Partners

Q. "What is the ba gua and how do I use it?"

A. The ba gua (ba: eight; gua: area) is a map of the energetic qualities of your space. It is traditionally shown as an octagon with eight sections surrounding a central area, the tai chi. For practical use, we extend the corners of the ba gua to form a square, then divide it into nine equal sections.

Click here to view the Feng Shui BaGua Energy Map

The ba gua divides any space into these nine areas. Each area corresponds to a different aspect of your life (see diagram). Whatever is going on energetically-good or bad-in that part of your space will affect the related aspect of your life.

Every space has a ba gua. There is a ba gua for your plot of land, a ba gua for your house or apartment, and a ba gua for each room within your home. You can even apply the ba gua to your desk, bed, or stove.

To apply the ba gua to your home, align the bottom edge with the wall your front door is in. Even if you usually enter your home through the garage or a back or side door, always align the ba gua to the front door. Now, stretch (or shrink) the ba gua to cover your entire space. To apply the ba gua to an individual room, do the same thing: align the ba gua with the doorway wall, and adjust the size to fit the space. As you stand in the doorway facing into the space, kun gua (relationships) is always to the far right. If there is more than one way to enter a space, orient the ba gua to the most prominent entryway. If the entries are equal, choose the one that is more frequently used.

The ba gua for each floor above or below the main floor is aligned to where you enter that level from the top (for higher floors) or bottom (for lower floors) of the stairs. Sometimes there will be a wall directly in front of you at the top or bottom of the stairs, and you will need to turn to the right or left before you are facing into the space.

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Q. "What does it mean to 'orient the ba gua to the front door'?"

A. In contemporary Western feng shui, the bottom edge of the ba gua will always line up with the front door to your home or apartment. In many homes, part of the floor plan actually sticks out in front of the front door. For example, an attached garage very often extends closer to the street than the front door. When this is the case, you still start by placing the ba gua at the front door so that it covers the area from the front door to the back of the house. The areas of the house that are in front of the front door will create an extension of ken (self-understanding), kan (career), and/or chien (helpful people and travel) guas. See Principle 2 in the Fast Feng Shui book for more information on using the ba gua and identifying extensions and missing areas on your floor plan.

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Q. "The original front door to our house is no longer the front door, because the living room was added on by the previous owners. If I place the ba gua lined up with our front door half of our house is behind me, because the front door is on the upper inside of a U. Does that mean we are missing half of the sections on the ba gua?"

A. Placement of the ba gua is tricky in a lot of situations. Unless a new formal front door was created when the new room was added, your original front door is still your front door. It is unlikely that you are missing half the sections of the ba gua.

Sometimes one or more areas of the house are in front of the front door. In other words, if you are standing on your own doorstep facing the door as if you were about to go inside, part of the house may extend out behind you. Depending on the position of your door, any parts of the house that are behind you are extensions in ken (self-understanding, on your left), kan (career, in the center), or chien (helpful friends/travel, on the right) guas.

This would be the case if your house is a "U" shape (from your description it sounds as though it is an upside-down U, with a recessed entry). You probably have extensions in ken and chien guas.

See Principle 2 in the Fast Feng Shui book for more information on extensions and how to consider them in your feng shui plans.

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Q. "I share an apartment with two other people, who don't have any interest in feng shui. Should I place the ba gua over the entire floor plan, or just look at my bedroom?"

A. Think of your apartment as being divided into shared and private spaces. The ba gua for your bedroom will be most important for you, since that is your private space and any changes you make there will have the strongest energetic impact on you.

Take a look at the ba gua for the entire apartment as well. What area is your bedroom in? That energy will be strong for you. What areas are off-limits to you (your roommates' private spaces)? Which areas-such as the kitchen, living room, and bathroom-are shared by all of you? Use this information to help you decide which areas within your own room might need a little extra feng shui help to offset blocked energy elsewhere in the apartment.

