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July 22, 2008
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There's Only One "Front" Door |
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Q: I have been reading your feng shui books and am now totally confused on some basic issues. They are:
1) Is an attached garage considered part of the house when I place the baqua on it?
2) If we enter our home from the attached garage (and never through the actual front door of the house) is this where I place the bottom of the baqua?
Until I have firm answers on these questions I am unable to attempt any of the great ideas I have read. Your help would be greatly appreciated!
PS It always brightens my day when I get your newsletter!
A: Happy to help… you’re not the only one confused about this, and it’s an easy answer (long here only ‘cause I’m ranting a little):
1) Yes, an attached garage is included in the house ba gua, if there’s a door directly into the house from the garage (as there usually is).
If there’s no direct-to-inside access from the garage – i.e., you step from the garage onto a porch, patio, or walkway and walk around to a house door (front or back) – then the garage is considered a separate space and gets its own ba gua, even if it shares a wall with the house.
2) No. Nope. Never. Not at all. Not negotiable. I’m not a stickler for the rules in many ways, but this is the one where I put my foot down.
The “bottom” of the ba gua ONLY and ALWAYS is placed at the FORMAL FRONT DOOR of the house. That’s the door the architect planned as the main entry. The one that’s oriented to the bottom of the page on your floor plan. The one that faces the street, your neighborhood, the world.
The garage entry, a side door, the back door – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard (or read) “yeah, but…” Nuh uh. No buts. Not for the ba gua. Not for the front door. Not ever.
There are some feng shui writers/teachers out there who say that the “main” entry of the home is determined by your movement, and that if you always go in and out the garage door, that’s where the ba gua should go. I understand where they’re coming from: we often say, “chi flows where people go,” and I expect that’s why they’re taking that stand.
However, I strongly feel they are missing the key point here: the front door of your home is the formal main entry, and the entire layout and architecture of the house has been designed around it. The home itself is (usually, although not always) situated with the front door facing the street, and it’s the focal point of the “face” your home presents to the public passing by. As feng shui consultants, when we evaluate a home one of the most important features we look at is the front door, and whether or not the occupants use it.
When you go in and out of the house from any other entry than the front door “all the time,” then you are messing up the right and appropriate flow of chi through your home, and your experience is likely to be impacted by that in some way. The front door is called your “mouth of chi” -- no other entry, no matter how frequently used, ever takes that position. When you never use your front door, you are shutting out fresh new chi and the opportunities and “luck” with which the front door is associated.
Think about it this way: which is the more attractive environment, the area around your front door (perhaps a nice stoop or portico, maybe some potted plants on either side, at the very least, fresh air and sunshine on a daily basis) or the interior of your garage (most likely a little untidy, either gloomy or with harsh overhead lighting, may house your garbage as well as the car, plus all kinds of odds and ends and clutter; usually the air in there is a long way from fresh).
When you go in and out of your house, you’re bringing the chi of one or the other of those entries with you. Which chi would you rather invite into your home on a daily basis?
Turning the ba gua to line it up with the garage door is not the solution! The solution is to go in and out of your front door from time to time. Not all the time (you’re allowed to use the garage entry when your arms are full of groceries, or the weather’s foul, or it’s late at night, or you’re just plain pooped), but every few days – aim for, say, twice a week – use your front door! Walk out to get the paper or pick up the mail, or just take a stroll through the neighborhood on a nice afternoon. Don’t be a slave to your garage-door remote. Your home will thank you, and you’ll probably feel better, too.
Hope this brightens your day a little,
Stephanie R.Labels: doors, Feng Shui Q+A
posted by Stephanie R. #
7/22/2008 08:56:00 AM
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