by Carolyn Vinup
Feng Shui can be the catalyst for making changes in your life. Feng Shui is about intention. It’s about your thoughts, your beliefs, and your attitudes. As a trained Feng Shui practitioner, I recognize that I am a change agent. I provide an unbiased evaluation of the physical environment and help people understand how the Feng Shui principle, “your space reflects your life” is impacting them. I can provide Feng Shui adjustments or enhancements that may bring more clarity, focus and energy into your life. I help people turn on their “Feng Shui Eyes”. This allows my clients to live more consciously. Before an appointment, I have my clients state their intentions. This helps provide a focal point and purpose for our time together.
Colors are one of the basic tools used in Feng Shui methodology. Color is one way Feng Shui practitioners integrate change in people’s lives. When you add color to your space this may change your perspective and it may even change your life. Integrating new colors into your physical environment can serve as a launching pad for
you to make the changes you’ve wanted to make, but haven’t
been able to.
The colors in your life change as you do. What colors do you surround yourself with? What color is your home? What color is your bedroom? What color are your bed sheets? What color is your kitchen? What color are your plates? What color are the glasses you drink from? What color is your family room? What colors do you have in your office? What colors are in your pictures? What color is your furniture? What color are your drapes? What color is your car? What colors do you like to wear? What is the color of the food you like to eat? What color is your front door?
Feng Shui evaluates the colors you have chosen to paint your walls, selected for your furniture, selected for fabrics and draperies as well as taking a look at the colors in your closet and some of your personal belongings. The colors you have chosen to be in your life have served a purpose. The colors reflect where you have been and changing the colors in your physical environment is making a statement about where you are going.
In the book, “Living Color” by Professor Thomas Lin Yun and Sarah Rossbach, the founder and grandmaster of Black Sect Feng Shui, state four ways in which color influences our world:
- Color defines for us what exists and what doesn’t exist
- Color discloses the status of our health and fortune (by evaluating the color and condition of your skin tones)
- Color inspires emotion
- Color also structures our behavior
In China, the properties of color are both emotional and physical. The term for a funeral is “white event” while the literal translation of “honorable official” is “blue sky”. Yellow has always been closely associated with the imperial household that the entrance to the palace is known as the “yellow door”. Throughout the world, colors describe emotional properties. We feel blue, are green with envy, or describe someone as a yellow-bellied coward. There is a Feng Shui story about the color purple; the Chinese say that something is so red it is purple, meaning it is so hot it will stand out, bringing luck
and fame.
Professor Lin states, “If you understand the relationship between color and human ch’i you can enrich your life: you can use color to improve the state of your ch’i. There are six areas of our lives that are affected by color: transportation, shelter, clothes, leisure activities, food and personal cultivation-the latter category includes meditation, education, mystical rituals and the use of color as a prenatal influence.”
Color has a major impact on all of us and it affects all aspects of our lives. Color is one of the first things the brain processes. Color is a manifestation of light and energy. We can use color to heal, guide and express certain aspects of ourselves. We can use color as a
Feng Shui adjustment or enhancement. Feng Shui typically works with nine colors.
The nine colors used in Feng Shui correspond to the Bagua (pronounced Bagwa). The Bagua is a tool that helps us to evaluate what is happening in your life and in your environment. The Bagua is shaped like an octagon and has eight sides. The Bagua is an energetic map that is used to identify key areas in your environment that can be either adjusted or enhanced. This tool allows the environment to be divided into nine equal areas or guas (pronounced gwa). Each gua holds an energetic imprint that can be reflected in your space.
In Feng Shui, we say the Bagua is the compass inside your heart. If you’re experiencing some area of your life that isn’t working or moving in the direction you intended, then the Bagua can be used to evaluate your concerns. In this article, we will use the Bagua to evaluate the color in your home or office space. Working with colors can be a lot of fun!
The key colors that Feng Shui practitioners work with are Black, Blue, Green, Purple, Red, Pink, White and pastels, Gray or Silver and Yellow, Orange and earth tones.
The Basic Bagua
As you can see from the diagram each gua has a color representing it. Let’s examine what each color means and see how color can be incorporated into your physical environment. Don’t forget you can wear and eat color too!
After evaluating the colors or lack of colors in your space, you may still have questions or concerns and an appointment with a trained Feng Shui consultant may be in order.
Before you begin, put on your Feng Shui eyes and walk from room to room. What do you see? What is each room saying to you? Remember your space reflects your life. As you enter each room pay attention to how you are feeling. You can ask yourself some basic questions. How do you feel in each room? What colors are in each room? Do you have a positive or negative experience in a particular room? Is it time to make a change, if the answer is yes, what color do you feel will support you at this juncture in your life journey.