For example, let's say money is an issue for you. If the wealth area of the apartment (hsun gua) is in your roommate's space, it is off-limits to you. You can compensate by strengthening the wealth area in your room. If the wealth area for the apartment is in the living room, on the other hand, there may be things you can do there to enhance that space. Your roommates might be willing to help you move the couch or bookcase to a better location, or may agree to placing an indoor fountain, lush green plants, or a wind chime there.

One of the more difficult aspects of feng shui can be dealing with other people's clutter. Talk with your roommates about trying to keep the shared areas of your apartment clean and uncluttered, so you can all benefit from a good flow of chi through those spaces.

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Q. "I rent the second floor of a two-story house. Is the ba gua for my space the same as for the ground floor?"

A. Place the ba gua for your space according to where you enter the area you are renting. In your case this is probably at the top of the stairs. Stand at the top of the stairs facing into your space, and use that spot as the "front door" for placing the ba gua. Your ba gua will probably not be the same as the ba gua for the ground floor.

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Q. "We always go in and out of our house through the garage. Should we use that door to place the ba gua?"

A. No. When you place the ba gua over your entire house, always align it to the formal front door.

The architect who designed your home designed a main entry. This is the "mouth of chi" for your home regardless of where it is located and whether or not you use it on a daily basis. In fact, if you don't use your front door regularly, you are probably shutting out some good chi that could be entering and circulating through your home (see Quick Tip 20 in the Fast Feng Shui book for more information on why you should use your front door on a regular basis).

You may have heard that you should position the ba gua according to the door that you most often use. It is important to remember that this rule is true only for individual rooms within the home, and does not apply to the ba gua for the entire house or apartment. For example, you may be able to enter your living room from the front hallway, through an archway to the dining room, or through the door to the sun porch on the side of the house. If you want to look at the ba gua for the living room, how do you know which doorway to use? First, see if one of the doorways is significantly larger or more prominent than the others. Imagine that you are a visitor coming to your home for the first time; could you tell at a glance which door is the main entry to that room? If so, use that door to place the ba gua. If all of the doors to that room are equal in size and prominence, then place the ba gua according to the doorway that you and your family use most often.

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Q. "My house has a very irregular outline, and I'm confused about how to place the ba gua."

A. Some houses and apartments are a challenge when it comes to placing the ba gua. Here are some general guidelines to follow:

1. Where is your "mouth of chi"? This is your front, or formal entry to the house. The bottom edge of the ba gua will always line up with the front door.
2. Look for extensions: areas that stick out from the main body of the house. Extensions will be outside the edge of the ba gua. An extension is always less than half the width of that side of the house or apartment.
3. Look for missing areas: alcoves or recesses that create a gap in the outline of the house. Missing areas are always less than half the width of that side of the house. A missing area is inside the ba gua.
4. If you have an enclosed garage or sun room, include those spaces in the ba gua. A porch, verandah, or carport that has a roof but no walls is not included in the ba gua, because it is not a fully enclosed space.

When the outline of your home is very irregular, the ba gua will not fit neatly over it. When planning your feng shui changes, pay special attention to extensions and missing areas, as they indicate which guas are enhanced or weakened by the layout of your home. Take advantage of the stronger chi of an extension, and find ways to strengthen the weaker chi of any missing areas.

See Principles 2, 6, and 7 of the Fast Feng Shui book for more information on extentions, missing areas, and ways to work with them.

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Q. "After I have oriented the bagua to the front door, is it necessary to then do it to every individual room? For instance, would it be helpful to find the wealth corner of my bedroom to put a wealth symbol there?"

A. You do not have to identify the ba gua for every room in the home, but it's always worth placing important cures in the bedroom because that is the room that most strongly holds and affects your personal energy. If wealth is an issue for you, use the ba gua (oriented to the bedroom door) to find the wealth corner of your bedroom. This will be an important prosperity "power spot" for you.

Even more effective would be to find the wealth area of the room that is in the wealth area of your home (hsun gua). This will be an excellent wealth power spot for you, and a good area for feng shui enhancements. The living room or a home office/study are also good areas for wealth cures.

See Quick Tip 90 in the Fast Feng Shui book for specific suggestions on enhancing a prosperity power spot.

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See also: Feng Shui Ba Gua

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