Flow of a Feng Shui home with the five elements

Decorating using the five elements applied to Feng Shui can be fun and yield a beautiful balanced flowing space. The first thing you will need to do is to start working with the elements to understand how the energy is working in your Feng Shui home.

It is an important tool to balance the elements in Feng Shui and will take the guesswork out of why your space does not feel the equality of the masculine and feminine energy.

The five elements are : Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood. Typically when all of these elements are used in decorating with Feng Shui a space will have a very pleasing affect visually and psychologically.

Practice working with the five elements listed and in time you will be using them without a second thought at your home, work or wherever you travel. It is what is referred to as using your Feng Shui senses.

The Fire element is found in:
:All lighting, including candles, natural sunlight, fireplaces
:Things made from animals, fur, leather, bone, feathers
:Pets and wildlife
:Shapes, triangles and stars
:The red spectrum of colors
:Humans
:Art with people or animals, color red, triangles, sunlight, fire

The Earth element is found in:
:Ceramic objects
:Cement, sand,
:All rocks and stones, marble, granite
:Natural crystals, rocks, gemstones
:The yellow and earthen spectrum of colors
:Shapes, squares and long flat surfaces
:Art with Earth landscapes, fields,

The Metal element is found in:
:All metals, stainless steel, copper, brass, iron, silver and gold
:The white and light icicle pastel spectrum of colors
:Shapes, circle, oval and arch
:Art made from metal or stone

The Water element is found in:
:Rivers, pools, fountains, and water features
:Mirrors, crystal, glass
:The black and and dark colors as well as blue
:Shapes, flowing, asymmetrical shapes


The Wood element is found in:
:Wood furniture, trees, plants, flooring, decks
:Art with flowers, gardens, plants
:The green spectrum of colors
:Shapes, columnar shape, poles, and rectangle

You can create a variety of combinations for your Feng Shui home by using furnishings, colors, and shapes that refer to each element.

As an inspiration for instance, you can use a mirror (water element) with a plant (wood element) and place it in a ceramic pot (earth element), with a candle (fire element) and have the candle holder made out of iron (metal element). In this arrangement you have used all five elements.

Look around your room and count up the elements. In time you will begin to see the elements that are not represented and be able to balance the energy of your Feng Shui home. Working with the five elements creates a psychologically healthy home. The subconscious symbolism of your artwork and specific placement of the five elements will provide a sanctuary for your spirit to thrive in.

Photo: ‘still life’ PKM

Joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

Fun sayings, positive affirmations and powerful quotes:

"To be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work".
-Sister Mary Lauretta
Roman Catholic Nun


"The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat".
-Lily Tomlin

American actress & comedienne

"Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee,

and just as hard to sleep after".

-Anne Morrow Lindbergh
American writer & aviator


This is one of my favorite positive affirmations statements:

“If you have a positive thought your body actually goes into a positive vibration.
You actually attract everything that resonates with that vibration”.
-John Assuraff
“The Answer”


Powerful quotes:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing".
-Helen Keller
American writer


Tony Campolo is Professor Emeritus of Sociology
At Eastern University.
Here is a excerpt from his sermon; Committed to Hope:

“People, all the way through life, there’s a future. All the way through life, there’s hope. Even on the deathbed, there’s hope. There’s always hope and faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

“I tried to get one of my students to research this to see whether it was true and I couldn’t find out. But I’ve heard the story that when the great movie, “The Seventh Seal,” by Ingmar Bergman was shown in 1958 in New York, Bobby Fischer, who had just won the world championship in chess, was there in the audience”.

“The movie is built around the story of a medieval Knight who’s playing a game of chess with the Prince of darkness. All the way through the film, the Prince of darkness is making moves on the Knight, trying to trap him. And in the last scene, the Prince of darkness makes a move on the chessboard, looks at the Knight, and says, “Checkmate.”
The game is over. And the curtain comes down. Bobby Fischer is reported to have turned to his friend and said, “Why is that Knight giving up? Doesn’t he see it? Doesn’t he see the pieces on the board? The King has one more move. He can win. The King has one more move!”



