Elixir's
Fourth Feng Shui Window

8/07/09 (17/06/4707)

Ji/Yin Earth
Cho/Yin Earth (Ox) Year

Ren/Yang Water
Shen/Yang Metal (Monkey) Month

Jia/Yang Wood
Shen/Yang Metal (Monkey) Day

Ji/Yin Earth
Si/Yang Fire (Snake) Hour

This is the beginning of the Seventh Chinese Solar Month of Li Qiao-Autumn Standing.

This month's basic feng shui framework

This Li Qiao is made of:

Ren/Celestial Yang Water, which is space.

Shen/Earthly Yang Metal, which is tools, precision and letting go of Earthly attachments.

When we deconstruct Shen into its Celestial components, we get:

Wu/Celestial Yang Earth- The large cycles and laws of nature.

Geng/Celestial Yang Metal- Comets, shooting stars and the time of harvest.

Ren/Celestial Yang Water- The ocean of space.

Discussion about this month's window

I was all excited to start this month out with a bang. So I decided to do some work down at Elixir during the Yang Fire/Snake hour on the beginning day of Li Qiao.

At that time, I hadn't realized that Li Qiao didn't begin until 6:07 PM! Fortunately I didn't calculate this error until a couple of days after the fact, so it didn't put a dent in my enthusiasm. It only lead to a humorous, humbling and fortunate aftersight.

Most notable about the construction of this month's feng shui is the direct mirroring of Ren/ Celestial Yang Water within the inner matrix of Shen's Earthly dynamic. Space is reflected in water and vice versa.

Li Qiao means Autumn Standing. This means that the energy of Autumn is just beginning to come up. We decided to go with a harvest theme along these lines, which also brought us closer to Geng, Celestial Yang Metal...

We chose wheat, which you can see here standing. It gives the perfect picture for Autumn Standing...

The energy of Wu/Celestial Yang Earth is represented by the large wicker basket containing the entire display. I really got excited about this basket because of the effect that it has on the display as a whole. The container of this basket literally pulls people off the street to see what's inside...

We balanced the Yang of the wheat with ten potatoes in a silvered goblet to give it a Yin root...

Ren, Celestial Yang Water, is space. Because of the reflection of water and space and the predominance of Yang Metal in this month, Terry chose this incredible silvered conch shell, which is clinging to a white piece of coral.

This relationship brings out the interplay between the elements of:

-Water, which is obvious from the shell and coral

- Metal, from the silver and also from the white coral. There's also a play with the clinging of the conch to the coral. This is precisely the clinging to the...

- Earth element that Yang Metal assists us to let go of. This is truly a work of genius on Terry's part to combine all of these energies into a single, highly unusual image with such elegance...

Egyptian Papyrus brings the energy of the great Nile River to our display. It also brings life, as it is a living plant. The Nile brought life and the cycles of harvest to the ancients. It is said to be an Earthly reflection of the Milky Way...

Again, all together in context...

Take home lesson

It's incredible to observe how Elixir's feng shui window displays are getting more powerful and more beautiful with each new display.

It's also clear that these feng shui windows are inspiring the Belvedere-Tiburon community and its visitors. People come up to enjoy and marvel at their beauty and energy all day long. Even people you wouldn't think would be interested take a moment to appreciate what's going on in these windows.

Much can be said for the rhythmic quality of the influence of this beauty. Locals are beginning to look forward to seeing the new windows. The energy and its message are uplifting. It's a source of life, wonder and creativity for all to enjoy. At Elixir, we get to observe the process of this positive influence from the inside out.

Sometimes the simplest things can really turn the whole energy of a place and its people around. With positive intention, planning and a willingness to experiment we can create a good feeling wherever we are.

Happy Li Qiao!


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John Mini, M.S.C.M./ L.Ac.