Flower Lounge Podcast: SEEING THE WORLD AS A MIRROR + PRACTICES FOR MORE MAGIC WITH ANJIE CHO

featured today on the Flowerlounge podcast

In this episode, we talk about specific practices to tap into your everyday magic, beauty + potential through nature, flowers, meditation, relationships, the five elements + all the ways the world communicates with you.


We talk about:

  • Living your art every day: what that means + why

  • "Seeing the entire universe in one container" in the meditative art of flower arranging

  • Seeing the world as a mirror, and a specific method to use when challenges arise in relationships

  • and much more!

Check out the full posting and episode recording here!

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design Feng Shui certification program.  www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish.

Nine Star Ki for the Earth Pig Year 2019

Happy Chinese New Year!

Next Tuesday, we celebrate the Chinese New Year! I am excited to greet the Year of the Pig with my new class, 2019: Golden Cicada and Welcoming the Wealth Gods. Join me on Monday to learn these powerful rituals for the new lunar year! You can learn more and enroll here.

A new lunar year also means new Nine Star Ki forecasts! In addition to Chinese zodiac astrology, I like to use the numerology of the Nine Star Ki to prepare for the coming year and stay energetically balanced. This practice was developed in ancient China, so it logically goes well with feng shui, and is based on a number system of nine rather than the animal system (but be sure to check out your 2019 zodiac horoscope here!). It also closely aligns with the five element principles and the I-Ching. 

Don’t forget to also grab one of our custom aromatherapy blends for each Nine Star Ki number in the Year of the Pig. Each aromastick is created to provide support and enhance the energy for your individual number in the coming lunar year, and they can be used in conjunction with feng shui!

If you’ve never used Nine Star Ki before, have no fear! Use the guidelines below to find your number, and let’s get started!

You can calculate your principle number by using your year of birth. Beware: this requires a little elementary math ;)

As an example, if you were born in 1986:

  • Add: 1+9+8+6 = 24

  • Reduce to a single digit: 2+4 = 6

  • Subtract from 11: 11-6 = 5

*if you were born between January 1 and February 4, subtract from 12:  12-6 = 6

If you were born in 1940:

  • Add: 1+9+4+0 = 14

  • Reduce to a single digit: 1+4 = 5

  • Subtract from 11: 11-5 = 6

*if you were born between January 1 and February 4, subtract from 12:  12-5 = 7

Here's what all that calculating means for the Year of the Earth Pig in 2019:

If your principle number is 1, in 2019 you will be in the year of Celebration. This year will feel celebratory and playful. It is a great time to relax and pat yourself on the back for all the hard work that you put in the last few years. Enjoy yourself, rejoice and have some fun. As a 1 Water person, you will feel very supported and enjoy this 7 metal year. It’s an auspicious year for you!

If your principle number is 2, in 2019 you will be in the year of Stillness. This year will be much quieter than the last. It will be a time of stillness, like climbing up a mountain to meditate in isolation. This is a great time to focus inward and do some self-cultivation. As a 2 Earth person, you will feel at home in this 8 Earth year. This is a time to ground yourself and go deep and focus on self-care.

If your principle number is 3, in 2019 you will be in the year of Recognition. This year you will be in the house of fire, where you have the best opportunities to be seen and recognized by others. It is a great time to receive any promotions or any other projects that you want publicity for. Be careful, as all things, good or bad, may be unveiled to the public. As a 3 Wood person, you may be prone to burn out in this 9 Fire year. Add some water and go with the flow to tone down the flames.

If your principle number is 4, in 2019 you will be in the year of Planning. This year will feel quiet and is a time for planning. In the winter, it may appear that everything is dead on the surface, but underneath there is much life and activity. Similarly, it may feel slow, but take this time to reflect, review and plan for the future. As a 4 Wood person, you will feel very supported and rejuvenated in this 1 Water year. Take advantage of the quietness and rest up!

If your principle number is 5, in 2019 you will be in the year of Germination. This year will be the time to plant seeds. When you plant a garden, you germinate many more seeds than you need. Do the same this year. Put all your ideas out there into the universe and share them with others. Plant the seeds and see what comes up! As a 5 Earth person, you will feel supported in this 2 Earth year. Enjoy, and let this year take care of you.

If your principle number is 6, in 2019 you will be in the year of Sprouting. This year will be energetic and full of new beginnings as you catch sight of seeds that you planted last year begin to sprout and grow. Be open to new ideas and cultivate the projects that you start at this time. As a 6 Metal person, you may feel a little overwhelmed in this 3 Wood year. Remember that this is a time to sharpen and expand. Take care to not get burnt out and depleted.

If your principle number is 7, in 2019 you will be in the year of Rapid Growth. This year will be a continuation of last year where you see your sprouts grow into strong, grounded trees. This year will be busy and active, so please take care of yourself and be careful not to get burnt out. As an 7 Metal person, you may sense some upheaval in this 4 Wood year, but remember that it's about creating movement and change for the better! Take care not to get overwhelmed and burnt out.

