Personal Growth, Knowledge and Self Cultivation with Feng Shui
Most everyone has heard the term "self care." It's the concept of putting yourself first, taking care of your own needs, finding ways to build your own joy, stepping out of the rat race for a few moments of peace, loving yourself. And with rapid advancements in technologies creating more distractions and more disturbances to our natural cycles and sleep; frankly, our brains are tired. Cultivating better for ourselves is much needed.
Self care or personal growth is for everyone, of all ages - whether elementary students needing space to focus or learn creatively, adults going back to school or wanting to dive into a new hobby, or anyone craving self exploration. That means, this newsletter issue is absolutely for you. 😊
Keep reading and we will see you next month, ❤️ the International Feng Shui Guild
Let’s start first with the basics: Where is the Knowledge and Self Cultivation and Skills section of the bagua map?
From Karen Rauch Carter, “the Skills and Knowledge gua is located in the front left part of your home or office (facing the home). This area of the home holds the ch’i for inner wisdom, higher thought, self-cultivation, meditation, and all the other wonderful things associated with knowing and learning.
“What’s great about this gua is that it can so easily affect the others. For example, if you are looking for love, the skills and knowledge gua can help you know how to go about attracting the appropriate person. If you want more money, this gua can give you the wisdom to see new opportunities for income, saving, and the inner feeling of having abundance.”
And from Terah Kathryn Collins’s book, The Western Guide to Feng Shui, the I Ching trigram Ken (also called Gen), meaning Mountain, directly relates to this sector or gua. Terah says, "the teaching states that there is a direct link between a calm mind and an intelligent mind. It is a courageous act to focus the mind on newly acquired knowledge. However, we assimilate our knowledge best when we also cultivate a peaceful mind by practicing some form of regular "keeping still," such as meditation, contemplation, and introspection. The mountain symbolizes taking the time to climb to the quiet heights within ourselves, to contemplate our experiences, and to return, having integrated them. This is the act of cultivating ourselves. Becoming truly knowledgeable is far more complex than simply gathering information. Knowledge is viewed as the seed of wisdom.”
Ready to get started on your own personal self-exploration? You've got this! 🙌 Scroll down...
Energize Your Learning in the Self-Knowledge Area to Receive New Insights and Life Guidance
from Blanka Vun Kannon
"Enhance learning for all ages by activating your knowledge and self-cultivation gua! The self-knowledge area deepens clarity and insight about life purpose. If balanced, its energy allows for wisdom and insight to flow into life. It also encourages contemplation, which is vital in today’s hectic world. The element of this area is Earth since it brings nourishment as well as grounding into our lives. A specific symbol is mountain as a place where people have been going for ages to still their minds and seek wisdom."
Feng Shui Tips to Enhance Knowledge & Self-Cultivation
from Bridget Saraka, Feng Shui by Bridget
What we love about this article is Bridget's understanding of how important it is that the guas work together.
"One of the most overlooked guas is Knowledge and Self-Cultivation Gua. Most people crave career satisfaction, long to attract a life partner or enhance their cash flow so they’ll only call or look at enhancing the guas associated with those life areas. But….and it’s a BIG but, if you don’t have the deep wisdom and knowledge to cultivate, secure and attract your desired experiences, it may be an uphill climb where you’re 3 steps up and 4 steps back. The results can be frustrating and exhausting when they don’t need to be."
"In my Skills and Knowledge part of my yard, I have placed some cast iron lanterns (to represent my inner illumination) near a granite bench (earth element stuff works well here). This tiny spot in the yard is now always available for me to stop, sit down, and focus on gaining wisdom about everyday situations in my life. Feng Shui your yard by overlaying the bagua in the same manner as over the home using the driveway or sidewalk that enters the property as the side to place the Career portion of the bagua.
"In the Skills and Knowledge gua of my desk (to feng shui a desk you just use where you sit as the career gua and go from there), I have a tiny statue of Buddha to remind me to always see the lesson in everything I do. Another way to enhance this gua is to create a meditation space in your home. It can be as simple as having a little pillow to sit on and a candle to light, or as outrageous as having the entire room set up as your own personal oasis to your inner self. Do what’s right for you!"
The Northeast Corner of Education, Wisdom and Decision Luck
from Kathryn Weber
"About the Northeast Corner or the Personal Growth Corner. The luck of clear thinking and the ability to make good decisions is the domain of the northeast sector. It is also the corner of education and contemplation. Activating this corner is beneficial for thinking, wisdom, and learning. Unlike the northwest that rules the head, it’s the northeast that rules the mind.
"Having luck here means that you are thoughtful, make good decisions, and make the most of your intelligence.
"The northeast corner relates to how far your go in education, steps you take to learn more in life, and how you grow intellectually and spiritually."
Read more in this article from Katie including symbols, representations, and what to avoid here.
From the IFSG Feng Shui Glossary...
Ken, also called Gen
"One of the eight trigrams, guas or sectors of the Bagua, associated with the Northeast, the number 8, the element yang Earth, late Winter to early Spring, colors brown to yellow and blue to green, the spleen, stomach, pancreas, the sense of taste, the youngest Son, and the symbol Mountain. It is the area of the Bagua influencing inner knowledge, spiritual, personal and self-actualization aspects of life. In the I Ching, Gen is denoted by one solid line over two broken lines."
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