Of course, the growth I’m talking about is the growth in your life, your career, your relationships, and your wealth. We’re not so different than the beautiful plants you buy at the local nursery that look wonderful but then need to be divided or repotted into a larger pot — everything grows.

Your life is a living, growing thing.

When you’re overwhelmed by stuff, like a plant, you outgrow your pot and that’s when you start to see your relationships suffer, your business opportunities dry up, your health and vitality sapped, and finances become tighter and more restrictive.

Worse than all the stuff and visual blight that clutter represents is the way it robs you and your home of vital, happy, and lively energy. Decluttering helps to remove blockages from your life that stop the flow of energy to you and everything you enjoy.

How does clutter affect you and what benefit does decluttering offer?

Life is energy

All life requires growth, evolution and movement. When we lack these elements in our life, the energy that makes up our lives becomes stunted. Imagine not having enough energy to power a light bulb: it grows dim and burns in a weakened state. When we have overstuffed homes – especially with outdated, unused and unloved items, our lives become weakened too.

But how do you know when it’s clutter and when it’s disorganization?

Clutter is when you have eight spatulas or a closet full of clothes you haven’t worn in years. Disorganization is when you can’t find what you’re looking for. Simply organizing your home with shelving, baskets, boxes, and other organizers will often clean up the disarray. In fact, by using organizing items you can often make more room than if you didn’t use them.

Look at your challenges to find the kind of organizers you need. Is the big mess in the kitchen or the bathroom? Maybe the living room is out of control. You might not be able to find an important bill that needs to be paid because you don’t have a place to put the bills when they come in. No matter what your need is, there are containers of every possible size and description that can help you organize your house where you need it.

Unlike a tornado, clutter doesn’t just happen. It gets that way over time.

Sometimes clutter is so insidious that we don’t even notice it until we’re deluged by it. Hopefully, you’ve learned some things about clutter, like what it is, what to do about it, and how it’s different than disorganization. But, just like any good habit, such as exercise, decluttering isn’t something you do and then it’s done: it’s something you start and then keep doing.

Too often people are bitten by the declutter bug and make one big push to declutter. That’s wonderful and having your clutter cleared in one fell swoop feels incredible and unburdens you. Most of the time, though, clutter is related to a vitamin deficiency. Either someone is frozen in fear and doesn’t do anything about the clutter, usually because they’re just overwhelmed, or they do it once or then forget about it for the next 25 years. The key to both is Vitamin C – “consistent C.”

Schedule it

Having a regular routine for decluttering is the single best way to keep it from getting out of hand. Pick a daily time that’s convenient such as every day at four o’clock. Then, spend fifteen or so minutes working at removing clutter (tossing mail, magazines, clearing out the refrigerator). Make it long enough you can accomplish something but not so long that you’ll give up.

Declutter with other activities

Instead of just putting freshly-washed towels away toss out your old tired towels first. Or, while your child is getting ready for bed, take a moment to go through some drawers and remove outgrown or stained clothing. Decluttering as you do other things makes decluttering part of daily living — and that creates a routine.

Make it a habit to be aware

Don’t unload groceries into the refrigerator that’s messy or cluttered with jelly jars with only a teaspoon of jam in them. Instead, quickly go through the fridge and toss old items out and wipe down shelves before restocking, and do the same in the pantry – this is the quality of being present with clutter and your environment. Likewise, if you take a phone message and the pen you’re using doesn’t work, make it a habit to throw it away and not put it back in the holder (and I know you do this!).

Be present

Becoming present means that you are aware where you are. That sounds obvious, but if you’ll start becoming more aware and present wherever you are, you’ll notice that you stop forgetting things and misplacing items and you’ll notice how your home and office stay cleaner and neater more easily.

You’ll also notice that you get more accomplished, you’ll scratch things off your mental and physical to-do lists, you’ll become less patient with people who drain you and you’ll get three very valuable qualities back into your life again. They are initiative, motivation and enthusiasm: the zest of living.

Yes, old, broken, crowded, and too-much stuff can do that to you — rob you of zest for living. Free yourself and become aware of what you have and what you really use or don’t use. Getting rid of useless items will unburden your home, mind and spirit and will open up your life again!

Your goals for decluttering this week:

Become more aware and present wherever you are. If you’re in the bathroom and you see a two-year old bottle of prescription medicine you don’t need, why not throw it out?

Straighten and organize before adding anything. Take time to clean the refrigerator and/or pantry before adding groceries. It might take a little longer the first time, but if you do it for a few minutes before adding groceries, each time will get shorter and your fridge or pantry will be neat and tidy.

