Are Colors
Important in Feng Shui?
Does
color play an important role in Feng Shui? This is a very common question my
clients ask me most of the time.
The
answer to this question has to take into consideration the viewpoint of the
practitioner who prescribes it. Some practitioners consider it relevant insofar
as their application of Feng Shui is concerned whereas others may think colors
as only having a psychological influence on people.
Based
on my observation and research, colors do evokes certain moods in people when
applied in line with the interior design of the living space. There are certain
systems in Feng Shui where colors can be integrated into the applications based
on the element of the person. In Chinese Astrology, a person has an inherent
element known as life gua which is based on one of the five elements that made
up the universe. These elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water and
there are intrinsic colors associated with each of them. Therefore, the choice
of colors to use in a living space such as a bedroom can be based on the life
kua of the person sleeping in it.
For example
if your life gua number is 3 which is associated with the wood element, the
best color for the bedroom is green. If your life gua is 9 which is associated
with the fire element, the ideal color to use is red. If your life kua is 1
which is associated with the water element, then blue or black is good.
Another
simple method of using colors considers the energy of the living space. In Feng
Shui, there is a system known as Flying Stars which studies the energy or “qi”
affecting nine sectors of a house. Flying Stars are therefore given numerals of
1 – 9. A star can fly into a sector and occupies it for a period of time as
long as twenty years. For example, when there is a star of 1 sitting in a
bedroom, the right color to use is blue. This is because the star of 1 is of
the water element which is associated with blue color. A room can also have a
star facing it which may carry the numeral 6. In Chinese metaphysics, metal
produces water. Therefore, the room can also be painted with white color as white
is associated with metal. Since both colors are in productive elemental relationship,
the colors of the room are in harmony with one another and will bring positive
vibes to the occupants of the room in terms of health.
There
is also a system in Feng Shui known as Eight Mansions House Gua which may allow
the Feng Shui practitioner to use colors that considers the interplay between
the elements of the wandering star that occupies the bedroom and the element of
the sector. You get another color option here.
There
are some Feng Shui practitioners who employ Chinese Astrological system such as
Ba Zi for recommending suitable colors based on the most favorable element in
the natal chart of the residents.
The
other school of thought concerns the use of physical items such as trinkets,
ornaments and decorative earthenware as energy activators. For these
practitioners who are more likely from the new aged school of Feng Shui, the
preference for physical items are based on the common belief that these
activators represents the elements that they need e.g. wind chime when a metal
element is required or a jar of water when the water element is required.
When a
practitioner uses colors arbitrarily without considering the various Feng
Shui’s systems and their subtle impact on the energy of a living space, there may
be conflicts. For example, a good color choice based on the Flying Star system may
be bad from a Ba Zi perspective and vice versa. The secret is to find a color
that blends harmoniously between two systems.