by Honey Lim (December 2002)
Feng shui Precautions
While you're away, place symbols of protection facing your main door AND back door to protect your home from being burglarised. Symbols of protection can be images of warriors or religious statues. Examples are the Kwan Kung, Buddha, Green Tara, Kwan Yin, Maori Warior Gods, Virgin Mary or an image of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the image of Jesus that you use should be of Him looking strong and regal rather than crucified on the cross. You can also paste Mantras from your own religion be it Buddhist mantras, Christian proverbs or Islamic inscriptions above the door outside as added protection as well.
Yang Energy At Home
A house left with no occupants for more than 1 week starts to attract YIN energies which include burglary, theft, spirits, illnesses and many undesirable things. This is why many people who come back to an empty home immediately get sick especially since the body is already so tired from the holiday! You need to keep the Yang energy inside the home alive and on-going even while you are away. Do this by leaving the radio on as sounds keep yang energy alive at home. Purchase an electronic timer and hook it up to your lights so that they turn on at night. One of the nicest lamps I purchased while I was at Michigan was a light sensitive halogen stand lamp. They're relatively affordable (less than USD 30.00) - when it become dark, the light automatically turned on. The most effective solution is of course to get your relatives to house-sit for you!
Look up the almanac at WOFS to find an auspicious date to travel. Try to find a date suitable for both husband and wife. Good or average dates will do but avoid Bad dates. Both husband and wife should travel separately if the dates don't suit either one of them. For example, if Tuesday is good for the wife but bad for the husband, then the wife should travel on Tuesday, and the husband should find another date to travel. Children should travel with their mother and follow their mother's auspicious date. If they are travelling by themselves, travel following their own personal auspicious dates. If you ABSOLUTELY cannot travel separately, please read the section on travelling cures for things you can do to remedy the situation before you leave.
If you are embarking on a long journey, take a shower or a bath before leaving. If you don't have enough time to bathe, wash your hands and feet before leaving the house and preferably before getting on the plane. Washing the feet is particularly symbolic as the feet symbolises travel. This is done to wash away any bad energy clinging and symbolically washes bad chi coming your way.
Warnings of Dangerous Travel
Tibetan and Taoist feng shui gives us some clues to warnings that we should not travel. These are pretty serious warnings so if you do encounter them, do not take them lightly.
If on a car journey you have a flat tire or small accident, change your clothes immediately. A small accident means that a really serious misfortune has been avoided but the change of clothes completes the passing of the misfortune.
If you see a lame or limping dog on the way to the airport, railway station or bus station, this is a sign that the trip or the flight/ride will bring you misfortune. Use the travelling cure outlined below. If you happen to pass a person carrying a heavy load on his/her back, change your time of travel. This symbolises that the outcome of the trip may be more burden on your back either financially, emotionally or in areas of social or family responsibility.
If you dream of dangerous and fierce animals such as tigers and lions the night before the travel, this is a warning that the trip might be dangerous for you. Either postpone the day of travel or use the travelling cure below.
If you see a funeral proccesion on the way to the airport, change the day of travel. If you cannot postpone the date, use the travelling cure.
Use Elements of Direction to Overcome
The travelling cure recommended here is both a Chinese and Tibetan Feng Shui cure. Use this cure if you just can't select an auspicious date for travel, or encounter some of the warning signs outlined above. First, determine the direction of your destination. For example, if you are travelling from Malaysia to Singapore, the direction is South. If from Auckland to Melbourne, you'll be flying West. Then use the destructive element of the direction's intrinsic element to destroy the bad luck coming from that direction.
|Direction of Travel||Intrinsic Element||Destructive Element||How to cure|
|North||Water||Earth||Throw 1 or 3 mounds of earth/soil towards north|
|South||Fire||Water||Drink a glass of water before leaving or throw a glass of water towards South before leaving|
|East, Southeast||Wood||Metal||Take a curved knife and swipe it in the air towards East or Southeast three times. You can also ring a bell in the East or Southeast 6 or 7 times (leave the bell at home), or hang a metal windchime on the East or Southeast while you're away. Remember to remove the windchime when you return though.|
|West, Northwest||Metal||Fire||Burn some incense sticks towards West or Northwest, or burn a red candle and point it towards the West or Northwest.|
|Southwest, Northeast||Earth||Wood||Swipe the air three times with a bamboo stick tied with red thread towards the Southwest or Northeast. The bamboo is a very powerful protective symbol against misfortune from injuries and also represents wood energy.|
Hold a curved knife in front of you and swipe it left to right 3 times. This overcomes bad luck from 10 directions which are: luck from 8 compass directions + luck from top + luck from bottom.
Say some mantras/prayers before leaving
Whether you are a Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, Catholic, Christian or Hindu, each religion has their own prayers and mantras which you can recite before a journey. While still at home, stand at each cardinal location and direction i.e. - North, South, Easth and West, and recite these mantras/prayers. You should also place some bushy or leafy branches in these locations/directions while you recite your prayers. Note: Tibetan Buddhist mantras usually need to be recited 108 times at each corner. The buddhist mantra for travelling is: MAMA PUTAH PUTAH YEH SO HAR
After observing all the feng shui precautions, do remember all the usual practical precautions which are told to you by travel guides as well:
Check in early to avoid missing your flight - holiday queues are maddeningly long!
Do not be overweight (luggage) unless you're prepared to pay for it. Most planes are full so chances of leniency for luggage excess is pretty slim.
Lock all your bags to avoid undesirable items smuggled through your bags especially if you're travelling to Asian countries as the penalty for smuggling drugs into Asian countries are usually very severe. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is death by hanging so do be very careful.
Tie something bright and easily recognizable on your bags so that other passengers won't mistake them as their own - many luggage bags look alike! This reduces the chances of your bag getting lost.
Keep your ticket luggage tags with you so that you so that the airline can track your luggage.
Place 2 address tags on your bag - one with your home address & phone number and one with your destination address and phone number. This will enable the airline to send them to either address depending on which is closer to you at the time if they get lost.
Ask your neighbours to keep an eye on your home if they're going to be around this holiday season. If you've got security patrol, alert them that you'll be away and tell them how long.
Have your mail diverted and newspapers temporarily stopped so as not to present an image empty house.
You can reach Honey at Fortune Space Consultants, PO BOX 12101, Wellington;
Mob: ++ 6421 48 11 88 (anytime before 10pm);
Click here for more info on Honey Lim.
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