle, arrow or other meaningful symbol at the corner. This works especially well on asphalt, concrete or other hard surface.
• If you can’t mark the exact corner, you can create an outdoor room in the spot that is outside of structure.

If you live in an apartment or other multi-unit building and your floor plan is an irregular shape, you may have part of your Bagua in someone else’s unit. The options for anchoring a corner given above will likely not suffice, and you will need to place your adjustments from within your apartment.  Here are a few options. Choose one that you like best:

• Add a mirror on the interior wall on the other side of the area that is outside.
• Hang a piece of artwork that has an image that appears to extend into the outside space. A landscape with a distant view or a modern drawing that gives the impression of a tunnel or channel are two examples. Place it on the inside wall adjoining the missing area to symbolically lengthen the interior space.
• Paint the exterior walls of the missing gua a color associated with that gua.
• In a window with views abutting the missing gua, hang a round, faceted crystal and place a healthy plant nearby to help enliven the Ch’i.
• If no window exists, you may hang a faceted crystal at the corner where the adjacent unit’s space intrudes into yours.

Placing the Bagua over individual rooms is a means  to adjust missing Bagua areas in the overall structure and to fine tune situations. Pay particular attention to reinforce and enhance the subsequent “missing” gua in each individual room of the home. For example, if your Relationship gua is Outside of Structure, find the Relationship gua in every room in the house and enhance accordingly.

When mapping a single room for its Bagua, follow the same instructions as the larger structure of the house. Prepare a floor plan of the room, line up the bottom of the Bagua with the door, square off the shape of the room into a rectangle or square, divide the rectangle into nine equal parts, and label each area. Open concept homes have living rooms, kitchens and other rooms with multiple doors so determine which door is used most frequently and use that as the front door for the room Bagua.

Having the energetic shape of your structure complete is a key step on your Feng Shui journey. The stability, grounding and centering it can provide could be the difference you need to move ahead in many areas of your life. If you need some assistance, feel free to contact me. Let us all know what you discover about your structure’s shape and what adjustments you make. It will be great to hear the insights and opportunities your Feng Shui efforts generate.

Have fun,

Carol