The Nine Bagua Colors
There are positive and negative aspects for each color
BLACK
- Represents the gua called Life Journey or Career
- Black is considered an auspicious color in China and stands for everything in the universe
- Water element
Positive aspects of Black:
Power, strength, authority, protection, magic, respect, absorbs energy, infinite, sense of awe, grandeur and depth
Negative aspects of Black:
Secretive, dark magic, mysterious, resentment, fear, anxiety, hatred, depression, lack of hope feeling dark and low
BLUE
- Represents the gua called Wisdom or Knowledge
- Earth element
Positive aspects of Blue:
Knowledge, peace, happiness, calming, relaxing, philosopher, claiming the right to speak your truth
Negative aspects of Blue:
Depression, loneliness, a mourning color in China
GREEN
- Represents the gua called Family
- Wood element
Positive aspects of Green:
New beginnings, growth, energy, hope, new life, healing, abundance, generate new ideas, flexible, balance, tranquility, fresh, vitality, hope, heart space, claiming the right to love and heal
Negative aspects of Green:
Uncertainty, greed, miserly
PURPLE
- Represents the gua called Abundance or Wealth
- Wood element
Positive aspects of Purple:
Spiritual, royalty, visionary, spirit, alchemy, humility, exploration, self discovery, respect, nobility, power, rich, fortunate, purpose, claiming the right to know
Negative aspects of Purple:
Obsessive, misunderstanding, compulsive
RED
- Represents the gua called Fame and Reputation
- Red is considered a lucky color in China and is a call to action color
- Fire Element
Positive aspects of Red:
Activates, motivates, passionate, joy, fun, creates movement and change, call to action color, happiness, warmth, fire, fame, stimulates, strength, claiming the right to have your basic needs filled
Negative aspects of Red:
Anger, aggressive, impulsive
PINK
- Represents the gua called Partnership
Positive aspects of Pink:
Calming effect, unconditional love, pure feelings, joy, happiness, heart space, marriage, relationships, soothes the emotions, reduces fear, romance, claiming the right to love and heal
Negative aspects of Pink:
Too emotional
WHITE or PASTELS
- Represents the gua called Children and Creativity
- In China, white represents a blank slate. White helps create black from which white is born (Living Color, page 29)
- Metal element
Positive aspects of White:
Purity, sharing, truth, cleanliness, righteous, perfection, encompasses all the colors, enlightenment, infinite faith, angelic, claiming the right to be a spiritual being
Negative aspects of White:
Sterile, overextended, scattered, destructive, demise and death
GRAY or SILVER
- Represents Helpful People
- Metal element
Positive aspects of Gray or Silver:
Neutral, initiation, imagination, can help to resolve conflicts, claiming the ability to dream
Negative aspects of Gray or Silver:
Uncommitted, secretive, empty, depression, frustrated, hopelessness
YELLOW or GOLD
- Represents the Center, Health
- Earth element
Positive aspects of Yellow:
Optimism, inspiration, energizing, cheerful color, stimulating, clarity, focus, intellectual, stands for power, tolerance, patience, wisdom, ability to reason, health, claiming the right to act
Negative aspects of Yellow:
Critical, too driven, can over stimulate the mind
BROWN
- Represents the Center, Health (all earth tone colors)
- Earth element
Positive aspects of Brown:
Practical, earthy, stable, grounded, depth, strength, can be considered elegant
Negative aspects of Brown:
Unenlightened, lack of discrimination, muddy, stuck, murky
ORANGE
- Represents the Center, Health
- Earth element
Positive aspects of Orange:
Creative, sexuality, drive, ambition, energizing, joyful, auspicious color combination of red and yellow, happiness, power
Negative aspects of Orange:
Prideful, worrier, anxiety, agitated
PEACH
- Represents the Center, Health
- Earth element
Positive aspects of Peach:
Great for a single person, very social color
Negative aspects of Peach:
Not good for married couples, may make the heart wander
Making some color changes in your home or office space, can manifest changes to your life. You may experience more energy and become more creative. Your attitude may change. When choosing the colors you’re going to add to your physical environment make sure the colors look good on you! As Nike says in their ads “Just Do It”! Go ahead and make a statement. Take a risk, go and play, add some color to your life.
“As you walk this sacred path of life, may you color your sacred space”.
Sources: “Living Color” by Professor Thomas Lin Yun and Sarah Rossbach, pages 11, 15, 16, 29.
Carolyn Vinup of Gateways to Brilliance: Experience Transformational Ceremonies that Awaken Your Higher Consciousness and Expand Your Inner Light, has been part of the Wellness Movement for over 25 years. Carolyn has been practicing Feng Shui for 20 years, specializing in Feng Shui Blessings and Creating Sacred Space in Homes, Offices and Wellness Centers. As a Sound Healing Professional, Carolyn guides spiritual seekers through transformative experiences called Sacred Ceremonies in her Sacred Sound Chamber in Eden Prairie, MN. Carolyn is also a certified Feng Shui consultant, Sound Health instructor and practitioner, wellness agent and event producer. To hire Carolyn Vinup for a speaking engagement, Feng Shui appointment or Sound Health session please call 612.325.5162 or email her at Carolyn@CarolynVinup.com.