Photo: ‘clear day on planet earth’ PKM


Joy,

Rena

www.talktotherturtle.com

The love and charm of a rescue dog

Most recently I have read two different blogs by two extremely talented writers whose only commonality is their love of rescue dogs. Their dogs to be exact. Ann Handley dot com has a heart warming story of “Georgie” the spaniel who made a miracle recovery.
Gala Darling dot com tells of her pit bull rescue and his full recovery and the love and charm you can clearly see “Hank” has brought into her world. I realized that I had a story of a rescue dog as well, but there was no miracle recovery. I don’t have any picture to show about the fuzzy wuzzy happy ending because the love of this dog is interwoven with the passing of “Elsie” my Mother.

Here is my rescue dog story:

Funny thing about rescue dogs, the love factor I mean. My Mom in 2000 was working for the SPCA fund drive in her small community. My parents already owned a dog, a lhasa apso named “Asa”, and my Mom raised $600 dollars and was the highest earner for her district.
She also came home with a dog, from someone who gave a donation but said they just couldn’t keep their dog and would my Mom take “Treasure” with her. I can still remember the conversation over the phone of the dogs barking and my parents telling me the story of my Mother's fundraising ability and how happy my Dad was that it only cost them one rescue dog.

Ah, but that was Elsie in a nutshell, A Spirit with a heart as big as the ocean. “Treasure” the rescue dog moved right in and took over “Asa’s food bowl immediately. "Asa", aka “Houdini” because he could escape from any yard if he really wanted to, was just as smitten by the charm of “Treasure”. They were instant friends.

In 2002 my parents' home burnt down and my Mom died in the fire, (small bungalow by the ocean, my Father was in town and the dogs in the back yard). You know all the classics of a tragedy, Volunteer Fire Dept. low water pressure, it all burnt, all gone. A neighbor kicked the back door in but the smoke and flames were too intense and “Treasure” the rescue dog ran into the burning building. The Fire captain told us they found the remains of a dog beside my Mom and they offered to give “Treasure” a special burial spot by the fire station that we agreed to. So my Mom didn’t die alone. Elsie's rescue dog went with her.

Later I found out that “Treasure” was the name my Mom gave to the flappy black long haired poodle/terrier and whatever else nobody quite knows…and that the person who gave the dog to my Mom had called her “Sparky”. I actually read it in the front page of the local newspaper about my Mom's death and the rescue dog, because I guess the previous owner for whatever reason wanted the newspaper to know “Treasure's” other name. I never could quite figure that out.

That was May 2002 and the first evolution of my charm offering with a Feng Shui twist rolled off the press into reality November 2002.

It's sunny today as I look out the window getting ready to post this story. I just got off the phone with my Father; he actually called me back from a earlier try to ring him this morning.

“I just got back from that dog exercising me, he is relentless as you well know”- “Will not give me a day off and not settle for less than three miles a week”, my 87 year young Father huffs out. “Gosh, Dad he is just a puppy, I mean he is only fourteen and just finding his stride, big laughter…Those lhasa apso dogs were built for the Himalayas”.

Dogs, I thought to myself, new day, new deal, nose into the wind, “its this way – lets go find it and smell it….. follow me”.

Photo: “surf” randall friedman


Joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

The concept of the Universe and a lucky charm

In Classical Feng Shui teachings it is taught that the concept of the Universe is comprised of three levels of Cosmic Order: Heaven luck, Earth luck, and Man luck. The Chinese view this order influences all beings in our universe. They are believed to be intertwined and work harmoniously with each other. So the question is where does a lucky charm fit into this equation or is it really the language of consciousness.

Heaven Luck: is explained as destiny with a dose of luck thrown in. We are born with this fate; it is explained that we cannot change this part that affects one third and bit of our lives.


Man Luck: is what we achieve through hard work, education, perseverance, virtues and our deeds. This affects roughly one third of our lives and it is a largely controllable aspect brought about by the choices we make in our lives.


