MANILA, Philippines - Sherbie Co is an interior designer who began dabbling in feng shui because her clients demanded advice on this before implementing her suggested renovations, moving into a new house or investing in a proposed condominium project. It didn't hurt that Co has been into New Age since college and that her questioning mind kept looking for a reason behind things she couldn't explain right away. Her approach is to find harmony between New Age practices and feng shui that would help improve her designing abilities.
She says, "When I was starting out, a few of my Chinese clients were feng shui fanatics. They would not make a move, start construction or occupy a new house, unless they had consulted their feng shui master. And I'm talking here of big-time industrialists, second in prominence to the likes of John Gokongwei, Lucio Tan or Henry Sy, I thought there had to be something about feng shui that attracted these very powerful people."
Then there were personal experiences that reinforced her belief that feng shui can help improve people's lives, or at least make them more interesting. She recounts: "There was this couple who moved into a feng shui'd condo, and a few months later, the apparently barren wife got pregnant. My finances aren't doing well and I rearrange my home furniture according to the lucky direction of my feng shui, and, surprise! my financial health improves."
Central to feng shui is the ch'i, also called energy or life force, which is believed to bring forth health, prosperity, honor and harmony. "To derive the greatest benefit from it, ch'i should be accumulated gently, and not trapped so as to render its potential useless," says Co.
To manipulate ch'i in a house, the occupant should understand the effects of the five elements, namely, earth, fire, water, wood and metal. The conceptual relations of these elements constitute a cycle: metal to carry water, water to let wood grow, wood to feed the fire, wood when it becomes ashes is earth, which is the center of life (in pre-industrial times).
Feng shui derives from a cycle and astute observations of natural occurrences in ancient China, adds Co. She notes though that feng shui has to be retro-fitted to adapt to the limitations of urban space in the 21st century. The bottomline is to bring back order and harmony with nature, even in the confines of a congested metropolis.
For example, in Co's renovated unit at the top floor of a three-story house, the faucet is placed about two feet away from the gas stove. That's water a spit away from fire, which violates a cardinal rule in the relationship of the five elements, she cites. Co compensates by placing a potted plant and a small metal sheet divider between these two opposing elements.
As a respected interior designer, Co can rattle off the essentials of good design: good layout, proper lighting, smooth traffic flow, good air circulation and aesthetic visuals or taste. Simple but well-planned designs make her day.
This designer admits, however, that attracting clients to invest in feng shui'd projects can be tricky. Most people, especially native Pinoys, regard it as a crazy quilt of pop psychology, astronomy, superstition and mysticism. She thinks, however, that feng shui follows the higher law on the natural order of things and it wouldn't hurt to use it as a guide to better living.
Some of her common sense advice include:
Use the birth date to determine the best location for the entrance of the house and rooms for the family.
The main door facing East does not necessarily bring good luck. Again, it depends on the birth date of the main occupant.
Use good sense and aesthetics. If you're building a mansion, provide enough doors and windows to allow good air circulation and ventilation. A small door for a big house constricts the flow of money. Money should circulate freely in order to grow.
Bad feng shui means poor management of surroundings. There may be too much clutter to impede the movement of people or increase the possibility of accidents.
A house located directly on the path of a road pushes the ch'i to move fast rather than to be gathered gently. The same goes for the flow of vehicular traffic; one wrong turn (or lost brake) and a wayward vehicle could come crashing into you.
Co says the country's Chinese business leaders may be building up business interests in each of the five feng shui elements to complete the cycle and drive their conglomerates to even bigger success. There's a 2,000-year-old civilization behind feng shui and it would be too churlish to disown wisdom gathered through the ages, she cautions.
Resource:
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20070520-66940/Designing_homes_for_health%2C_harmony_and_wealth
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