Chapter 18
Apartment Hunting We Will Go
In This Chapter
Doing your homework before choosing an apartment
Finding an apartment that inspires romance
Using your ming gua to orient your bed and desk
Using Flying Star to remedy the dwelling’s qi
It’s taken 17 chapters, but you’ve made it! You’ve learned the fundamental components of feng shui (yin and yang, the five phases, and the eight trigrams). You learned how to analyze your interior and exterior environment. You even gained considerable knowledge about the most sophisticated method of classical feng shui—Flying Star.
Before you don your graduation cap, test yourself by applying your newfound knowledge to an analysis of an apartment. It’s an open-book test, and cheating is encouraged! (Psssst: Appendix F makes the best crib sheet.) The answers follow immediately, so you can grade yourself.
Doing Your Homework
If buying your first apartment (or renting one) is stressful, the process of looking for an apartment is even worse. Unlike shopping for a car where you can take a test drive and get to know the car’s design features and flaws before plunking down your hard-earned cash, shopping for an apartment often doesn’t present such luxuries.
The search for an apartment (or house) begins at home. Before you scrutinize the Open House listings, you must determine your favorable directions (as well as those of each family member, if applicable). This information will come in handy when judging the bedrooms and home office of prospective units. If the bedroom(s) in question does not have a wall that corresponds to a favorable direction, then there’s no suitable place to orient your bed. The same applies for situating your desk. Therefore, the unit under consideration does not fit your needs. There’s no need to conduct a Flying Star analysis.
For example, take Alice. She is single and is looking for a mate. Before we help her find an apartment that inspires romance, let’s determine her favorable and unfavorable directions:
Alice is a gua 3 wood person. Her most favorable directions are S (F1), SE (F2), N (F3), and E (F4). Her unfavorable directions are SW (H1), NE (F2), NW (F3), and W (F4).
There’s No Place Like Home
Of course, environmental factors must be considered even before stepping foot inside the prospective apartment unit. There’s no point in examining closet space if the apartment building rests on a steep slope or is the subject of sha qi (refer to Chapters 9 and 10 for a reminder of these negative influences). Move on. Don’t waste your valuable time. The external environment is just as important as the internal space. Say that 10 times before you fall in love with the unit on the hill enveloped by potentially cancerous electromagnetic fields emitted by the power plant next door.
So, did Alice find her dream apartment? Well, she found a building that has two units for sale. Built in 1986, the building falls in Period 7. It belongs to the trigram Kan and mountain Ren, sitting N1 and facing S1 at 165°. Innately, the building brings arguments and lawsuits (a 3M-2W combination), but the negative forecast is remedied by the central elevators (moving metal).
The building’s main entrance is in the south. The south contains the number combination 7M-7W, bringing good wealth and health. However, Alice will primarily use the garage entrance (not illustrated) in the east, where she’ll park her car and take the elevators up to one of the two prospective fourth floor units. The east contains the number combination 1M-4W, which brings romance—just what Alice is looking for. She must now decide which unit is right for her: the unit in the SW corner (that shares the same sitting and facing as the building) or the unit in the NE corner (a Li dwelling facing N1 at 345°).
Eenie, Meenie, My Unit!
Let’s run the numbers and compare the two apartment units. Until she selects which unit best suits her, we’ll leave out the time star in this cursory evaluation.
For a preliminary check, first study the numbers occupying the entrances, bedrooms, and living rooms. The remaining areas are not important.
Unit Entrances: The number combinations in both unit A and unit B are auspicious. However, the ruling money star 8 occupying unit A’s entrance cannot be activated. It needs to be supported environmentally by water (or virtual water like a roadway), its qi flowing through an open window and into the dwelling. Regarding the layout of the two units, unit A has an immediate feng shui concern. The entrance and the bathroom entrance are aligned. The bathroom should not be the first thing you see! Although the door could be kept closed, the bathroom’s location is still a drawback.
Bedrooms: Unit A brings romance and authority. Alice could orient her bed to the south (F1) or to the north (F3). Unit B brings romance and financial and health hazards. Here, Alice can orient her bed to the west (H4) or to the east (F4).
