Hi Lillian,
I am new to feng shui, but I’ve always found it to be very interesting indeed. I’ve been reading up on feng shui, and would like to implement many of its recommendations, but I don’t know where to start.

I just found out that my Kua number is 1, and apart from that, I am very ignorant on how to start applying feng shui to my life, career, personal relationship or family. Besides, my mom and I have never really agreed on certain things since I was a teen. I don’t know how and why this happens.

I read one article on how to activate love in my life, and you mentioned ‘peach blossom luck’ (I’m a Horse if I’m not mistaken). I was born on Dec 11 1977.

Really need your advice,
Thank you! Emelia

Dear Emilia,
For those new to feng shui, you can start by getting a basic book on the subject. If relationship between you and your mum have been bad since your teens, then you need to read your Eight Pillars to find out why and then install the cures.

As for the peach blossom luck, you are a Snake and your peach blossom animal is the Horse. You really don’t have anything to worry about in the romance area as Snakes usually have no problem finding a husband. And they also tend to marry very well. The last couple of years was not so good for you, but this year and the coming year are better. So you have much to look forward to.

Dear Lillian,
My boyfriend is a Rat, born May 30, 1972 (Kua 1) and I’m a Tiger, born Nov 17, 1974 (Kua 7). We have just moved into a new, fourth-floor apartment and its main door is in the South.

We’re concerned because he’s an East group person and I’m a West group person. We hope to get some advice on how to live together in harmony without affecting each other negatively. We’ve been having relationship problems and misunderstandings. We have read your books and are aware of the differences between us, but we’re very much in love and want to be together.

We would appreciate it if you could give us some advice on our sleeping direction, cures for afflictions that cannot be avoided, etc. Our bedroom is Northeast, where my bed headboard is to the West. The other direction would be East because to the North is a window, the Southwest is the entrance door, and the Southeast is the toilet door.

He earns very much more than I do and is a high achiever. Making money isn’t so much of a priority for me. I just want stability and moderation in everything I do. Thanking you in advance. I would truly appreciate any advice you can give.

Warmest regards,
Carolynn & Ian

Dear Carolyn & Ian,
You sound like such a lovely couple. It is wonderful the way you are planning on building a life together and I wish you the very best from the bottom of my heart. Now, let me say from the outset that when two people of different groups – East and West (and with different KUA numbers, too) – marry or plan to marry, it really is not a problem at all. My husband and I belong to different groups, and we have been together now for nearly 40 years! My daughter Jenn and her husband Chris also belong to different groups, and they too are blissfully happy as they go into their fifth year of marriage. So you see, there is little to worry about if you love each other, as that is the key to a happy marriage.

From a feng shui perspective, however, you should follow your husband’s directions and locations based on what works for him. This is how feng shui texts recommend things to be done.

However, for you personally, create alternatives for yourself, such as having a different rice pot that faces your direction; a second (main) door in your direction; and making sure that you face your good direction when you work. This is a clever way of applying the formula of Eight mansions, because it also gives you the chance to engage your own good directions based on your Kua number.

As for you being a Tiger and he a Rat, you should not that this year, Rat tends to be quarrelsome, although it is a temporary phenomenon. The Tiger, meanwhile, is experiencing stress and difficulties, but this, too, should change and you are both headed for a very happy 2008!

Look out for our annual astrological books for each of the animal signs, as they contain detailed information on the issue I discussed here.

Many good wishes from Canada, Lillian!
My name is Lynda and I live in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. My question is wit regards to the garage. I have a lovely single family home, but my garage is part of it. It faces Southwest in the Southern corner of my house and is an extension. I have read a lot of your books but I cannot find any information on how to teat this area of my house.

If I include the garage in the house area, my house shape is relatively square, with that one extension. If I do not include it, my house is L-shaped and the middle shifts drastically and the house becomes inauspicious. If I include the garage as part of my house area, how would I treat it? Would it be a store room? As a store room that is unfinished and shows a lot of bare wood, concrete, two vehicles (one gold and one blue) and bric-a-brac, what can I do to balance this area?

The interior door that leads into the house has been painted bright red on the garage side and white on the house interior side. This door leads into my laundry room that is painted bright green and faces the Southeast. The laundry room is also a small indentation on that side of the house. I will attach a picture of my house so that you can see my problem with the garage.

My house faces Southwest. I am West group (7 – Wood Snake) and my husband is East group (3 – Metal Ox). Thank you for your help. You are a great lady and have inspired me in many ways.

*PS – I also have a bathroom directly above my front hall facing the Southwest that my husband continuously insists on keeping the door open to. I know you cannot work miracles but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Lynda Romolo

Dear Lynda,
Your garage sounds like it is good feng shui for you. The only thing about garages is that they tend to be closed up, empty and left quiet for most of the day. There is nothing wrong about having a garage, but it is a good idea to also apply feng shui principles to transform an empty space, where yin energy buildup can take place, into a place of vibrant yang energy.

Paint a wall red, install a radio speaker and keep the place clean and used. Make sure lighting is good and if there is some kind of window, it would be even better. In my garage, I hang auspicious paintings and have lots of plants. I also keep the place airy and open to wind and sunshine.

As for the bathroom above the front door, this is a major feng shui taboo. I am always at a loss as to why mass housing built by property developers frequently have this feature. Even the ones that have been supposedly feng shui-analyzed have a toilet above the main door. I cannot suggest a permanent solution, as this affliction is too serious, requiring some serious contract work.