Earth Luck: is where we are taught that Feng Shui can play a factor. It is the art of harnessing the energy or forces of nature. This last one third and a bit is left solely to our choice and will to enhance our lives. It is explained in Feng Shui teachings that one can induce the positive aspects conferred by Heaven Luck.

I remember years back on public T.V. seeing a show on Feng Shui and for brevity's sake I will call it Western Style. On the show they were selling a kit with Feng Shui tools, I believe it was referred to, and included was a lucky charm that was actually very attractive. In answer to a question posed, the female host of the show stated: “yes, if you have good design, you will more than likely have good Feng Shui”. In my years of working with this Art form I can agree with this statement as blanket as it may sound.

If you have good design, I can assure you that the three forces of Heaven, Man and Earth, are at play with each other in perfect harmony. The language of this “good placement” will result in a psychologically healthy environment.

Photo: ‘water trail’ PKM

Joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

Finding a unique gift for Fathers Day

I had an interesting email after my Mothers Day post where I introduced “The Dangle” as my latest offering for positive thinking. Here it is: “Hi Rena, I checked out your press release, it’s good, but don’t forget us guys, after Mothers Day. This fob doesn’t just appeal to women, lot’s of conscious individuals including Men want the inspiration.” RM.
My vision for the inspirational charm as a unique gift for Men is a work in progress.
I have one sample in HEALTH and the fob is a chunky 1 inch in size and that is as far as I have gotten. I am working on creating an offering with keys and cars.

Now that we are on this subject:

I also am creating the fob in a smaller size as well, around 3/8” with an exquisite chain offering. I thank you for your comments and really enjoy hearing from you. The "Dangle" is of course available to Men in the current size fob, but I do want to develop the larger size fob as well.

Fathers Day is always a fun time to look around for things that Dad would like and enjoy. I don’t know about you but I find Fathers Day, like Mothers Day, includes unique gift ideas that some years are more memorable than others.

One memorable year that comes to mind is when I had this great idea to gift our parents a whale watching tour. I thought by pooling our money together and getting something big was a great idea and I talked my siblings into this gift. My inspiration was seeing an Orca whale in the Aquarium at the local Zoo and thought to myself “wouldn’t that be great to see that thing in the wild’?

That is twenty years ago now, and Eco Tourism here in the Great Northwest was still getting its image and resources together. It was still reserved for the Greenpeace type.

I found a company that did tours out of Tofino B. C. which is a small fishing town on the west coast of Vancouver Island at the most westerly tip. Actually, if you don’t know where that is, and to enjoy this fully, get a map of the world and find Canada. Now go to the left of Canada and find British Columbia - it’s the province that is on the coastline - rugged, beautiful and intense in its geography. See the island that is nestled right on the U.S.A. and Canada border? That is Vancouver Island, and if you look on the left half way up you will see Tofino.
It's right on the water and nothing but wide open ocean all the way to Asia. This is also a well- known area for whales to be found cruising through on their migratory paths. Cool eh? That’s where we gifted our parents to go sightseeing for whales….

When they did get home and I thank God every day for bringing them back safely, they had quite an adventure indeed. It seems that the whales were not cruising close to the coastline and the boat had to keep going farther and farther out, and there were waves. Yes, they did see whales but my parents had this completely wild look in their eyes as they were recounting their unique gift in a story to us. I believe they did mention somewhere in the conversation something about being more comfortable on a cruise liner - if we had anymore “big” ideas - all eyes pointing in my direction.

If you visit Tofino B. C. now you will find the beautiful Wickaninnish Inn to stay at and enjoy the pounding surf and the awe of nature in its wildest yet most behaved form.

Happy Fathers Day….Dad.

Photo: “wild thing” by PKM

Joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

The Law of Attraction and Inspirational Charms

Coincidence is a funny thing isn't it? I was going to write/share a decorating article with a Feng Shui twist and here I am with this bright pink covered book 'Mental Poisons and their Antidotes,' that just jumped the queue in the scheduling process in my mind. This all started earlier today when I was reading the plethora of positive thinking I saw on the website worldwidegoodnews.
It got my attention because I could see the value being mirrored back to me of positive focus products and how significant inspirational charms can be working with The Law of Attraction.

