Feng Shui Even More Uncluttered Thoughts

by Marjorie Dorfman | More from this Blogger

26 Aug 2006 08:51 AM

Water is an important and powerful element to consider in the application of Feng Shui. There are two types: still and moving. Still water is associated with tranquility, peace, intuition, profound understanding, natural and acquired wisdom. It literally exemplifies the old adage "still waters run deep." Moving water is dynamic, bustling, "going places." It is often associated with such activities as networking and communications, and is considered a symbol of a healthy cash flow. A healthy life needs both types of energies (especially the cash flow) as each fulfills its own essential functions.

Moving water is associated with water fountains, water falls, paintings or photographs of water in motion. It is symbolized by pale blue or light aqua, the colors of rushing water. Still water is found in a brandy snifter with a flower floating graciously within it, goldfish bowls and paintings of lakes, ponds and pools. Dark blue, indigo and black are associated with this kind of energy. Consider too, that stagnant and still water are not synonymous and do not proffer the same energy. Stale, fetid water is negative. Be sure that if you use fish bowls or flower arrangements to change the water regularly so that they are always fresh, clean and clear.

Gardening is another important aesthetic consideration for Feng Shui. Chinese gardens developed from the art of Shan Shui, which literally means "mountain water." Shan is yang, hard, still, sublime, vertically developed, close to heaven. Shui is yin, soft, movable, horizontally developed, close to earth. Shui embraces Shan, Shan surrounds Shui. Throughout Chinese history, geometric forms have rarely been placed on holy land, which is often seen in Western countries. Only in the Chinese Emperor's gardens were such shapes acceptable because they symbolized respect for the natural forces of heaven and earth. Life and landscape are inextricably linked. Things on earth depend and rely on each other. A landscape is a living thing, a process of communication, a matrix of feeling. The philosophical conclusion in understanding the world is what the great thinker, Laozi called Naturally So.

And so it would seem that there is much that we in the western world can learn from those in the east. But as an English man named Shakespeare succinctly put it in Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth, my dear Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

What does Feng Shui mean to YOU?

Learn more about Marjorie Dorfman

Marjorie Dorfman is a freelance writer and former teacher originally from Brooklyn, New York.

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