By Maggie Z. Mathews

Feng Shui in its essence centers on finding the ideal site, the ideal spot and shapes of your land, home, rooms and furnishings.

The ideal Feng Shui site is said to be where the descending heaven qi meets the ascending earth qi. There is no hard and fast rule about the perfect site but there are general conditions that you can look for. Generally halfway up a hill facing the sun is considered good feng shui because you will have a distant view. Further you will get cool summer breezes and warm winter ones.

The ideal Feng Shui spot for a house is called the xue (shu). It has an open space in front, the “bright hall” or ming sang, with four mythical animals or spirits surrounding it. The red bird is the distant front view, the black tortoise is the protective hill at the back; the azure dragon is to the left and the white tiger to the right. Ideally you should have a stream flowing across in front of the site because water is regarded as a source of food and a means of transportation. It is also believed that the heaven qi descends down the hill and is contained by the water.

You will find that the value of this protective armchair shape can be applied not only to the site of your home but to the feng shui of a particular room, where the chairs are placed so that the backs are protected and there is an open space in front of you, or to your garden, where you can plant protective trees at the back if there is not a hill. After all feeling safe and secure is a very large part of being happy.

Next in the basics of Feng Shui is the actual geographical shape of your block of land, your house, your rooms and even your furniture. These shapes play a most important part of the intrinsic Feng Shui of your home and indeed of your community and communities. Symmetrical shapes are considered ideal – an L-shape, for instance and example, poses problems as it is fundamentally considered incomplete and unbalanced. Simply said when you have irregular shapes, you need to look at how you can balance them.

The shape of your land will come into play. A rectangular block of land, wider on the northern and southern ends, is considered to have the very best Feng Shui values. There are a number of ways to balance your block of land. Firstly put a lamp or plant a tree in the opposite corner, if a corner juts unto your block of earth. Next plant a creeper or hedge around the offending corner to counter any negative energy ( sha qi) that this land might be generating. Lastly if the plot of land is triangular make sure to fill out the corners so that the qi does not get trapped inside.

It can be said that square or rectangular homes are thought to be the most beneficial because homes that are of an irregular shape leave rooms in a condition of “dangling” outside the flow of the vital qi.

If you do have an L-shaped house then you can fill out the missing corner by either – planting a tree or shrub, using a lamp or spotlight or building a conservatory or patio. If your abode is an apartment and you are not permitted by the property owners to install or upgrade the property try instead installing a light or handing winds chimes or a mirror to square the L shapes.

Lastly furnishings finish and enhance the completeness of Feng Shui. Symmetry is important when it comes to your home’s d