I was thinking about 'whatever' slightly daydreaming, drinking my coffee, a little irritated by the nagging feeling "must write decorating post", when I pulled out this pink book that was slightly sticking out from the bookshelf. I realize I have mentioned pink twice, but only because it's well, what I would call a patone chroma harsh magenta pink and very distracting.

I opened the jacket cover and read the inscription: June 1985: Dear Rena, Just a "little food for Thought". I think you will enjoy reading this book. Love Barbara. I originally found this book two years ago while sorting out my bookcase and perused it then for the first time, I believe.


That year in particular, 1985, was a tough time as I had to fold my Design Studio that I had worked so hard at, sell the sewing machines, and lay off three employees,all in the midst of a hard recession. Barbara is "family" thru marriage and has known my parents I guess forever and her children are my cousins. The only other thing that sticks out in my mind about that year is my Dad saying "they cant take your talent away".....

I opened the book at the first page that it flopped to and this is what I read by Dr. Joseph Murphy, D.D., D.R.S., Ph.D, LLD. : "It is very important to give the proper instruction to the subconscious. For example, if a man dwells on obstacles, delays, difficulties, and obstructions to his program, the subconscious will take that as his request and proceed to bring difficulties and disappointments into his experience; hence, feed the subconscious with premises which are true." He continues with: " What kind of inner talking goes on in you all the time which is not being expressed audibly? It is your inner talking that the subconscious listens to and obeys". "Your subconscious records your silent thought and feeling, and it is a very faithful recording machine. It records everything and plays the record back to you in the form of experiences, conditions, and events".

Closed the book, thought for a beat, and then thinking while typing into google - Who is Dr. Joseph Murphy? This is what I read upon finding his website. Dr. Joseph Murphy: 1898-1982. The founder of the church of Divine Science produced books, tapes, on spiritual matters, the historical values of life, the art of wholesome living, and the teachings of great philosophers. He has been acclaimed as a major figure in the human potential movement, the spiritual heir to writers like Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, and Norman Vincent Peale and a precursor and inspirer of contemporary motivational writers and speakers such as Tony Robbins, Louise Hay, and Rhonda Byrne author of "The Secret".
I got a perfect picture of how a reassuring inspirational charm could be a compliment to positive thinking and the subconscious mind.

Next, I clicked on Napoleon Hill link and this is what came up: Napoleon Hill 1883-1970. An
American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal-success literature. His most famous work, "Think and Grow Rich, is one of the best-selling books of all time. He became the advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933-1936. "What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve" is one of Hill's hallmark expressions. He presented the idea of a "Definite Major Purpose" as a challenge to his readers in order to make them ask themselves, "In what do I truly believe? According to Hill, 98% of people had few or no firm beliefs, and this alone put true success firmly out of their reach".

I was blown away by the fact that positive thinking is not a new idea that came along with the computer and Google. These two Men were born in the late 1800s are actually the bricklayers of our modern day motivational thinking movement. The original "Johnny Appleseeds", you might say, and I offer that with my highest respect to their mind & spirit.

I can understand why the roots of Law of Attraction are so widely well received and how inspirational charms can be a useful tool. Ah, Wholesome Lifestyle, Feng Shui home sanctuary, positive thinking, big smile......


original painting: 'Breath' by Bill Sweney
Ennis, Montana artist contact at karenkreek.com

Joy,

Rena
www.talktotheturtle.com

Sheila Gale talk show has unusual gift ideas

Finding Strength in these Turbulent Times:

I just received an email inviting me to listen to the Sheila Gale Radio Talk Show teleseminar series, which focuses on Inspirational Talk and New Thought.
Sheila Gale produces this program out of Monterey California, and over the last seven years has hosted best selling authors like Suzanne Somers, Byron Katie, Ivan Rados, Dr. David Simon to mention just a few.

