Too Much of an Element a good thing?

Q: Just in case I can’t tune in for the phone call tomorrow, I do have a question I’d like to have answered.

Q: When you have an over abundance of any element, say for example,  an entire main level that has wood paneling, it just adding the metal element in various forms enough?  Or should I advise painting paneling even though it would take the client tons of work and money?  Thanks for all of your communications!

A: The abundance to the Wood element in so much paneling is the same elemental dynamic as working with a log home where the logs are exposed inside. I recently consulted on a such a home, where the vast amounts of ornate woodgrain and many lines between the logs brought in Yin Wood while the sheer magnitude of logs brought in Yang Wood, making the space truly dominated by Woodwoodwood! 

As such, the first element I employed to bring elemental balance was Metal. I suggested a light beige couch and carpeting which provided plenty of Yang Metal,  while Yin Metal was brought in through a metal coffee table base, metal lamp bases, and the rounded camel back shape of the couch. With the Feng Shui goal to bring in representations of all 5 elements in their Yin and Yang expressions, my client and I did the following: To activate the Fire element, which keeps Wood “busy” in the Reductive cycle of the 5 elements, we chose a fabric for several sofa pillows with a triangular pattern in red tones, bringing in Yin Fire, and 2 dark red leather chairs to represent Yang Fire. We made the sofa pillows in square shapes to capture Yin Earth and chose a very nubby texturous type of “earthy” carpet to represent Yang Earth. TheWater element, which would have originally only strengthened the dominance of the Wood element, could now find a home in the family of elements in a kidney-shaped glass coffee table top puntuated with a beautiful glass bowl in dark tones. 

As Feng Shui practitioners, we can help our clients begin to “feel” the various energies of the 5 elements by suggesting they visualize certain combinations. For instance, imagine a panelled room with a floral couch. Most people can immediately feel that’s not an ideal elemental match, as it is Wood and more Wood! Or, imagine the same room with a black couch, which would bring in the Water element to “grow” the Wood element and make it even stronger!  Now imagine the pastel beige couch, and most people would agree it just feels right.

Working with the 5 elements is like speaking a language. It’s best to speak this language often to build and sustain your fluency. The more you practice, the more elegant you become in describing and capturing their innumerable nuances and bringing elemental balance into your clients lives.

From Terah Kathryn Collins