5 Feng Shui tips on how to activate positive energy in your home

A leafy plant is effective for activating Wood energy. Photos: 123rf.com

What is the ancient art of Feng Shui? Is it a myth? Or is it based on facts? Is it magic or superstition? Or is there some logic to it?

There’s no denying that there are many misconceptions around Feng Shui. Some are caused by misinterpretations of oral teachings. Others are caused by pop-culture and merchandising.

Regardless, it has created an environment where many of us think we “know” some Feng Shui at least.

For instance, a common Feng Shui rule says that the stove must not be placed next to the sink. This is actually rooted in logic. If your stove is too close to your sink, what are the odds of a few drops of soapy water falling into your pot while you are cooking?

In this column, I will endeavour to unpack many of the misconceptions surrounding Feng Shui, and share how to use Feng Shui in our spaces to create harmony and harness the energy surrounding us.

Buying metaphysical objects

Is applying Feng Shui about buying prescribed objects? Buy this, and you will find your soulmate. Buy that, and your luck will change. Before long, your home is cluttered with Feng Shui paraphernalia.

However, drilled down to their most basic, Feng Shui activations are nothing more than an interplay between the Five Elements – Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal.

Activate Fire energy wherever you need it in the home with simple tea lights.

Activating any of the elements’ energies requires simple objects that can be found easily.

If you are looking to activate the Water energy, a pail of water will do. Given our humid and tropical climes, we would recommend placing an aquarium pump into the water so that you don’t inadvertently start breeding mosquitoes.

If this is a permanent placement, an aquarium would also work. Water features are less effective. A simple bucket of water works better because what we are looking for is the water pressure.

Plants are a good way to activate Wood energies. Some locations require water-based plants, while earth-growing plants work better in other sectors.

The only caution here is to prioritise the use of leafy plants as opposed to plants with sharp leaves, such as the common Snake Plant.

Heat is the activator for Fire energies. So a pretty salt lamp would work well with most home decor if you are looking to activate certain areas in your home that require Fire.

Smooth river rocks are an ideal decorative yet useful activator for Earth energies. Another way to activate Earth energies is to use decorative items that are perpetually moving. For this, a fan works best!

Leave a fan at the lowest level turned on permanently to constantly churn and activate the energy in that particular sector.

Finally, placement of Metal activators can involve any type of decorative metal vases. Depending on your budget, these can be made of either gold, silver, bronze, brass, copper, iron or even stainless steel.

Metal activators are typically used to suppress or diffuse the Star 5 energies following the annual flying stars. If decorative vases are not your thing, and you’d prefer to have this hidden, then metal weights hidden underneath the furniture will also do the trick.

In the next edition of Logic, Not Magic, let’s explore Feng Shui and doors.

Paulynne Cheng is a Chinese Metaphysics practitioner who believes that the energies of these stars are not meant to trip us up. Instead, they are ours to use, if only we know how. Follow Cheng on her YouTube channel.