Like many others, you have spent time trying to answer some of life’s big questions.
: How can I live the life of my dreams?
: How can I do what I love and get paid for it?
: How can I find the path of least resistance to success?

Sheila will be interviewing 24 of the world’s top new thought leaders about how to achieve the success you’ve always dreamed of having.

When I started visiting the various sites of these respected upcoming guest speakers, I realized that they have some unusual gift ideas on their websites.
Many of these gift ideas are CDs and books, but as I visited more sites I saw ideas on natural health, art, jewelry, seminars, energy clearing. Pretty much a full repertoire of healers is showing up starting June 1, 2010 to share their paths. You can hear it live at 3pm Pacific Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays by logging onto www.The SheilaShow.com.

The Feng shui portion of this series will be Sheila Gale interviewing Joey Yap Wai Ming and his ideas on classical eastern Feng Shui.

Here is the line up: :Ivan Rados :Robin Sharma :Meg Blackburn Losey :Jim Self :Dr. Darren Weissman :Howard Straus :Jacqueline Joy :Stuart Mooney :Marci Shimoff :Howard Martin :Sonia Choquette :Mick Quinn :Daphne Rose KIngma : Jon Gabriel : Janet Atwood :Patrick Ryan :Christine Arylo :Chunyl Lin :Steve Sisgold :Patricia Varley :Michael Rowland :Marcy Neumann.

The site of Dr. Darren Weissman was interesting in content and on his site I linked to Dr. Masaru Emoto , who tells us: that because we as humans are composed of a high amount of water , that by labeling the water we drink with positive affirmations you will enhance your life. There are several unusual gift ideas on his site all based on the thought: “Whatever you give your attention to will expand in your life”. It's pretty cool stuff. Dr. Masaru Emoto is passionate about water.

Photo: “pathway” by Randall Friedman

Joy,

Rena


www.talktotheturtle.com

"Feng Shui home to marry my boyfriend"

Excuse me? I mean pardon me, I don’t think I heard you correctly? “Oh, yes, well , let me rephrase that,” the voice said on the other end of the telephone. “I want you to Feng Shui my boyfriend to marry me”. Long pause….. “What exactly is your experience that you would think that Feng Shui could do something like that, I asked.” “ I just want to get married and I thought maybe Feng Shui could do that for me,” the voice replied, now with a noticeable quiver.

I explained to this young woman that you cannot use a Feng Shui home to manipulate someone into marrying you. Sometimes you will find lead-ins saying “Find love with Feng Shui” but at the end of the day it really is about improving the yin and yang balance of your living space. If Feng Shui could get women married, believe me it would be on the front cover of the Economist magazine, not to mention on Oprah.

“If you want to fall in love, fall in love with yourself first” I said, "and if you want me to help you balance your space I will be more than happy to share my knowledge with you."

We did work together on her space to balance the female and masculine energies, but I did get the feeling that she would have preferred that I was a psychic or at the very least had a rabbit up my sleeve. The subconscious symbolism of love can be woven into a Feng Shui sanctuary with the use of art love images and statues and candles. Work with pairs for best results.

The most common thing I encounter in single women's spaces is there is very little set up for two people. You need to consciously set up a space~ no matter how small ~for the “two” of you. The classic situation is only having entry to one side of the bed. As I explained to the woman I was working with, you want to have a night stand on both sides of the bed, and “no” they do not have to match, in fact if you are short on cash start with a row of books on his side with a small lamp on it for starters. The important part of this is not only creating the space for a partner, but more importantly honoring the masculine and feminine part of your psychological make up. When you only have one light and one exit, you are only seeing and acting as a singular not a plural.


A few years ago I was invited to participate in a beta group with Jean-Pierre LeBlanc who is a business /relationship coach. I had a lot of questions as in Feng Shui we are always dealing with the masculine and female, otherwise known as ‘yang’ and ‘yin,’ to enhance the flow of energy. The group explored the female and male mechanics of our motivations and I am grateful for the knowledge that Jean-Pierre shared with us over the three month period. His book “the one minute goddess” outlines in brief that within our emotions are choices of being in our authentic feminine light self or our dark feminine self. The purpose or key to the “one minute goddess” book Jean-Pierre writes, is to bring your conscious awareness to the energy you run at any given moment.”
.

