Valley Homes and Style - What is this thing... Feng Shui?

Distribution
-Where to get your copy

Subscriptions
-How to subscribe

Advertising
-Specs & Deadlines

Let's Go Shopping
-Categorized Advertisers

About Us
-Who we are & contacts

   Contact Us
   Phone: 800-989-8992
   Fax: 301-416-7739

   Address
   2053 Day Road, Suite 800
   Hagerstown, MD 21740

What is this thing... Feng Shui?

You're working with a Realtor. Just when you've begun mentally placing furniture in what you consider the perfect house, she exclaims, "You cant buy this. The feng shui is all wrong!"

What is feng shui?

Factually, feng shui (pronounced "fung shway") is part of the ancient Chinese philosophy of nature. It is concerned primarily with understanding the relationship between nature and ourselves so that we might live in harmony with our environment.

Feng shui literally translates as "wind-water," and it is a discipline with specific guidelines for many aspects of agricultural planning as well as interior design. Its proponents claim that feng shui affects health, wealth, and personal relationships.

Feng shui is allied with the common-sense idea that living with rather than against nature benefits both ourselves and our environment. It also is related to the concept that human beings are deeply affected by both physical and emotional environments.

If we are surrounded by symbols of death (Yin), if we are indifferent or hostile to life and nature, if we listen to harsh sounds and view various forms of ugliness, then we will corrupt ourselves in the process, the theory states. But if we see beauty in the living world (Yang), if we are kind and gentle and considerate to others, if we hear lovely music and see clearly the sweetness of life, then not only are we ennobled but also our environment will be enriched.

Local practitioners of feng shui are open to consulting and design services. Sandra Ritenour of Peace and Plenty Feng Shui in Stephens City, Va., has been in business since 2001. A certified Building Biologist and Environmental consultant, Ritenour's motto is "creating safe, healthy, beautiful spaces," she said. "Ever since I was a small child, I've always been interested in architecture and interior design and how people live in their homes," she said.

Ritenour believes that every client has a unique way of life, and works to ensure that each client's home reflects that uniqueness. "Feng shui has physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual components because we as people do, and our space reflects that," she said.

Walton (Kip) D. Stowell, Sr. is an architect in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., whose home, studio, and gardens reflect not only his artistic nature and talent, but also an abiding interest in nature and feng shui. Originally from Massachusetts, Stowell came to this area to help design a new center for the National Park Service, and later served as town mayor for six years.

In 1972 he and his wife bought a 1908 Sears Roebuck house in Harpers Ferry; they are its second owners. Stowell, who earlier spent several years in Japan, subsequently built a studio-school behind the main house; its design is Asian, especially the interior latticed ceiling.

"I've always been interested in how people site their homes," Stowell said. "Is it near water? What exposure of sun does it have? Is there a nice view?" He finds that feng shui deals with the spiritual aspects of a place and that its philosophy works hand-in-hand with the idea of healthy homes.

Architects influencing Stowell include Frank Lloyd Wright, Orson Fowler (a 19th century phrenologist, whose contribution to architecture is the octagonal house), and Sir John Soane, whose early 19th century home is now a museum in London. "Feng shui is an accumulation of knowledge," Stowell said. His own home attests to that. Overflowing with art and artifacts, it is surrounded by gardens and greenery. "Plants help with energy," he said. "The first feng shui book I bought talked about house siting," he said. "The phoenix bird protects the front of the house; the phoenix needs to be able to take flight, so the doorway should be open, without barrier or enclosure."

As you enter Stowell's front door, the first thing you see is an oriental rug depicting birds of paradise – "a nod to the phoenix," Stowell said.

"Inside, as you face the front of the house, the dragon protects the left side of the home," he said. "That is the best side for gardening and there should be a half-day of sunlight for best results."

And indeed, as you stand in his foyer, an intricately carved mahogany chair features the dragon motif.

"The right side of the house is guarded by the tiger, and the back is protected by the tortoise. The back yard should be the least open area of all," said Stowell. "It's like in the military, you protect your back."

And finally, the snake is in the center of the house. "That's me," laughs Stowell. "I orchestrate the other four.

"Susan Dudics Dean of Celestial Designs in Martinsburg,W.Va., has been a designer for 25 years and has practiced feng shui for 13. Explaining that there are seven schools of feng shui, Dudics Dean states that she studied in San Francisco and works with a modified school from Berkeley, Ca., founded by Master Lin Yun. "It's Americanized feng shui," she notes, "because we use our homes differently from Asians.

"Dudics Dean agrees with Ritenour and Stowell: "Much of feng shui is common sense." But she adds, "Some is superstition."

She states that feng shui's basic premise is that the energy in your life affects how you live your life. "If your house is cluttered, it is hard to have energy move and you can't get new energy in. By streamlining your life and space, old energy moves out and new moves in," Dudics Dean said.

"Some people like slow energy; they want a relaxing, cozy space for nesting, such as the family room. Other people like fast energy; that can be achieved in a work-out room or kitchen where it is less cluttered," Dudics Dean said.

When working with a client, Dudics Dean inquires what needs changing. "Where are you stuck? What's not working the way you want it to," she asks.

Then she discusses the bagua of feng shui "Bagua is an octagon and its eight sides represent different circumstances or situations in life: Health and Family, Wealth and Prosperity, Fame, Love and Marriage, Children and Creativity, Helpful People and Travel, Knowledge and Self-Cultivation. The center of the octagon represents Birth and Grounding," she said.Each station is associated with a color. Likewise, the five elements are important in feng shui. "Water is associated with career and the color black, while fire is linked to fame and red," Dudics Dean said.

"Wood relates to family and health, and its associative colors are earth tones; metal is allied with children and creativity, as well as white and pastels. Lastly, the center of the octagon, birth and grounding, represents earth and its colors are brown and green.

"Dudics Dean said she sees the irony in the fact that "feng shui dates three-to five thousand years back, yet you have to go to the New Age department to find it at a bookstore."