Are we having the right paintings (or pictures) hanging on our walls? A very innocent question but as they say, a story tells more than a thousand words.
I remember the advice of a feng shui master who taught that we should never hang pictures of tigers and ferocious animals on walls of our homes. He also added that we should not hang pictures of dragons and other mythical creatures. He said that tigers are animals of the wild and dragons are creatures who should be free to roam the heavens. Having them in homes is anti their nature.
I suspect at that time that he was being a little bit old fashioned and superstitious. He was a powerfuil master nonetheless so this becomes one of those things that I take at face value.
Sorry again for digressing. Back to pictures on walls. Take a look at these three pictures. They are of waterfalls or water. Feng shui use them as symbolic of water and where a live waterfall or fountain is not possible, they are adopted as representative of water.
Water is one of the five elements and is one of the favored element for good feng shui. Hamging this on our walls is said to bring us plenty of good luck and abundance. Is this true?
To answer that we have to look carefully in order to determine what exactly the energy that is coming from the picture.
The first picture that of water freefalling. This signifies water. More than that it is ‘ active’ with the sense of motion. The second picture is that of a lake. We can see that it shows a body of water which is rather still. It is very easy to mistake this as water but it is not. It is actually the trigram of Dui with the inherent nature of metal (of the five elements of feng shui).
Picture 2 lake
If we had used this picture of the lake when the cycle of 7 was strong, it would be auspicious but now it is stagnant energy. The joyous energy of this picture is no longer suitable. In fact it depletes the good qi and according to feng shui, it stands for conflicts and unnecessary friction.
Look at the third picture. This one is a combination of the two themes of the first and second picture. It shows water cascading to a pool below. What energy can we see?
Picture 3 Lake and Waterfall
We see the depiction of metal producing water. This is a productive cycle in the five elements theory. If water is the active element we are looking for to energize a space then this is a good picture to have.
However, having said all that, we should add that having a picture on the wall is fine but we should not believe that it will provide all the answers. The last picture is also a depiction of the hexagram “Limitation”. It signifies an break in the natural flow and rest is compelled by outside forces like bad weather or competition. To have this in a ‘war’ situation like in an office or production area may not be appropriate. Having one at home may be fine.
Many like fountains and ponds in their gardens. Why so? The reason is very obvious. They are relaxing and as ‘limitation’ suggests, it is one place where one retreats to repair and heal. It provides the natural energy for our subconscious to reflect and subtly focus on the necessary strategies necessary for success in the outside arena. Now we know why pools and fountains are so popular.
The real thing that is a real waterfall or lake exudes that much more qi. There is motion as well as the natural latent aura coming off a real waterfall or lake. A picture is basically a ‘dead’ picture. In the hands of feng shui, it comes on when this small energy is featured. For example a picture in a closet is a dead piece of paper and wood but once we hang it on the wall and spotlight it as a centerpiece, it adds ITS OWN vibrancy to the room.
Feng shui of course goes a bit further than simply hanging a picture on the wall. The qi present will have to be assessed with a combination of theory and observation.
Here are two more pictures. They are aspects of the same energy. Care to guess what they are?