Worst first. Instead of handling a small clutter area, tackle the worst area first. Get the tough stuff out of the way and you’ll feel instantly energized. Enlist help if you need it. Ask a friend to help you and keep you strong. Who knows? Once you start really pitching, you might find that you are so ENERGIZED that you don’t WANT to stop!

Clear off counters and floors. To get energy moving in your home and life, clear up all items off the floor and off the tops of dressers and counters.

________________________________________

© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2010

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Having an uncluttered, organized home will repay you in time and money — and will return your peace of mind — and in just a few short weeks. Besides being a serious re-charge to your life and vitality, decluttering is good feng shui.

Everything you are surrounded by exerts an influence on your life.

If you’re surrounded by clutter and disorganization, it’s a serious energetic drain on your mind, your emotions and your physical body. Too much stuff quickly turns a home “yin” and that makes energy turn negative. Once that happens, the circumstances of life start changing, too. You could say that clutter becomes the sticks and mortar that dam your life and stop the opportunities that flow to you. It’s time to clean up that “dam” mess!

Let’s get started with the basics.

What is clutter?

Clutter is anything that you don’t regularly use, things that you don’t like or enjoy or that are broken, or items kept out of guilt and obligation. Clutter includes items like old clothing, unused toys, mismatched dishes, or stacks of magazines. One of the worst sources of clutter is paper. Newspapers, mail, magazines, old greeting cards, and various paper items all clutter up our coffee tables, desks, and refrigerator.

What clutter isn’t

Clutter isn’t anything you truly love or use regularly. Clutter also isn’t a valuable collectible. Some things shouldn’t go in a landfill or in a garage sale. Your grandmother’s Fostoria crystal isn’t junk and shouldn’t be treated that way.

Ebay, local antiques or consignment stores are resources to help sell your collectible items. One woman made $15,000 off her clutter. Every week, she sat at her computer with five to 10 items she wanted to sell and in six months, she had made an extra $15,000 by selling her clutter on Ebay. Too much trouble to sell? Give special items away as gifts to someone who’ll appreciate them.

Clutter sources

There are a number of reasons for our over-accumulation. One is that we’ve moved from a disposable society to everything’s-a-collectible society and if everything is valuable, then you can’t throw anything away then, can you? We’ve also moved from a buy-it-as-you-need-it outlook to a buy-it-in-bulk mindset – and if we buy in bulk, we have to live in bulk.

Lastly, recreational shopping creates an overload of unused, unwanted household items. Hitting the mall every weekend just packs your house and empties your wallet.

Staying present. The difficulty with clutter is both past and future.

Too often people are tied to items because of the past (it was a wedding gift, it was Uncle Frank’s) and the future (what if I need a shoe buttoner again?). Yet clutter causes you problems in the present because you can’t find what you’re looking for or you have things you don’t really need or want. Other problems from the past include items we’ve inherited.

Many people feel like they have to keep everything passed down from their loved ones. It’s a tremendous burden of guilt. Remember that things are not people and it’s okay to let things go. To feel like you have to hold on to the possessions of your loved ones who are no longer around is to have to build your own life and hang on to their lives, too. It makes for a crowded house. Keep just a few items that you especially love or that you’ll use on a regular basis. My favorite item from my grandmother? Her cast iron skillet that stays on my stove to this day and gets almost daily use.

Go ahead, be wasteful

Have you ever heard the Depression era stories about being so poor that coffee grounds were dried in the sun and re-used? Well, it’s not the Depression anymore. It’s okay to throw things away. You have my permission and encouragement to get rid of stuff. There will be enough and you can always get more if you need it.

People hang on to so many things because they don’t want to be wasteful; like holding on to a shirt with a stain that won’t come out. The stain won’t come out the longer it hangs there, so why reach for it and then put it back on the rack? Throw it away once and for all.

Your role: The first step to getting control over clutter is recognizing your role in creating it.

Do you overshop? Do you keep things out of guilt (it’s Aunt Mary’s!)? Do you have to buy in bulk? Are you afraid to throw things away? Taking a hard look at how and why your house has gotten cluttered helps you get it under control and from becoming cluttered in the future. So recycle when you can, and throw away, donate, or sell the rest — and at every opportunity.

The physical symptoms of clutter

Clutter stops the flow of energy. When energy stops flowing, there is a negative impact to our bodies, spirits, and energetic life flow in the form of money, opportunities, love, and enjoyment. Clutter manifests as excess weight, constipation, inability to think, feeling stuck in life, low vitality, and poor personal growth and movement.

Your Decluttering Starting Point:

Analyze your role in creating clutter. This week, try to make a change to your habits like going shopping during lunch or letting junk mail stack up instead of throwing it out. Try to change one habit each week.

