By HENRY FONG
IF YOU have followed my last two articles on the Eight Mansions, you will know that the North, South, East and Southeast sectors are auspicious for East Life people.
Conversely, the West, Northwest, Southwest and Northeast are auspicious for West Life people.
The rationale is that you benefit more if you spend time in sectors that are auspicious for you.
In a house, the places where you spend a lot of time depends on your lifestyle, but I would include the main door, bedrooms and kitchen.
The main door is always considered because you use it to get in and out, plus it is a source of qi into the house.
For some people, it may include the living and family areas, while others may spend more time in the study or home office.
Therefore, the auspicious sectors should be reserved for the above-mentioned spaces in the house.
The toilet and bathroom, as well as the storeroom which are less used, should be placed in the inauspicious sectors.
The dining area, which is only used for meals two to three times a day, may also be placed in an inauspicious sector – unless it is also used extensively, such as for tuition or as a home office.
The stairs can be in an auspicious sector while the AV room can be in either, again depending on their usage.
The kitchen, on the other hand, must be placed in an inauspicious sector. It has something to do with the fire from the stove burning away the inauspicious energy in that sector.
At least, these are the ideal situations for the home. In practice, you are unlikely to achieve this ideal placement for all the spaces involved.
So the focus is normally placed on the main door, bedrooms and kitchen, as these areas affect us the most.
Now let’s assume that you want to build your house using the Eight Mansions system.
You need to convey your plans to the architect yet, at the same time, allow him or her the flexibility to design a layout that is both functional and comfortable to live in.
We do this by giving him a bubble diagram showing where each of the spaces can be located.
In practice, you would also set some limits on the design. For example, the main door and living area should be at the facing side of the house, while the kitchen is normally at the sitting side.
On the subject of the kitchen, our focus is on the stove or the wet kitchen, which should be in an inauspicious sector.
The dry kitchen where little cooking is done can be in an auspicious sector.
In my next article, I will try to play the role of an architect, and come out with the floor layout for a double-storey, detached house based on a bubble diagram.
Henry Fong is an electronic engineer by qualification and he approaches feng shui with the same analytical and investigative approach he uses in his training. Readers can write to him at lifestyle.henryfong@thesundaily.com.
