I get a lot of questions about using fountains in Feng Shui, especially as a symbol to help attract the flow of wealth into a home, office, or retail location. In Feng Shui, fountains are most often placed near the front door to attract prosperity into the space. The size of the fountain is not critical, but it is important to make sure you place your fountain so the water is flowing into the interior of the space, rather than out of it.

My client Kate wanted to place a tabletop fountain just inside her front door, and I recommended that she should place it to the right side of the door (that is, facing into the house as you come in the door from the outside) since people naturally move to the right when they enter a room. I also advised Kate that whatever size fountains she chooses, she needs to use distilled water and change the water frequently to keep the fountain full of fresh energy. I also suggested she add precious stones to accent the fountain, especially malachite, citrine, lapis, and peridot, or three Chinese coins, all of which are symbols of good fortune.

Chris bought a beautiful blue outdoor ceramic fountain and wanted to put it on her townhouse deck. However, Chris was concerned that because her deck occupied all three of the Fire Areas of her home (Wealth, Future, and Love) she didn’t want the water to wash away her Fire energy. I agreed with Chris that it was best not to add “water” to a Fire Element location because it could drown her wealth. However, if her deck was the only place to put the fountain, she could symbolically “dry up” some of the excess water by adding the Fire Element (red, orange, purple objects; triangular shapes; candles or actual fire) or the Earth Element (brown, yellow items; square shapes; actual earth or items made from earth, such as tile, stone, clay) near the fountain.

A fountain in Feng Shui is better placed in front of your home than behind it. Jeni desperately wanted to put a fountain in front of her home, since she knew that a water feature represents the flow of abundance into a house. But between a limited budget and water restrictions in her area, it just wasn't going to happen. That’s when she called me for help. The first thing I noticed was the three plantings of ornamental prairie grass near her front gate. While they had the potential to represent sprays of water shooting up from a fountain, in their current state they looked isolated and not connected to her home. I decided to link the plantings and create the image of a pond and fountain. We collected interesting rocks of all sizes and shapes from her property and stacked them around the grass in a kidney shape. The rocks represented a pond and the prairie grass with its plumes completed the image of water fountains spraying up from the water feature. Jeni had the symbolic effect of a water fountain with no expense.

Whether you choose an indoor or outdoor style, a fountain in Feng Shui represents the constant flow of the water that increases the flow of positive chi, or energy into your space. Choose the fountain that fits your décor and be sure to keep it flowing.

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