Set up an Ebay account. It’s incredibly easy to do and fast. Then gather up five items you’d like to sell, photograph them and upload them. Wait for the “Your item sold” email and then ship it as quickly as possible. There are a few essentials for selling successfully: great descriptions, good photos, reasonable price, and fast shipping. Do those and you’ll be an Ebay pro in no time.

Tackle the kitchen desk or junk drawer. Buy an organizer and mercilessly pare down everything but what you frequently use. Aim to reduce the amount of stuff by at least 50%.

________________________________________

© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2010

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Sometimes the way to get more work cranked out is to stop working.

If you think about what it takes to accomplish things and be productive, you’ll realize that it also takes a lack of activity to make the time you spend producing to actually be more productive.

Think of it this way: in feng shui, the building blocks of all energy are either yin (negative) or yang (positive). Bear in mind that the descriptions of yin as negative or yang as positive, though, are not about yang/good and yin/bad but are more like the energies of the two wires that make electrical sockets work.
For instance, one wire is positive (yang) and the other wire is negative (yin). Without a negative (yin) wire, the positive (yang) won’t work and vice versa. That’s also a good description of feng shui.

It’s a proven fact that in the summer time there are many crimes of passion, tempers flare and become shorter.

That’s why summertime is the perfect time to bring more yin to your life. Stephen Covey in his 7 Habits of Highly Successful People said that you have to stop and “sharpen the saw” if you want to be productive. In other words, staying busy can actually cause you to be less efficient. Too often, we feel that doing nothing isn’t productive, when it’s actually more productive than to keep going and digging ourselves deeper into a pit of fatigue.

In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, the principle energy is yang energy – going, moving, doing, busy. Overwhelm is the state many of us constantly live in. And whenever there’s excess yang, there’s burn out.

Summer is another time – the season when the earth is at its maximum yang state – when we need more yin energy. Withdrawing to the beach with a good book is a great way to spend time in the summer – and indulge in some beneficial, and energy-producing, yin activity. Even deeper? Everything comes from nothing, so why not indulge yourself in a little nothing this summer? Read on about other ways to enjoy yin energy and help keep your energy balanced in the dog days of summer!

–Think cool and dark. Heat outside getting to you? Why not withdraw and sit in the movie theater for one (or more) showings of your favorite film? Or, create a move theater experience at home and rent several movies and spend a whole day watching films.

–Be spontaneous. Yin energy is also about lack of control. There’s a saying that “change is as good as a rest.” Take an afternoon and travel to an area where you’ve never been and just wander around. Or go to a new restaurant where you’ve never been or try a new food – Korean Barbecue anyone? Just do something completely spontaneous and different, not scripted, scheduled, planned or known to give yourself a break.

–Eat cool foods. Foods that are cooling are more yin. Try foods that are double yin – liquid and cool. A cold cucumber or strawberry soup would give you that cooling, refreshed feeling and make you feel full. Liquids are good feng shui for weight loss, too. A full glass of water or a cold soup before a meal will help fill you up so you eat less.

–Clear your desk. Feeling overwhelmed, can’t think clearly? When you’re spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere, stop what you’re doing and then clear your desk. Dust it and clean it, too. Time spent putting things away reduces visual clutter, which can make your mind more active. You’ll be amazed that simply stopping and clearing your desk can do for your mental state.

–Clear your schedule. Too many people live and die by schedules – even fun gets scheduled. When was the last time you cleared your calendar and just let the mood move you before deciding what to do – like on a weekend? Take some time off and don’t make any plans. Then, see where the day leads you.

–Clear your mind. Meditation – the act of clearing your mind – can make you think more clearly once you go back to working and living. Allowing all the “white noise” of your mind and mental chatter subside is invaluable for helping you make decisions, feel less hurried and prevent nervous exhaustion. Sitting quietly and focus on your breath. Imagine white smoke going into your nostrils as you breathe in and black smoke coming out as you inhale. Do this for five minutes and then build up.

–Read a good book. Take an afternoon off and read a fiction book. Non-fiction books often focus on learning something and this just piles on more pressure. Fiction and biography books let you get lost in the experience being written about. When you’re reading you can’t do something else and that frees up your mind, allowing you to put your mind into “neutral” – which relaxes your mind.

–Schedule a vacation. The mere act of planning a weekend off or vacation well in advance will help calm your mind and give you something to look forward to. Too often we’ll schedule our teeth to be cleaned six months in advance, but we’ll wait until the last minute to plan a vacation. Vacations – and the time off they bring — need to be scheduled in advance. Don’t wait to give yourself time off.
 
