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?
This book is a translation of a text by FengShui Master Jiang Da Hong (ca1640) with my explanations and comments. The root text is a section on yang dwellings from his book “5 Songs of the Heavenly Principles”.
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Re: Hanging pictures in a one-room apartment
Hi,
I truly hope you don’t mind my asking you a question, it’s just your Feng Shui site is the truest, most sensible resource I’ve come across in over 10 years.
About 10 years ago when I graduated college I bought myself some Chinese paper cuttings from a vendor on campus. She said they’d been made by Buddhist monks and all but one was signed with a chop, all but one are backed by a type of paper called wan-tan (honestly, I just bought them because they were beautiful and I’d just read that Mandarin ducks were for love and dragons were for protection, that sort of thing; if they really were made by monks, that’d be a beautiful bonus.) I bought 2 Mandarin duck images (I’ll likely only hang the more elaborate one that also shows lotus in bloom and dragonflies, too, so as to encourage love and not upset it,) there’s a dragon with four toes chasing a pearl. and the vendor insisted that I take a rather large—about 20” x 30” paper cutting of a baby Buddha riding a large, orange carp through seaweed (there are also 4 characters as part of the paper cutting, but I cannot read them.)
There are 2 things I’m unsure of: First, how do you determine which picture goes where? Is it exclusively based on the subject, or the colors, the substance something is made out of, i.e. paper or something else? Also, I live in a 14’ x 17’ apartment which also serves as my bedroom. I’ve read that one shouldn’t place cures in the bedroom, but being my only personal space, I’d need to hang them in here. I’ve only been able to find a gold frame for the dragon picture, the other pictures are in warm-colored wood frames. (Also, if it’s of any help, the apartment is entirely white and all the furniture in it is wood.)
My hope is once these pictures are happily settled where they belong, then the other art—some family and nature photos, some pottery, a painting, a bit of textile art and some Beatles pictures, etc.—can finally find their places, too. I’m just hoping to bring the elements into balance because there’s truly a harmonic feeling when stepping into a space that has had feng shui applied well
If you can reply, that’d be wonderful; and if you can’t, I completely understand and thank you for your patience in reading this.
In kindness,
Bunny Oshinsky
Hi Bunny, got your email and acted on your request.
I think I will do a short write in reply.
You’re more than wonderful, LaiSW! *So* many thanks
Thanks again, Lai SW,
Hoping you’ll be able to help me sort out where these few pictures should go, they’re just so pretty I’d like to treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve
Ever grateful,
Thanks,
Bunny
P.S. Do you still have the first email address I wrote to you with?
(the one I’m using today is borrowed, I’m using a friend’s computer.)
It is difficult to say anything basing on a description and a good feel of your apartment.
The only clue you can take would be to position active pictures (eg the dragon) at your work area which should have a touch of daylight. The softer pictures (ducks and lotuses) would be suitable for reflection and contemplation.
Do the paintings we hang on our walls have an effect on our wealth and prosperity?
We have a stain glass painting of some fish hanging on our north wall. Can that actually have a bad influence? we are thinking of hanging one showing a waterfall there, instead.
Please suggest.
There certainly is much to say on such a matter but really an answer to a request such as yours cannot be given based on scant facts. However I would like to say that a big piece of glass (big as in proportion to the space it decorates) will have impact. You would have to ask if your space is brightly suffused with daylight. Are there other many pieces of cold stuff like similar glass decorative pieces, porcelain, ceramics or metal in the space. All these matters. You have mentioned north so i imagine you are direction aware, perhaps, you are thinking that north is associated with water and the glass being there amplifies the dark energy of the north. Just note that this is not necessarily so.
If i may offer a simple tip for you – do not be too confused. Use common sense. Decorate your space mindful of balance and harmony. Avoid things which are jarring or counter culture.
Hi..last 5 years, i have completed one of my favorite cross stich , a picture where a lady washing her feet at the small waterfall. It is a quite big frame and i placed/hung it on the wall. Just to get tips from your goodself whether it is a good idea to placed this kind of picture in the living room (opposite the Koi fish painting which i hung recently). Hoping to get your reply soon. Thanks so much.
Christine, 21/5/12 11.49pm
Hi Christine,
Without seeing anything, I would say that as long as you feel good about your handiwork, display it as you wish. Probably already having a Koi painting is on your mind. Too much perception have been planted on key ideas of Fengshui such that placement of objects around a living room becomes ‘the art of fengshui’. This is unfortunate.
Dear Lai SW
I am a west group person. When i enter the the our house , our dining room can see straightly. I know this is not very very good feng shui. So i want to hang a picture. what type of picture do u recommend me.
Thanks !!
AP
hello are you allowed to hang pictuers of water on a canvas outside your home?
Hi, I have my bed in my bedroom with its head rest on north wall and we sleep keeping out head in south (i.e. when we get up we fact north wall). I am a photographer myself and have lot of photos of waterfalls, flowers, etc. Can you please tell me what photo/s should I hang on that wall?
Thanks a ton.
Cheers,
Pratik