Elixir's
Fifth Feng Shui Window

09/07/09 (19/07/4707)

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

Gui/Yin Water
You/Yin Metal (Hen) Month

Yi/Yin Wood
Mao/Yin Wood (Rabbit) Day

This is the beginning of the Eigth Chinese Solar Month of Bai Lu- White Dew.

We didn't get this display going until 9-09-09, which was

Ding/Yin Fire
Si/Yang Fire (Snake)

This double Fire time is an arguably inauspicious time for placement of energies relating to Metal and Water. Fire is antagonistic to both Metal and Water. Yet the intention behind this timing was to bring some of the archetypal cultural conflict around this particular day into the space on purpose. It also played a role in my personal feng shui for this month.

To further balance this time and relationship, I began treating patients this month during the

Xin/Yin Metal
Si/ Yang Fire (Snake) hour.

This month's basic feng shui framework

For this display, our elements are: Gui/Celestial Yin Water: Rain. Also the depths of space.

You/Yin Metal. Precious metals and jewelry. Alcohol. Gourmet food.

You deconstructs into:

Xin/Yin Metal. Precious metals. Alcohol. Gourmet food.

Discussion about this month's window

Nothing invites the energy of rain like a picnic. The energy of this picnic came about from the very predominant energy of gourmet food in this month.

Let's talk about the tower of almonds.

Almonds are a powerful food and also an herb that we use in Chinese medicine. Almond opens the Lung, and relates very powerfully to this aspect of Celestial Yin Metal. Almond was one of the original domesticated plants. It has a very long history with humanity. In its wilder forms, the oil of this plant is incredibly aromatic and stimulating.

Why a tower? The tower relates to humanity's aspirations and inspirations. It reaches for the depths of space...

This Dusty Miller plant came from the Yin Water feng shui ritual we performed at the Tiburon Art Festival. We placed it in the silver goblet we used in last month's window to bring out the quality of Celestial Yin Water to precipitate into the first frost for our 8th solar month of Bai Lu...

One feng shui/aesthetic tool that Terry has taught me about over the years has been in the amazing ways he uses specialty-baked breads for different occasions. When I say this I want you to understand what I mean: Terry draws pictures of the breads that he wants and takes them to a baker to have them created. That's amazing. Terry used a number of one-of-a-kind breads in this display, including these very interesting spiral and kiva shapes...

The Yang energy of the many linear breadsticks is contained with the heavenly Yin of a silver Tiffany bracelet, and is offset by a single Tsillandia plant. These plants are so Yin, they live from the moisture in the air. This one also has a frosty appearance.

The Yuan Dynasty celadon charger brings an affinity with the energy of heaven due to it roundness. It provides an attractive force to Celestial Yin Water on account of its color and vegetative patterns. Its antiquity and excellent craftsmanship also bring a lot of very refinedKung Fu into the space.

You can see another specialty bread in this part of the display. It's in the form of a rounded square and is set within a rectangular wicker frame. Its squareness is emphasized by an added groove in the bread itself.

Four silver knives pierce the Yin corners of this bread. It emphasizes the role of relationship in this field. The knife sharpener is also right there in the frame along side them, reminding us of the need for acuity.

But there's a more complex relationship here. It's brought out by the massive round gold ring of the late San Francisco fine artist Jim Reedy planted squarely in the center of the bread. This round gold ring in the center of the square bread brings heaven to earth. By accentuating the pentagonal nature of this pattern it also speaks of the relationship of the Earth and Moon, because the pentagon embodies the relative proportions of this relationship. Finally, the use of both gold and silver here speak of the solar and lunar dynamic.

So it's all about space in these many ways.

Where's the alcohol? Probably on account of cultural sensitivities in this area to such things, it hasn't yet found an appropriate channel into the display yet. I'm confident that it will show itself as the month goes on...

Take home lesson

The elements of a feng shui display don't need to be trendy or spendy. They can be as simple as common food items. It's the way you get these items to interact in the space that brings alive the dynamics of your intention and their ability to tune in to the prevailing energy of the time...

Back to Elixir’s Feng Shui Window Displays Gallery

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