________________________________________
© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2010
Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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The questions become:
–Will you work with the energy of the year?
–Are you ready to stop fighting the flow and rowing upstream?
–Did you know that by following the energy patterns, you can ride the tides like a nimble kayaker navigates the rushing whitewater with deft skill?

Each year presents opportunities with the dominant energies of the year — for both good and bad.

Like the ocean rip tides that can suck a swimmer out to deeper water, it’s the swimmer who fights the tide that drowns — and it’s the survivor who swims with the tide, using the tide’s own energy to help move him or her closer to shore.

It’s like that from year to year.  You can either fight the tide — or you can trust the tide, and let it carry you and propel you even further than swimming alone.

So what do you need to know to get ahead in 2010?

The very best energy for 2010 is found in the center, west, east, north, and northwest. That’s the good news! We have five sectors with helpful energy. The difficult energy is found in the southwest, south, northeast and southeast. 
 

Let’s talk about the energies…

Networking through civic groups is another benefit of the 4 Sexy Star moving to the career sector. Anything that gets your name out in front of others is the best way to promote your availability to do the job. Write, network, and get your name out to help you move ahead in your career this year. Write, promote, publicize.  That’s the key to getting ahead this year.

The one cautionary note this year with regard to career is that it’s possible there will be infidelities at work – like there always is – but to an even higher degree in the coming year. Keep alert for these dalliances as they can cause scandal – and possible job loss – at work.

Family Outlook
The family will benefit by the addition of the heavenly benefactor energy in the east sector of health and family. Men and helpful people can be called on to assist your family. The family can also benefit by traveling together internationally as these trips will promise to be both helpful and unifying for the family.

The southeast wealth sector can see more arguments about money and hurtful words exchanged. Adding water to this sector will help to dissolve the harsh energy. Theft is another concern. Lost wallets, break-ins, and Internet or credit card theft is a heightened worry in the year ahead. Keep careful watch over all expenses and your accounts in the coming year.

The south sector of fame and recognition and social status may see the break-up of old friendships as bickering and squabbling could occur this year. Watch associations with others for possible legal entanglements as the Jade 3 star visits the south sector creating legal wrangling and potential lawsuits, slander, or hurtful gossip. This would be the year to pull in as a family and limit outside interactions as much as possible to save your family’s name and reputation.

In the northeast sector, the Black 2 illness star makes its appearance. This can cause children to lose more days away from school due to sickness and face school hardships. Children also figure into the west 1 star this year and they may suffer more from ear aches and bladder or kidney problems. Watch children’s health with extra care and diligence.

Keep your home and office chi fresh and alive

Every year you buy new clothes. It’s important to keep your clothing new to look fresh and updated. It makes you feel good too! The same is true with feng shui and that’s why it’s the smart person who makes the simple, easy changes that keep your home and office chi fresh and alive from year to year.

Perhaps most importantly, it’s the clever person who makes certain that negative energies are addressed first and foremost – much like the driver who gets into the car and fastens his seat belt. We know we’re very unlikely to be in a car crash, yet the wise person takes steps to protect him or herself and his or her family before driving, secure in the knowledge that if a crash does occur, you will be protected. This is the same with feng shui.

Protection is a must
Feng shui’s first priority is always protection first. That’s why addressing problems and afflictions each year helps you get the most out of the year – because you can proceed knowing that you’ve handled problems and if they do occur, they’ll be easier to handle.

Once that’s done, then you can proceed to making enhancements feeling confident and secure that the changes you make will be more effective because you’ve already handled the afflictions!

Themes for the Year of the Tiger
As I talked about earlier, this is the year to pull in as a family, take care of each other, be careful in cars and in sports, and watch your family name. Avoid dalliances at work – and instead – put that romance energy to work with your partner or spouse where you will reap the real rewards of the Sexy Star!

Plan ahead…now

And in 2010, be thinking about where you want to head in the next few years and begin making a plan of the steps to get there.

Start planning for growth now, because although it was a rough year in 2008 and 2009, we will start to see some signs of recovery and you want to be there ready to take advantage of it in the year ahead!

And true to the idea of planting seeds, this is a great year to do more landscaping and adding water to your home landscape. Growth from making future plans and actually planting and adding water will help you to reap rewards and in the years that follow.

I’ve got all the details you need to get your year underway so that its healthy, happy, productive, and prosperous in the 2010 Red Lotus Letter Success Pack.

For more detailed and in depth information about

the Year of the Gold Tiger click here

________________________________________
Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Feng shui is based on energy. And, we all know from our basic grade-school Science classes that energy is constantly moving and changing. Therefore, feng shui is constantly moving and changing.

