Holiday time! If you decorate for Christmas, here are some great Feng Shui tips to help your house feel better than ever. Please know that you do not have to do all, or even a handful, of these. You can do only one if that feels best to you.
Before We Get Started Know How to Locate Different Areas in a Room
What is important to understand with these tips is how to locate the different areas of a Bagua Map in a room. (Example of a Bagua map is below.)
A Bagua map reflects some of the areas (Money, Fame & Reputation, Love & Marriage, Family, Health, Children & Creativity, Skills & Knowledge, Career, Helpful People & Travel) where Feng Shui can assist. Each one of these nine areas are available in every room.
To find a particular area on the Bagua map, go stand in the doorway of the room you want to decorate and face into the room. You will be standing in either the Skills & Knowledge area (if the door is on the left side of the room), the Career area (if the door is in the middle of the room) or the Helpful People & Travel area (if the door is on the right side of the room).
If for example, you wanted to locate the Fame & Reputation area, you would look at the wall immediately across from you and divide that area into three equal parts. The middle area is the Fame & Reputation area. If you wanted to locate the Helpful People and Travel area you would look at the closest right corner to you (or where you are standing if the entrance is on the right side of the room).
Put the Christmas Tree in the Family Area, in the Wealth Area or in Your Fame & Reputation Area
Every different square in the Bagua has a different element (wood, water, metal, fire or earth) associated with it. The primary element associated with the Family and Money area is wood. This is why these two areas are great to put the Christmas tree.
Further, each area of the Bagua has an element that supports it. While the primary element associated with the Reputation area is fire, the element that supports fire is wood (because wood creates fire). With this said, the Reputation area of a room is also a great place to put your Christmas tree.
Put Red Decorations in Fame and Reputation and/or Love & Marriage
Every individual area in the Bagua has a color, shape and element associated with it. The color associated with the Fame and Reputation area is red. The colors associated with the Love & Marriage area are red, pink and white. It is great to put your red decor in these areas.
Extra credit if the red added in the Fame & Reputation area is a triangular shape or related to fire (such as candles).
Additional extra credit if the red you add in the Love & Marriage are two identical or similar objects. This could also be two red candles, two elves, two stockings etc.
Put Green Decorations in the Family and/or Money Areas
Green is the color associated with the Family and Money areas. These areas are great for your green Christmas decorations.
Put a Wreath on Your Front Door
The Front Door of your home is symbolic of your Career as well as the overall energy of the home. It is one of the three most important areas of your home in Feng Shui next to your Bedroom and Kitchen.
A seasonally appropriate wreath is great on your Front Door any time of the year. And what season is more appropriate for a wreath than Christmas? While not all Feng Shui experts would agree, I believe a non-plastic wreath is best. Things around your home should be made of natural materials so they feel as close to natural earth as possible. This is to keep all of your home’s inhabitants as natural and, you guessed it, as close to earth as possible.
Put Bells on Your Front Door
Bells are another home accessory great to have on your Front Door all year round. They are not only pretty decor, they also clear the space every time your door is opened and closed.
Put Kiddo’s Holiday Art in Children & Creativity
The Children & Creativity area of any room (except the parent’s bedroom) is a great place to celebrate both your kiddo’s holiday art talents and Christmas!
Don’t Put the Christmas Tree in the Middle of the Room, in the Love & Marriage or Skills & Knowledge Areas
The middle of any room is the Health area. The element associated with the Health area is earth. Wood is destructive to earth in Feng Shui. And, thank you very much, we don’t want any destructive elements in the Health areas of our homes.
Don’t Put Santa or Anything “Single” in the Love & Marriage Area
In your Love & Marriage area you do not want any single or lone objects, art or symbols. This means no solo Santa in this area. You can, however, put Santa and Mrs. Claus here!
Don’t Keep Janky, Broken Holiday Decor
To the extent possible, anything janky should be removed from your house – Christmas related or not. Janky holiday decorations should definitely be removed. (Sometimes I know we have to keep janky things because they are an everyday necessity, but Christmas decorations are not a necessity.) This means lights that don’t work, decorations that are broken and Christmas decor that has seen better days – should all be ideally recycled or tossed.
Don’t Put Your Snowman in Your Fame & Reputation Area
As discussed above, the element associated with the Fame & Reputation area is fire. The destructive element of fire is water. (Water puts out fire.) Let’s keep your reputation intact this holiday season by keeping Frosty out of the Fame & Reputation area.
Make Space for Decorating
Enemy #1 of Feng Shui is clutter. Sometimes an area is not cluttered before Christmas decorating, but once the holiday decor is added it can become too much. A good rule of thumb is every surface, shelf, floor, etc should be 50% empty. (I think we can make an exception to mantels for this one and say load it up.)
If this is not the case before decorating, or if it is not the case after decorating, make sure you put some things away until the decorations come down. This will allow your Christmas decorations to be thoroughly enjoyed.
Put the Christmas Cards in the Family Area
I think the Bagua map is a little out of date. In my opinion, the Family area should be updated to “Family, Friends & Community”. Or perhaps that is what is implied all along. Either way, celebrate your family and your friends by hanging their Christmas cards in the Family area of a room or rooms.
Put Santa in the Helpful People and Travel Area
The Bagua Map represents much more than the nine life areas. It also represents different times of day, seasons, body parts, illnesses, members of the family/community and more. When looking at the Bagua Map for the different family/community members, the Helpful People & Travel area represents the male head of household. It can also represent “the boss”, a king, the president or the leading guy around town. In December, of course, our leading dude is Santa and the Helpful People & Travel area is the perfect place to put him.
Don’t Stress About Any of This (Seriously, None of It)
Full disclosure, our holiday decor consists of one cute wreath and some cute quilted stocking garland. Candidly, I don’t know where the stocking garland is and I have been thinking about where some fishing line is for weeks to hang up the wreath. I say all of this to say – don’t stress. Don’t stress if you don’t decorate. Don’t stress if you do decorate. Don’t stress if your decorations are not in the ideal Feng Shui place. If your intention was to be festive and enjoy your home – that my friend is the best Feng Shui of all.
Merry (almost) Christmas to You and Those You Love!
xx,
Linda
