Guest Author - Diane Kern

Let’s continue our talk about trigrams, family relationships, elements and the bagua. This is the sixth 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 winter in the North. Stillness is characteristic of this area. In the winter things are quiet, frozen and hidden under the ground. It is here that we find the trigram Kan which represents the middle son. Kan’s element is water, the colors are dark blue and black, the shape is wavy. Make sure there is nothing in this area to control or reduce Kan to the point of imbalance.

If this area of your house is weak or missing you can expect the middle 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. He may also have poor health.

Earth controls water and wood reduces Kan’s element water. So if you have too much earth or wood energy in this area it can throw things out of balance. Stay away from an abundance of greens and earth colors such as brown tan and yellow. Also stay away from actual earth objects such as ceramics or wood furnishings in large amounts. The shape of earth energy is square and the shape of wood energy is rectangular. Look around to see if these shapes or colors are predominant in the North.

You might think that because the element for Kan is water that this is a good place to put an aquarium, water feature or outside a pool. Although water is native to the North there are many other things to consider when placing water. Please consult with your practitioner to assess your particular situation.

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 North area stronger you can add metal colors-silver, gold metallic colors or round shaped items. Also use Kan’s colors and shapes to support the area. The North is also represented by the number 1.

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