Because of this movement of energy (think of undulating radio waves that bounce through the air and bring us our favorite music stations), it can create prosperity, good relationships, and good health. But, for every positive there is a negative.

Practice protective feng shui first

Positive and negative, like male and female, and inextricably tied. They cannot be separated. So, you must be aware that while you can use feng shui to enhance your space for the positive benefits, you can also be subject to negative energy, and feng shui can help you to keep it from harming you.

In fact, this is what’s called “protective feng shui” and it is the number one rule of practice in feng shui. Feng shui should always be employed first and foremost to keep you and your loved ones from harm.

This is especially true if the energy is located in an area where someone is recovering from illness, or if there is an elderly, young child, or pregnant woman located here. Why? Because these are the people who are most susceptible to negative energy and therefore require the most protection.

Defining feng shui illness energy

There are several types of illness energy that can cause problems for you. These are often associated with the directions they come from and from the energies that move into different areas of the house from year to year. Here’s a quick rundown:

5 Yellow

This energy flies around to the various directions (north, south, southeast, northwest, etc.) and can cause serious health problems, particularly with the heart, spine, and bones. It will also cause problems associated with the various directions. For instance, the east is associated with the foot and legs. It can also cause general sickness.

If combined with the 2 black, it can cause serious life-threatening illnesses like heart failure or cancer. If the 5 Yellow is located here, you could suffer from a broken foot or leg. Metal objects, such as windchimes and lucky Chinese coins (6 on a red string), a laughing Buddha figure, and lush plants can help to offset the negative energy.

2 Black

The number 2 illness star can create problems for the liver, stomach, and reproductive area. If the illness star flies into the west, it can create problems for the mouth and illnesses will begin there. In the northwest, it would affect the head, but it could also affect the head and the stomach region, simultaneously. Metal windchimes (6-rods, hollow), lush plants, and 6 Chinese coins on red string are excellent ways to control the negative energy of the 2 black star.

3 Jade

This star can be deadly when it is combined with the 2 star. It can cause problems with slander, gossip, and scandal. For health, it will hurt the limbs, particularly the hands, feet, arms, legs, toes, and fingers. Red objects and bright lights are excellent cures for the 3 Jade star in the sector it flies into.

What to do when the illness energy affects you

If the illness energy is at your front door, don’t use it and use another door instead. If it is in your bedroom, try to relocate your bedroom. Always try to employ remedies, such as color or elements (bright lights, metal objects, etc.) wherever the negative energy resides. If there is a large cabinet, closet, bathroom, or storeroom close by, you can possibly “lock up” the negative energy — so count yourself lucky if you have one of those situations.

When to watch for their energy: Annually, Monthly, and Natally

The five yellow and 2 illness stars are the most serious of all. Each year, I update this information so you can follow where the energy is located and make the appropriate corrrections for the year. Be sure to check the annual feng shui every year and make the appropriate remedies. You can also follow where the energy flies each month by looking at monthly flying star charts. These can tell you each month exactly what areas to avoid and how to handle the negative energy. 

Flying Star Charts: The natal — or birth chart — for your home

Another way to know where the negative energy stars are located is to have a flying star chart cast for your particular home. This is cast using the date of construction and last renovations for your particular house. You may want to consider having a flying star chart for your home so you’ll know where the negative energy in your home resides. 

If you are interested in building a home, it’s wise to have a flying star consultation for your home so you can plan storerooms, bathrooms, and closets for the areas with the negative energy and plan your dining rooms, bedrooms, and living areas for the areas where prosperous, beneficial energy resides.

For information on having your feng shui consultation, click here.

© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Would you like to use this article on your website or publication? You can. Simply include the entire, unchanged article with the blurb below with a link back to this site. A courtesy email would be greatly appreciated!

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui.

For more information and to receive her FREE E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Below is an assessment of the energies for the upcoming year.  Be sure to put your remedies and enhancements in place!

The very best energy for 2009 is found in the center, southeast, south, southwest and northwest corners.

The worst energy is found in the north, northeast, east, and west.

2009 should be a much, much better year than 2008, thankfully. We have had some major upheaval because of the instability of earth over water, which is what 2008 was the year of the Earth Rat. The earth element is on top of the rat element, putting earth on top of water. This created upheavals around the world and made for some difficult times.

Many people work on the good energy sectors first and often don’t apply remedies to the negative energy areas. However, that is a mistake. Ignoring negative sector and concentrating on the positive ones is like being told you have gold in one corner of your property and you go to dig and ignore an angry mob of marauders heading toward your house.

