Q&A – Plumbing and Bathrooms

Q: Dear WSFS,

I delight in getting your email updates. Many thanks for sharing the info and letters. I have a quick question with regards to our little 1942 house. I’ve done extensive feng shui work throughout with great success, based in no small part on the work in Terah Kathryn Collin’s first book The Western Guide to Feng Shui. Thanks again! My question is … about the old iron sewage pipes that run under the bedroom to the main line at the street. Is there a feng shui cure for this problem? It seems to have dampened the romantic aspect of the room over the 5 years that we’ve been in the house, despite the other Feng Shui work that we’ve done to the bedroom. Any assistance you can give would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks and blessings to all, KSG

A: Hi KSG,

Sounds like the underground flow of water through the large (old) iron pipes may be making an energetic impact on your bedroom. When water flows through iron pipes it can magnify what would otherwise be a very subtle electro-magnetic pulse that iron puts off when it is embedded in certain types of mineral soil. Modern day pipes are now made of thick PVC, so this effect is only experienced in homes with older plumbing still in place. The best remedy that I know of is to place a mirror under any furniture that people sit or lie on for any length of time, to deflect that pulse back down into the ground.

You could use a larger mirror under the bed, like one of those inexpensive long, narrow mirrors that normally are hung behind the door for viewing your full length attire, and place it exactly above where you sense the pipes are running. Of course, you are placing the reflective side DOWN, facing the water flow. This should quiet the sensation of plumbing within the room. If the none of the pipes run under furniture where you can place a mirror safely, you may need to improvise a way to use area rugs and that very thin reflective mylar material to provide a reflective surface safely underfoot. You do not need to reflect the entire length of pipe in the room, just some significant portion of it (like under the bed) or in a few small spots along it (like under dressers, shelves, area rug, etc.) Sometimes it is sufficient to place these mirrors, facing down, right at the spot where the plumbing first “enters” the room from the toilet, and again where it “exits” the room’s space, and you will feel the harmony return to the room with just those two placements.

An additional remedy for balancing the bathroom itself is to place very small mirrors (compact mirrors are nice here) directly BEHIND the toilet, close to the floor, with the reflective side FACING the ceramic toilet fixture, to “contain” the toilet’s energy. If possible, you can place a second mirror opposite the toilet, facing it again, which effectively “boxes in” the energetic line of toilet ch’i, and keeps it inside the bathroom. In most instances, due to the arrangement of other things in the bathroom, one of these mirrors has to be placed OUTSIDE of the bathroom, in the adjacent room, low down on that room’s wall, reflective side facing the toilet on the other side of the wall. (I hope this is understandable without a diagram!)

So, try a combination of these transcendental mirror remedies and see if the atmosphere in your bedroom lightens up. Keep us posted on any shifts that occur! For more Feng Shui tips on bathrooms, click here for more bathroom blogs.

Karen Carrasco, WSFS Practitioner Teacher and Mentor