Fixing the House

The day came and went, T the feng shui master reorgazined our house into lucky zones. Apparently, in this year of the Ox, North is the bad guy and South is where all good things will come from. Hence, I have to move my office to right beside the front door (south), move the dining table to the living room (southeast) and move the sleeping area to the garage (southwest). In effect, we should NOT occupy about 75% of the house. R stood behind master T throughout the exercise, shaking her head at me: No Way is she sleeping in the garage, or in the room by the garage.

And he gave us all sorts of items-- a giant white stone that looks like, but is way heavier than, an ostrich egg; a music box that the helpers have to play twice a day; various coins; and the winning lucky charm: the giant vase with giant frog (that must face the dining area). Man... the last item is a winner in the bad design department (read: unattractive and as gold as gold can gold). He told us that we must activate (place) all items tomorrow, Tuesday. Tuesdays are a good day for change.

I wonder what this all means though, and if it really matters. And if it is any different from the rest of the religious anting-antings that populate the Pinoy home. I guess it has to do with whatever faith you have in the item, or whatever it represents. In our case, we just take their word for it that it'll work.

I remember when I moved into the gallery some years back, the only thing my mother gave me was a giant crucifix. Which I diligently nailed to a wall, only to find that it looked like an art installation. So I took it down and now use it as table decor in the house. Speaking of crucifixes... when my friends Myra and Cyril got married a decade or so again, their most memorable wedding gift was a life sized crucifix given by a godfather. And guess who the godfather was? Dolphy.

Lucky Forever

Welcome the feng shui, pronounced as 'fung suy', for Chinese New Year. The Year of the Ox is upon us. Depending on which horoscope you read, and your outlook on life (if you are a half full or half empty kinda person), the year might be good, better, bad, or worse than the last one.

I am not a religious believer in geomancy but hey it doesn't hurt. And a lot of it actually make sense from a logical point of view. It DOES make sense for energy to flow smoothly and circulate equally around a house. And it DOES make sense to get rid of things that are broken or do not work. That's why I really dislike storage spaces, they keep things, seen and unseen.

So this year, as a wood tiger, I am advised to concentrate on familiar territory, avoid taking risks in business, pay close attention to the advise of colleagues as it is a year of teamwork. Which is fairly sound advice that everyone should heed. Some articles say this is going to be a very bad year for finances, but a good year for relationships; some say it will be a bad year but not the worst for tigers, and it will be the worst for sheep... poor sheep.

Last year, BV sent us T the fung suy to look at the house and our place of work. I was told I was unlucky for the next 8 years but it will be offset by R who is lucky forever. Lucky forever because she's got me!!!

So on this first day of the Chinese New Year, I wish you all luck forever.