Instead, you should do what you can to exercise protective feng shui first and foremost and fortify yourself against negative energy and once that is done, then work on digging your gold!

POSITIVE ENERGY SECTORS

CENTER SECTOR (Health, Wealth, Relationships)

LUCKY 9 STAR MAKES THIS A FAVORABLE SECTOR

The 9 star is a very fortunate star in a wonderful location. Because the purple 9 is located in the heavenly heart palace, the whole family benefits from a more convivial atmosphere, communications are enhanced and the family has a good sense of well-being.

The 9 star is a fire star and enhances the earth location in the center palace. Socializing at home will bring prosperity and enjoyable times to the whole home and everyone who lives there. Make it a point to spend lots of time in the center of the home.

SOUTHEAST SECTOR (Wealth, Material Abundance):

No. 8 WEALTH STAR BRINGS PROSPERITY TO THE WEALTH SECTOR

The 8 star brings opportunities to create more prosperity and wealth. This is especially fortunate if your home faces the southeast or if your bedroom or office is located in the southeast corner. This star brings wonderful success when this sector is brightly lit and activated with yang energy. Because of the 8 star’s location here this year, the southeast wealth sector is the luckiest of the nine sectors.

SOUTHWEST SECTOR (Romance, Relationships, Women, Woman of the House):

EXCELLENT NO. 6 HEAVEN ENERGY IN THIS SECTOR THIS YEAR!

This is a wonderful combination as the white 6 star is considered to be very auspicious. It signifies wonderful accomplishment and the ability to rise to prominence and attain greater prestige. The six star also makes a request. It asks women to think bigger, aim higher and open their world up to larger possibilities – and it supports them in those endeavors.

One cautionary note and that is to be careful of overwork. Women tend to work non-stop, but this year could take this to a new level. It is possible that overwork, stress, and fatigue sets in. Make sure that you schedule down time, self care at the spa, and schedule weekends away and vacations for 2009.

NORTHWEST SECTOR (Travel, Helpful People, Patriarchs, Foreign Travel):

1 White Star brings business opportunity

The 1 white star is a beneficial, helping star. When it is located in the northwest corner, it brings opportunities for both business and career. Because the northwest corner is associated with six heaven energy, the six and one combinations are especially beneficial for making great progress in business. This is especially so if the business situation is one where you need to outdo the competition!

SOUTH SECTOR (Fame, Recognition, Social Status):

No. 4 Green Romance and PR Star located in this sector

Typically the four star brings great creative and academic success and travel energy to the sectors it visits. The four star brings wonderful work creativity, unique ideas, and all kinds of breakthroughs.

It also draws suitors to you. Lastly, the 4 star is known for the ability to help you advance in matters related to romance, education, creativity, writing, sales, and public relations. If you want to spread the word about yourself or your business (or your romantic availability!), this is the sector to enhance.

NEGATIVE ENERGY SECTORS

NORTHEAST SECTOR (Spirituality, Wisdom, Education, Personal Growth):

3 Quarrelsome Star here creates gossip, slander, legal tangles

Grand Duke Jupiter (22-37.5)

This star makes legal problems more contentious and makes everyone more likely to want to settle disagreements in court! Because this is a wood element flying into an earth sector, there could be some mental fatigue and stress and inability to think clearly.

Studies could slide from burn out and so could the ability to make good decisions. To offset this tendency keep candles in this sector, keep the area well-lit and use lots of red colors. This will help to exhaust the negativity of the three star. DO NOT FACE THIS DIRECTION.

EAST SECTOR (Health, Family relationships):

7 Red Violence Star and THREE KILLINGS

The 7 star is known for creating injuries, robberies, theft and other malicious tendencies. Because it is located in the health and family palace, there could be a possibility for violence that harms the health and family – such as a carjacking. Take extra care if your home faces this direction or if your main door faces east.

If you have a garage or workshop in the east corner of your home, careful of any kind of injuries from metal such as saws and blades. The same is true if your kitchen is located in the east. Be extra diligent and careful with sharp knives and choppers.

It’s also possible that sharp words will be harmful in the family because the 7 star relates to the mouth and is associated with the element of metal, so watch that arguments are not too cutting or that things said in anger are left to fester. To help offset this negative energy, use water.

THREE KILLINGS CURSE: Located at 45-135 degrees East.

The three killings wreak havoc wherever they’re located. Because they are in the east, there is a likelihood of legal tangles associated with families and between family members. Be extra cautious about all paperwork with relatives and troublesome family members.