If your principle number is 8, in 2019 you will be in the year of Fluctuation. This year will feel a little chaotic, as this is a time of renewal and rebirth. You many need to reinvent yourself this year. It’s a great time to let things go that are no longer serving you. As an 8 Earth person, you will feel generally supported in this 5 Earth year. Emphasize some self-love and care this year.

If your principle number is 9, in 2019 you will be in the year of Prosperity. This year will feel strong and prosperous. You will begin to feel confident and be recognized for your knowledge and skills. There will still be a lot of effort, but you shall finally be harvesting the fruits of your labor. As a 9 Fire person, you will feel good in this 6 Metal year. Make the most of it!

Hopefully 2019 holds lots of promise and positive energy for you! Even if the year ahead appears challenging, remember that great things can come from difficulty. Interested in learning more about Nine Star Ki? Listen in on this Holistic Spaces podcast, and take a peek at the blog, too, for ideas on how to celebrate the Chinese New Year! Regardless of your number or zodiac animal, remember to take care of yourself during the Year of the Earth Pig! Start this off by grabbing a three-dimensional tiger charm to carry with you at all times for protection and support and enrolling for the Golden Cicada ritual event. Since the Tiger is the Pig's best friend, carrying this charm will keep you in their good graces. :) Happy Lunar New Year!

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design Feng Shui certification program. Laura Morris and I launched our program in September 2018. To get on the list about it, sign up at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com.

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish.

Q&A Sunday: Disposing of Sacred Ritual Objects

I had two ceramic small decorative fu dogs in my kitchen near main entrance. A worker in the house broke one, and I tried to fix it, but it is terribly ruined. How do I "dispose" of or store these so as not to bring bad luck?

Sarah B., Portland, OR

Dear Sarah,

Thank you so much for submitting your question about Fu Dogs to the Holistic Spaces blog. It’s quite interesting that this is the third question I’ve received about Fu Dogs--maybe I’ve received more, but this is the third one I’ve answered on Q&A Sundays. (You can read the other two articles here and here.) In BTB feng shui, I never learned about Fu Dogs from my teachers, and I really don’t know all that much about them, so in the other two cases I deferred to others who know more about them. I asked two of my mentors and a colleague who is more familiar with more traditional Chinese objects. What I do know is that Fu Dogs are mythical creatures believed to offer protection from evil spirits and harmful people. They are usually placed in pairs, one female and one male, at the front door or main gate of a home, temple, or business.

Since the Fu Dogs were in your main entrance, it sounds like you were using them as protectors, and because one was broken, it is correct that it’s time for you to let go of the Fu Dogs and bring something else in. Interestingly, when you’ve made a feng shui adjustment and something is damaged, it’s actually a positive sign that the adjustment is doing its job. In a sense, it absorbed some negative chi. For instance, say you put up a crystal and it falls and breaks. This is actually a sign that you should replace it with a higher quality (a.k.a. more expensive) version of the same item. If the string breaks, you want to get a stronger, higher quality string. If a crystal breaks, you would want to get a higher quality crystal. It did its job and was strong enough to hold back any negative chi for a while, but now you need to get something stronger. In this case, your small decorative Fu Dogs served their purpose in your kitchen, and now would be a good time to replace them with larger, higher quality, more expensive Fu Dogs in the same location.

To answer your question of how to store them so as not to bring bad luck, I would suggest that you dispose of them, because it’s not recommended that you use that one alone. (we have another blog post that addresses that). However, not everything needs to be a feng shui adjustment. If you love the one that you have and you have some sentimental connection to it, you can keep it in that sense and place that single one somewhere else.

If you do want to dispose of it, here’s a good way to do that, and this goes for a lot of feng shui ritual objects: you can store it on your altar or at your shrine wrapped in red cloth. That’s what I do with a lot of my feng shui ritual objects that are not in use, since that’s a sacred space and it keeps the object sacred.

If you’re going to dispose of both Fu Dogs, you can also wrap the intact Fu Dog and the remains of the broken Fu Dog in the red cloth, thank the Fu Dogs for the service that they provided, and then bury them or dispose of them in the trash. But I wouldn’t just throw them into the trash without any kind of ceremony, as in thanking them and wrapping them in a red cloth. It’s very similar in other disciplines--I practice Ikebana, flower arranging, and in the contemplative form, you wouldn’t dispose of all your cuttings into the trash directly. In Japan they actually have shrines for used needles and flower cuttings. When I do flower arranging, I wrap my cuttings in a piece of paper and then put it in the garbage, and I treat it as a sacred offering.

Another possibility is to donate the one Fu Dog that is intact, and it might end up in a secondhand store. Then another person would find themselves with the question of what to do with one Fu Dog like in our earlier Q&A. Even if you give away the Fu Dog, be sure to thank the object for supporting and protecting you, and you may want to keep it wrapped in a red cloth when you transport it or give it away.

Thank you so much for your question! This is a helpful topic, because my suggestions above are not just about how to dispose of Fu Dogs, but how to dispose of any kind of ritual objects.

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design feng shui cerfication program. Laura Morris and I launched our program in September 2018. Check us out at www.mindfuldesignschool.com

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our a unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish.

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!