If you want to fall in love, check in with yourself and see that you are available emotionally, and create a space energetically that is inviting for someone to stay awhile. Your Feng Shui home will be an authentic expression of yourself by creating a space that flows with balance.

photo credit: "two bird" Randall Friedman

Joy,

Rena
www.talktotheturtle.com

Altars add beauty and charm to your Feng Shui home

My first experience with understanding the charm of an altar was when I was sent to Russia in 1970 for my grade 9 summer holidays. You may ask what this has to do with altars and Feng Shui but if you give me a paragraph or so I will explain. When my Grandmother and her sister were young women, they fled the Ukraine to Canada. My Grandmother left behind her family, which consisted of three sisters and a brother and my Great Grandmother. My Grandma “Annie” made several pilgrimages back to the “old country”, as it was referred to, or called the iron curtain by the press back then, and as luck would have it, my brother and I got to have the experience of a lifetime.

During the holiday - okay, lets just turn the music down and get down to the truth. Landing in Moscow and being greeted by the red army guards with machine guns was my introduction to Russia. The customs ordeal was like total chaos and my luggage never arrived, so I had to spend five weeks in Russia borrowing my Grandmothers clothes to wear. In addition to this, Russian was the official language but my Grandma spoke Ukrainian and my brother and I only spoke English.

So, we did make it to the Ukraine and in retrospect, I realize “Annie” tolerated all those destination cities just so she could spend six days of a highly controlled tour to see her family. I never got over the fact that at the end of every day at the hotel, you would surrender your passport and then get it back the next morning.

Meeting my Great Grandmother was really cool, and my Great Aunts and Great Uncle. We went to their house where they lived, which was on a “farm” by a river. A cousin, who was a Lieutenant in the army, put us in a car and drove us past the check points at the edge of town to their home.
My most vivid memory of my Grandma's family is that they were all happy! Gushing, smiling, singing, overflowing, untethered, sparkling, love, that was my Grandma's family. The interesting part about not understanding a thing anybody is saying is that you are watching expressions and body language.

The home was small and the village shared one car, and I think this trip was going to include buying a fridge as a gift. The house had dirt floors that were swept flat and clean. They had an outhouse. A carpet was on the wall. They were devout Orthodox Catholics in a country that celebrated atheism as its official religion. My Great Grandmother sang stories to me and my brother, and my Grandma translated. These people were my first introduction to positive thinking. They were surviving in an oppressive culture and yet their energy and charm was that of a warm tropical breeze on Waikiki Beach. Their inner joy did not match their environment. Their focus was enthusiasm and grace.

Then I saw it: my first altar. In my Great Grandmother's house on the fireplace was a picture of a nephew who was deceased. There was a beautiful cloth that his picture was on, with a small candle beside it, and a group of beautiful wood carvings of eagles and flowers. The energy of that altar was one of beauty and it was breathtaking.

That was my trip to Russia in a snapshot.


After studying Feng Shui for a while I observed mannequins grouped at display areas by escalators in department stores and realized that even on a commercial level altars are created. It is a concentrated level of focus and that is why that energy attracts us to look at the display. You can feel the energy of the display artist who created the vignette.

So I have explained the two extremes for you to illustrate that you can have an altar within your home that is a pleasing positive affirmation in its focus. Check out Meo O'Malleys site "altars within" for some inspiration. Just visiting Meo’s site is an experience. Consider thinking out of the box and just placing a beautiful stone, or one vase as a focal point. It has also been my experience that by taking all your smaller art pieces and grouping them as a collection, you will create a positive vision board. The charm of a well balanced home will have layers of altars woven thru out your sanctuary. The results will be great design and the benefits will be a focus of harmony.

Photo credit: 'lotus flower" by Randall Friedman


Happy Feng Shui trails,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com