Be aware, though, that the 3 Killings is located here, and you shouldn’t have your back to the east. People will talk about you and gossip could hurt your good name, rob you, try to steal from you, or otherwise betray you. Concentration will also be poor if your back is to the east. Watch for legal tangles and lawsuits. So, be sure to avoid sitting with the EAST at YOUR BACK or you will be surprised by underhandedness.

NORTH SECTOR (Career, Business Opportunities):

5 Yellow Misfortune Star

This star is said to be the most unfortunate of all the stars. The Five Yellow Star brings misfortune, misunderstandings, bad luck, accidents, and financial problems. This is especially true if you sleep in the north sector, work in the north sector of your home, or if your front door is in the north sector. Do take extra care any of this is true for you.

The energy is located specifically between the degrees of 337.5 – 22.5. If these are your door facing degrees be sure to pay extra careful attention and take the precautions outlined here.

Try to avoid this sector if you can. If not, do be sure to have a windchime hung up to draw away negative energy. A pendulum clock, a whirling fan or any kind of metal movement is helpful. Shiny metal bowls or figures are also effective as are metal colors of white, gray, silver and gold – and will stimulate the north’s water-producing (wealth!) capabilities.

WEST SECTOR (Children, Creativity, Family):

NEGATIVE ENERGY FOR 2008 – Annual Black 2 Sickness Star

The black 2 star is a very strong star. It creates problems wherever it goes – especially illness. Because it is in the west sector there could be problems associated with the mouth, teeth and eating. Children could be more likely to suffer from illnesses. Because the two is an earth star and it’s moving into a metal sector, it will be weakened, which is good news.

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Annual Afflictions

© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Would you like to use this article on your website or publication?  You can. Simply include the entire, unchanged article with the blurb below with a link back to this site.  A courtesy email would be greatly appreciated!

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui.

For more information and to receive her FREE  E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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1. What is the difference between traditional Chinese feng shui and western, or Black Hat Sect, feng shui?
Black Hat Sect or western feng shui uses the front door to align the bagua, the eight sided octagon that corresponds to the 8 Aspirations, or guas, in life (wealth, health, fame, marriage/love, children, career, wisdom, and benefactors). Black Hat sect aligns the career sector, or gua, with North, the career sector. Traditional Chinese feng shui says that if your front door faces east, you align the east gua with your front door. In other words, you follow the compass directions.

2. Can I use both Black Hat and traditional Chinese feng shui?
You can, but you need to know what you are doing. It’s usually best to use one method or the other. If you’ve had good results with the Black Hat, stick with that. If you’ve done well with traditional feng shui, then use this as your preferred method.

3. Do I use the bagua over the house or over a room?
You can use both. Apply the bagua over the entire house by the facing direction. Apply the bagua in a room according to the compass directions. You can apply the bagua to areas as large as a city or as small as your desk. There’s no limit to how it can be used with regard to size.

4. I have an L-shaped house. Should I apply the bagua to both sides of the L or to the entire home?
I typically recommend that you apply it to the whole footprint of the home, and this usually means that there will be large sectors that are missing. Some recommend applying two separate baguas to each “rectangle” of the L. However, that doesn’t treat the house as a whole, and that is what concerns me about doing it that way. If you prefer to apply it this way, though, you certainly can.

5. Can I use personal feng shui and compass feng shui together?
Yes! They go easily together.

6. What if I am an east person and my spouse is a west person in personal feng shui. How do we decide whose feng shui to focus on?
The Chinese are very old fashioned about this. Basically, you select to enhance the breadwinner’s directions, regardless of who is male or female. The person who brings home the most income should be protected. Therefore, if you’re the breadwinner and you are an east person, then you will want to select a house with an east-facing entrance and position your bed according to your best directions.

7. If I move my bed to suit my personal feng shui, my bed lines up on the same wall as the door. Is that OK?
No, it’s not good. Never forsake good feng shui basics (easily be able to see who enters the room from a chair or bed) in favor of your best directions. Always follow good feng shui first before following personal feng shui.

8. The south is my total loss direction according to personal feng shui. What can I do to enhance my fame sector?
The south is still the fame sector and you should enhance every direction regardless of whether or not that sector is good for you personally. That’s because when you enhance a particular sector, you aren’t magnifying your bad luck…you’re just enhancing that area and that’s still good for you. Personal feng shui just means that you try to avoid sitting and sleeping in those sectors that are not personally beneficial for you, not that you avoid them altogether or that you don’t enhance them.

It’s ideal if you can select houses with beneficial directions, such as entrances in your best directions, and you want to face, sit, and sleep using your personal directions as much as possible. So, even if your dining room is in your loss sector, you can still eat seated facing your health direction, for example.