Master Class
Referring to the illustration of the apartment building, half of unit A inhabits an inauspicious section of the building containing the number combination 9M-5W. Unit B inhabits the most auspicious side of the building, with number combinations 8M-6W in the north and 6M-8W in the northeast. The bottom line? Unit B wins over unit A.
Living Rooms: Even though unit A comprises three number combinations, they are not as favorable as the two number combinations inhabiting unit B’s living room. In unit B, the ruling mountain star 8 and the ruling water star 8 occupy this area. We’ll discuss how they can be activated later on in this chapter.
All things considered, Alice chooses unit B—the Li apartment.
The Analysis
Alice uses Flying Star methodology to remedy and enhance the stars in her new apartment unit.
The floor plan is oriented so that its sitting side is flush with this page. Beginning in the center, moving up to the facing cell, and then traveling clockwise around the floor plan, let’s examine the number combinations and possible remedies. Note: M stands for Mountain Star; W for Water Star; and T for Time Star.
Center: 2M (earth) 3W (wood) 7T (metal)
Wood (3W) burdens earth (2M). Innately, the unit brings conflict, litigation, and accidents. No matter. We’ll balance the qi in the entire unit alleviating the negative forecast. Alice’s grandfather’s clock should be placed on the western wall near the unit’s center. Its metallic chime and swinging metal pendulum will help dispel the combination’s effects.
North/Northeast Living Room: 6M (metal) 8W (earth) 3T (wood) and 8M (earth) 6W (metal) 1T (water)
Earth (8W) produces metal (6M). These productive relationships bring authority and financial success. It’s a great area to spend time in. Activate the ruling water (wealth) star in the north by adding a table fountain on the balcony. Keep the sliding door leading to the balcony open, when possible. Inside, install a water feature in the northern area, too (a fish tank or another table fountain). Activate the ruling mountain star (health and relationships) by keeping the northeastern window closed. Environmentally, the ruling water star is supported by virtual water (the roadway four floors below); the ruling mountain star is supported by the neighboring building. Regarding furniture layout, orient the couch against the east wall, offering support and security.
East Dining Room: 4M (wood) 1W (water) 5T (earth)
Water (1W) produces wood (4M). A very favorable combination bringing creativity, fame through writing, and romance. No remedy is needed. Alice should enjoy romantic dinners here.
Southeast Kitchen: 3M (wood) 2W (earth) 6T (metal)
Wood (3M) burdens earth (2W). This is an inauspicious combination ushering in the probability of conflict, arguments, and lawsuits. The kitchen appliances remedy the situation. Adding a metallic wall clock above the window is also a good idea.
South Entrance: 7M (metal) 7W (metal) 2T (earth)
Metal (7M) assists metal (7W). The recently retired number 7 star is still benevolent until the Lower Cycle ends in February 2044. The combination brings good health and wealth. No remedy is needed.
Southwest Bathroom: 5M (earth) 9W (fire) 4T (wood)
A remedy is not necessary. Bathrooms (garages and basements) are not important. Nevertheless, we suggest Alice keep the bathroom door closed.
West/Northwest Bedroom: 9M (fire) 5W (earth) 9T (fire) and 1M (water) 4W (wood) 8T (earth)
Fire (9M) produces earth (5W). The western half of the room is inauspicious, bringing financial and health hazards. The number 9 fire time star strengthens the dire forecast. Metal is needed to thwart problems. An arrangement of metallic frames and metal wall art will remedy the situation (see Chapter 6 for an example). However, the northwest section is very auspicious. Water (1M) produces wood (4W), bringing more romantic opportunities to Alice. Although a remedy is not needed, Alice should position her bed against the east wall (as illustrated). For her, east corresponds to her F4 direction, bringing peace and stability.
The bottom line? Alice selected a fine apartment. As you’re learning, no home can be completely good—or is completely bad. Following the concept of yin and yang, in one there’s always the hint of the other! Of course, before putting the remedies in place, Alice must consider how the annual stars affect the number combinations.
In the next chapter, we’ll examine a split-level house.
The Least You Need to Know
First determine your ming gua and its corresponding favorable and unfavorable directions.
If the surrounding environmental factors are favorable, examine the stars in the areas you’ll most use: the entrance, bedrooms, living room or den, and home office.
Remedy or enhance the qi in each section of the dwelling.
Use your ming gua to properly orient your bed and desk.