Guest Author - Diane Kern

Let’s continue our talk about trigrams, family relationships, elements and the bagua. This is the third in a series of articles about the eight trigrams, their meanings and use in Feng Shui.

Black Sect Feng Shui uses the bagua by dividing the octagon into eight life aspirations such as wealth, helpful people, romance, etc. The bagua is laid over the floor plan of the house according to the placement of the door to determine which areas need attention.

In traditional Feng Shui the eight divisions represent members of the family, elements, direction and other characteristics. Each division equals 45 degrees on a compass. When looking at a building or landscape we relate our findings to that area of the bagua (or trigram) in question, to determine what effect it will have on the occupants.

In the bagua we find the season of early spring in the East. New growth and forward movement are characteristic of this area. It is here that we find the trigram Zhen which represents the eldest son. Make sure there is nothing in this area to control or reduce Zhen to the point of imbalance.

If this area of your house is weak or missing you can expect the eldest son and males in the household to have difficulties. The son may be missing from the family in some way or will have little support in his life.

Metal controls wood and fire reduces wood. So if you have too much fire or metal energy in this area it can throw things out of balance. Stay away from an abundance of reds and metallic colors. Also stay away from actual fire or metal furnishings in large amounts.The shape of metal energy is round and the shape of fire energy is triangular. Look around to see if these shapes or colors are predominant in the East.

Outside look for anything ugly, dirty, poison arrows, or any other shas in this area. They can negatively affect the males in the house. If you have questions about what constitutes a sha you might want to refer to the past series on sha.

If you need to make the East area stronger you can add water colors-blue and black or wavy shaped items. The East is also represented by the number 3.

Take care of the men in your family by taking care of the East section of your house.