9. Do I have to change things around every year for feng shui? Can’t I just “feng shui and forget it”?
Of course you can. Even simple, easy feng shui is still very effective. But, there are some who want more and more detail. Feng shui is a complex art that has been developed over the past few thousand years. Anyone who studies anything in detail delves deeper and deeper with each passing year. Feng shui can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. Don’t feel obligated to follow flying star or annual feng shui if you don’t want to.

10. I live in Australia. How does that change my feng shui?
It doesn’t. I have no idea why that notion that everyone “Down Under” doesn’t have the same directions ever got started. South is still south in Australia and New Zealand and Argentina, for that matter. You use the directions exactly the same way below the equator that you do above because the compass needle moves to the north in Australia the same way it does in Morocco. Only the toilets go in a different direction when they flush!

11. If I put a fountain on the right side of my door (looking out from the house toward the street), does that mean my husband will have an affair?
This is a common question many people have about water to the right of the front door. What it means is that the water could draw predatory females who are interested in your husband. If you trust your husband, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve had a fountain to the right of my front door before and mentioned it to my husband just in case. If your husband has a wandering eye, though, you might not want to chance it!
© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Would you like to use this article on your website or publication? You can. Simply include the entire, unchanged article with the blurb below with a link back to this site. A courtesy email would be greatly appreciated!

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Feng shui is all about energy movement and includes the way things look, how they feel, and the energy they possess. There are so many
ways that you can apply feng shui that can impact your life. Let’s talk about a few of them….

Signature and handwriting. My mentor and feng shui master, Lillian Too, often recommended people make changes to their signatures to give them more influence. Some signatures have letters that curl backwards — this means lackluster growth and success. Some tilt left — this causes the same problem. Even this graphic (right) shows writing that tilts to the right and looks like it’s going forward. Look at your signature and make sure yours says “affluence” and that it tilts right and up — not left and backwards.

A client of mine had a tough time being promoted even though his income kept going up; he simply never got the nod. I told him his signature tilted backwards — as though he turned his back on others or looked backwards. In fact, all his writing has a tendency to lean left. He changed his signature and the money flowed into his life — and he leap-frogged at his job being promoted up two levels! One of my wealthy clients has the most gorgeous handwriting — and she always writes in purple. I often admire it and wonder about its effect on her life.

Email. This may sound strange but your email address conveys ideas about you to the people who read it. What we call ourselves can have an influence in the way we are treated. One email I received came from a person looking for love. The woman wanted a man in her life and was seeking a permanent partner, yet her email address was “Beethovens wife.”

I told her that her email said she was already married — to a dead composer. I suggested she change her email to something more generic like sally@abc.com, but she refused and gave every excuse in the book why it wasn’t possible to make this simple adjustment. I said as long as you’re already someone else’s wife, then you won’t find a mate. People also have a tendency to write about themselves and write their names in email all in lowercase letters. This diminishes you. Don’t do it.

Change. Are you willing to make some changes in order to get what you want? Many people talk about change and then fight it every step of the way. They also may not understand how “easy” it is for other people and be so hard for themselves. What they don’t see is that change is not easy for anyone, it’s just that those who make the effort understand the discomfort of change isn’t just discomfort — it’s growing pains.

Receive. Many people are uncomfortable with receiving. They’re more comfortable with giving the advice, making the effort, slugging it out themselves. You have people and circumstances that are willing to help you and come to your aid. And if you do — are you willing to receive it and take the advice? I have a business mentor who gives me tough love — and I pay handsomely for it. That makes me value the advice and I am open to receiving it — and then implementing it! Be smart enough to take advice and then implement it.

Beautify. Do you live with clutter? Is your house dirty? Maybe your desk had a paper bomb go off…. Affluent people don’t live with mess. They work at keeping their environments beautiful and supportive and energizing. You can do the same. Make an effort in your home and office to make it appealing and beautiful. You deserve a clean, beautiful, organized space — whether that’s in the bedroom or the office or the living room.

While you’re at it, beautify yourself. Get to a new stylist, or a make-up counter at a department store. Improve your image and your look. We all get into ruts, just have the good sense to get out of it and make some improvements. Changing yourself keeps your energy flowing and active!

There are situations and circumstances in every part of your life that say subtle things about you and influence your life. Open your eyes to your habits of speech, your writing, your email name, your resistance to change and openness to receive. This is part of applying feng shui to yourself and to your life, to keeping energy positive and moving and flowing for yourself. Sometimes the change to your environment isn’t as important as the changes your make to yourself.

© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Would you like to use this article on your website or publication? You can. Simply include the entire, unchanged article with the blurb below with a link back to this site. A courtesy email would be greatly appreciated!
Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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