Q & A – Correspondence Courses
Q. Do you offer any correspondence courses? If so, please provide more information. Thank you, Sandra
Read MoreQ & A – Feng Shui and Guns
Q. Where is the best place to store guns? I had them in the closet in family and we have explosive arguments. I can do almost anywhere in the basement except skill and knowledge. Please help, I am reading books and my consultant said to email you.
A. There is a difference between antique gun collections and guns of current vintage and use. The antiques have a strong historical, even valuable, artifact energy. As such, they can sometimes be successfully housed within the home’s Bagua when displayed in a nice glassed, even locked, case, within a large enough space, so as not to dominate the "conversation" in the room. This strategy applies to other antique weapons, as well as any other historical items that might be "scary",
such as old medical instruments, tools, pieces of machinery, etc. Though "of the ancestors", I wouldn’t place them in any large quantity in the Health and Family gua, as they would bring too much of that old, decaying, unused energy into a gua we like to see enhanced with fresher Ch’i.
If the items have a difficult story to tell (massacres, etc.) I would be more cautious with them, and would probably suggest donating them to a museum, where their story can be more appropriately housed and shared with a larger community of interest.
Guns, and other weapons, of current use are a different story. They carry more of a "danger–you are unsafe here" message. Hunting guns can be safely stored in an outbuilding or detached garage, which takes them out of the home’s primary Bagua energy entirely. Even placement in an attached garage can be better than placement within the main family living areas. "Out of sight, out of mind" allows more positive thought to prevail inside the home, and the impact of the gun energy is lessened.
Smaller guns intended for use in case of intruders are problematic for a variety of reasons, but each family will have their own personal decisions to make about how to keep themselves feeling safe both from intruders AND from the gun(s) itself. Obviously, to be of use in an emergency, any weapon needs to be kept handy, but still out of sight, and certainly out of reach of children.
I have done FS for clients with "current use" gun collections stored in a large gun "safe", which is locked and made to look like a piece of decorative furniture. This armoire-shaped safe is then put into a side room or guest room, or den and is fairly innocent of negative energetics. The only negative energy forthcoming was that of any household members who were in disagreement over the keeping of guns on the premises in the first place. This disagreement definitely had to be worked out within the family before the gun safe felt friendly to all. In one instance, I recommended that the safe be put out into the garage because its presence was being felt far too strongly by the wife, who had fears about children’s safety with guns on the premises.
We can do a lot with basic Form School Feng Shui remedies to assist clients in feeling more safe in their homes. Sharp corners, breakable items, exposed knives, too many uncurtained windows, and a lack of a protective embrace around the home, to list just a few, can all contribute to a client’s anxiety and feelings of vulnerability. As you can see, the "correct" placement of weapons in the home requires the answering of deeper questions before a good solution is found.
Karen Carrasco, WSFS Teacher
Read MoreQ & A – Missing Upstairs Bagua
Q. If your ground floor has a screened patio, but there are no rooms in that area on the second floor, do you have to treat the second floor as having missing areas? If so, how?
A. This is FAQ that I address in all my books. The Bagua Map can only be missing areas on the main floor of your home, so you are NOT missing an area upstairs. Phew!
You may choose to read more about this in the Western Guide to Feng Shui, pgs. 61-75, or the Western Guide to Feng Shui, Room by Room, pgs. 23-40.
Terah
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Q & A – Lightbulbs
Q. In FS class in 2003 we learned not to use fluorescent light bulbs anywhere. Now it is considered environmentally friendly to use compact fluorescents. I would love to hear Terah’s opinion on whether to use the compact bulbs or not. Does she know any way to lessen the effect of the compact fluorescents? Kathy
Read MoreQ & A – Smokey Apartment
Q. Kindly reply with your views from a feng shui perspective. I have found a house that I like and I’m interested in renting it. The yard and house itself seem to have good energy. My concern is that the present occupant is a heavy cigarette smoker and consequently the house reeks. I have looked at many places and this has everything I am looking for, and one thing I’m not: the odor. I know it would require tons of cleaning and space clearing. I haven’t seen anything else that would suit me and I’ve looked a lot. One advantage is that this is a little house with a sweet yard, and not an apartment in a complex. Your feedback on this subject would be great.
A. One of the primary philosophies of Feng Shui is that everything is always changing. It sounds as though this little house is ready for a change as well – and that change includes you…
Thank goodness that the yard is so sweet, as you may sleeping with the windows open and living outside for the first few weeks while the house purges itself. Take good care of your scents in other ways, by bringing in fresh flowers each week, scented candles each day and potpourri by the wagonload.
Congratulations and welcome home!
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Q & A: Feng Shui & Wood Floors
Q. Hi I’m interested in what would Bamboo or wood floors would add to the bedroom? —William F.
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