Where Energy Flows

As a Master Teacher and Educator of Interior Alignment™ Certification courses, I use the official description of this area of the bagua in my classes. As described in Denise Linn’s book Sacred Space: Clearing and Enhancing the Energy of Your Home,

The Family area concerns parents, ancestors, heritage and influences from the past. It is a good place to put family photos, certificates and trophies of past achievements and so on.

As an Interior Alignment™ practitioner, and as an author writing on the bagua map as a tool for transformation (my book Odyssey of the Heart: Paths to Wholeness through Feng Shui and e-course Dancing with Energy: 9 Steps to Manifesting your Soul’s Desires with Feng Shui), I have learned that the Family area (I call it Family Heritage in my personal practice) is a very powerful area of the bagua map because it carries the dual energy of past relationships and new beginnings.

The Family area also represents your self image, growth, awareness and your ability to break past obstacles and go forward in life. These obstacles are about how we became conditioned to think about ourselves while growing up. They are made up the layers from our past that tell us things like, for example, we are not deserving, are unworthy or lacking in some way, and they have a powerful ability to block energy.  

In learning about, and coming to terms with our past, which is part of our family heritage, we release blocked energy. With this release comes the abiltiy to go forward in life to create something new — new goals, dreams, attitudes, health and harmony.

~*~ When to Enhance the Family Heritage and Health Area ~*~

• when you wish to enhance health on all levels
• to break free from the past and make a fresh start
• to assist in releasing blockages, habits, or ways of thinking that no longer serve you
• to help you manifest your goals
• to foster good family relationships and increase family harmony

~*~ Colours to Use ~*~
Traditionally the colours for the Family Heritage and Health area are green and blue.

~*~ Element Symbols ~*~
The Element symbol for the Family Heritage and Health area is Wood. Wood element symbols are healthy plants, flowers, objects made of wood, columns and floral prints, stripes.

~*~ Life Symbols ~*~
Images and symbols that represent good family relationships, happy times, objects that give you a feeling of being empowered, accomplished and going forward in life; Images or objects that represent the goals and dreams you are currently pursuing.

~*~ How to Use ~*~
Use any of the enhancements of colour, element symbols or life symbols in the Family Heritage and Health area of your home. You can also use any of these enhancements as a theme for a home altar when you are manifesting goals. 

Do you have an abundance altar in our home or office? Did you know that an abundance altar energizes the area of your home or office that the altar resides in? Why of course you did, but let’s share about a certain idea.

As a Master Teacher and Educator of Interior Alignment™ Certification courses, I share with my students about how an abundance altar is helpful in their own professional practice.  As with any altar creation, intention is very important.  Begin by indentifying what abundance, wealth, and prospertity means to you personally.  This is a definintion beyond Webster’s dictionary.  Once you have a clear meaning for abundance, wealth and prosperity, you can begin to clarify your intention for your abundance altar. The time and energy that you take to define abundance, wealth, and prosperity is worth the effort as you will begin to accept that your definition may not mean abundance to another person. 

For instance the energy of Buffalo (the American Bison) is a symbol of abundance for many Native American Nations.  I have a statute of a Buffalo with her calf on my abundance altar.  (I am Prarie Band Potawatomi and my Nation takes the stewardship of the Buffalo so seriously that we have a herd on our reservation to stay connected with the Wisdom of Buffalo.)  The symbol of Buffalo means health and vitality, life force, to many Native peoples. Not only did it provide sustance but Buffalo also provided shelter - a home, clothing and luxuries.  The Annishabe Nation, you may know this Nation as the Ojibiwa Nation, may use the symbol of wild rice in their definition of abundance.  What is your definition of abundance, wealth and prosperity?

Consider placing your abundance altar in the Wealth area of your home for the maxium assistance from your home to support your intentions, life goals and desires.

As you place thoughtful items on your abundance altar, consider including a symbol of your personal business.  This symbol of your personal business may be your business card or a brochure.  As you receive payment for service to your clients, place the payment on the abundance altar for a few days so that you may show your gratitude and also bless the payment.

I would also suggest placing a candle of your favorite color and scent on the altar. You may want to research the energetic qualities of colors (see Deborah Redfern’s IA blog articles about color) and the energetic qualities of certain flower essence or essential oils scents to add another layer of intention to your abundance altar. 

On my abundance altar, I have a candle with the essence of Angel Wings, my lingam gifted to me by my teacher, Denise Linn, which is in a red glass bowl filled with sand so that the lingam can stand upright. I also have citerine stones on my altar that were gifted to me by friend and co-Master Educator Rainy Jordon.  Citerine is known as the merchant stone for abundance. And, I have my business card in a prominent place on the altar as well.  (Please see picture)

Each time I light the candle I have in my mind and heart all that I am grateful for and that I am open to all the positive abundance and prosperity flowing to me from Spirit. 

May your abundance altar energize your home.  Blessings, Neshi.

Copyright Yvette Neshi Lokotz, 2007.  All rights reserved

When I did my Interior Alignment™ and Feng Shui training in California in 2001, we learned a technique called Synchro-Alignment, which is a guided meditation system that synchronises and aligns a person’s energy and intention with their home. It can also tell you how your home affects you on a subconscious level.  

On this afternoon in California, we paired up and guided each other through the rooms of our home to see what our inner senses could tell us. The first thing that I noticed is that my front door really bothered me. The screen door squeaked and then smacked me in the back as I was opening the front door. Until I did this exercise I didn’t realise how much this irritated me. Basically every single time I went into my house the first thing I felt was irritation. This is significant because the front door is where all of the energy for your home enters. It is a transition from the public world outside to your private life. It also is where we form first impressions when we enter other people’s homes — or when someone comes to your home.

Feng shui for front doors is a lot of common sense. It doesn’t look all that great to have a front door that need painting, a door bell that doesn’t work, or burnt out light bulbs. Hopefully these obvious things get taken care of as part of routine maintenance.  Sometimes it is the more subtle things that get overlooked: squeaky hinges, doorknobs that are loose, or doors that do not fully open because of items stored behind them.

These subtle things can really bring the energy down. When I got home from my Interior Alignment™ training, the first thing I did was oil the screen door and loosen the spring so that it didn’t snap back. The front entrance felt more welcoming and friendly and I felt better - it was wonderful to get rid of that constant irritation. I consider maintenance and upkeep to be the most important factors in front door feng shui. If the front door and surrounding area is in good repair and you feel good when you come home and open your front door, it is good feng shui.   

Copyright Deborah Redfern, 2007. All rights reserved.