Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life

by Karen Rauch Carter

  Dirt and Dust This is not the way to attract “old money.” Keep this corner orderly and clean—even if this corner falls in the garage or mudroom.

  Broken Items If it’s broke, you’re broke.

  Reminders of Broke or Bad Times Chuck the old-college-days photo that brings up memories of how you always had to give plasma to buy books. Also, if your kitchen cabinets or your refrigerator is near this spot, make sure you don’t have Old Mother Hubbard’s empty cupboards going on for you. If you can identify with Mrs. Hubbard, here are a few ideas: (1) Take some bills (either real or realistic looking), roll them up, and place them in the refrigerator or freezer. Then you will always have “cold cash” whenever you need it. (2) Buy some luxury item, like a bottle of champagne or a jar of caviar, and place it in the refrigerator. Nothing says “prosperous” like a jar of fish eggs and bubbly! But seriously, do try to stock up a little on the grub.

  Trash Cans Just don’t do it.

  OK, if you just have to have one there, use one with a lid. Or place a red line around the rim of the can with paint, tape, or fingernail polish. This will stop your ch’i from ending up at the local landfill.

  Dead Plants I bring this up to make the point specifically about dried flowers. They are not welcome here, as they give off dead energy—something unfit for Prosperity corners.

  Fireplaces A fireplace may give the suggestion that you burn through money, or else it is going up in smoke. If you have a fireplace here, balance it out by adding water, the color black, or a mirror over the mantel (mirrors equal water in feng shui). Water will mix with the fire and create steam. Steam equals power. (You’ll soon find out, in upcoming chapters, the many nuances of using a mirror over a fireplace.)

  Toilets Let’s hope there isn’t a toilet in your Prosperity corner—it can suck the cash out of your wallet like nothing else. If there is, try to place ch’i—uplifting items in the bathroom. Use as many power tools from the above list as you can without cluttering the space. Use mirrors all the way around the room, or at least two mirrors facing each other in the bathroom. Or get a few small ones and place them either on the floor behind the toilet, or in the tank, or on the countertop near the corner. Make sure they are all facing up. Another way to deal with the situation is to place eye—catching pictures high up so everyone who goes into the bathroom looks up. (If no signs of improvement occur, it may be time to call in a professional feng shui consultant.)

  Regarding plumbing fixtures: Keep toilet lids closed when they are not in use. Close drains in sinks and tubs, too. Another ch’i—saving secret is to place a red ribbon or red tape around the outgoing pipes of your plumbing (sink, toilet, bathtub drain) to stop the ch’i from going “down the drain.” (More on drains in Chapter 6.)

  | Using Rags to Get Riches |

  How do you use rags to get riches? It all starts with a clear intention to receive more money. Picture it: money—a specific amount. And don’t sell yourself short. Get enough to cover everything. It helps me if I write the number down; so go ahead, grab a pen, write a sum down . . .

  What went on in your mind as you wrote it? Did you say, “Yea, right,” as if you doubted it? Or did you daydream of all the things you did and bought with the money? Well, I can guarantee, the latter has more feng shui power. It is all in your head—and feelings. And placing this list and the other things listed as power tools for Prosperity in the gua helps your head remember what you asked for. So, get moving that stuff now!

  Where do you start? First, make sure the space is clean. The last thing you want in your Prosperity area is cobwebs and dust. If that treadmill that currently doubles as a valet is there, it’s time to lose it. You don’t want any reminders of unfinished business here. (If you swear you are going to get back into using it, at least move it to the Health or Creativity section.)

  Next, start placing the power tools. The color purple is the color associated with the Prosperity area. So, the more purple you can place there, the better. Dye the curtains, change the bedding, paint the walls, line the drawers! If it looks good, do it. Use purple dust rags to clean the house, to remind yourself that you are keeping things clean for abundance. If your closet is in this corner, start wearing more purple and fill your closet with purple clothes. If your office is there, use purple files in your drawers.

  Remember, feng shui adjustments can work where no one actually sees them. If your Prosperity corner, with purple in it, would rate high on the ugly chart, try to find a place to hide the color. Purple shelf paper in drawers, purple construction paper behind pictures or under furniture, and purple paint on a concrete floor before carpeting is laid will all work, even though they are hidden away.

  | Using Riches to Get Out of Rags |

  Next, place some items in the area that remind you of wealth: rare coins, a full piggy bank, the Boardwalk and Park Place game pieces from the Monopoly game, pictures of jewels. Whatever it is, create a space for these items and take special care for them, because they are taking care of you.

  My friend Twila loves nice jewelry. She created a treasure chest out of her jewelry box in her Prosperity area closet. She had the little chest always spilling pearls and jewels, and she pretended that they were all real and priceless. Even though I usually preach keeping things organized and orderly, I thought her overflowing chest was the perfect enhancement for her.

  The stove is considered a Prosperity element in the home wherever it is. The number of burners is also important—more are better. The reason goes back to China: if you can cook for many people at once, you must have the money to buy a lot of food. Therefore, the more burners, the more wealth there must be in the home. Make sure all the burners work and that the stove is kept clean at all times. Place a reflective material (mirror, Mylar) behind the stove to symbolically double the quantity of burners. You can place a shiny teapot or pan on the stove to reflect them as well. Tip for young girls: shine up that Easy Bake Oven and place it in the Prosperity corner of your bedroom if you are looking for a raise in allowance!

  If cash is what you are looking for, then maybe cash is what you should place in this corner. Try this magic money cure: take nine consecutively numbered dollar bills (or whatever paper money you use), laminate them and make a mobile from them, and hang it in the Prosperity corner. A more subtle way is to fan nine dollar bills out and place them in the corner behind furniture. Watch the money flow!

  My home office happens to be in the Prosperity corner of the house. Besides writing books and practicing feng shui, I am also a landscape architect and site planner. I juiced up the corner with just about everything. I have a bamboo flute (traditional ch’i enhancer) resting on top of a chunk of purple amethyst. I also have a wind chime hanging in the skylight, which is just above a map of the world. (I intended money to come from all around the world!) After a while, I was scouted out by some developers in the Middle East to do some work for them. They had never met me before but insisted I was the one to site-plan their land parcels in Marbella, Spain, and Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. “Little ol’ home office me?” I thought—of all the people in the world with big staffs and offices, why me? Then, as I was looking up Jiddah on that world map, I noticed that it was directly below the wind chime. Like a beacon, my chime was guiding a source of prosperity directly to me.

  | Is This the Stairway to Heaven, or Hell? |

  For some reason it seems this little feng shui tip is already well known, but to be thorough, I’m going to mention it anyway because it deals with money. If the bottom step of the staircase to the second floor faces a main door into the house, the ch’i, symbolizing your money, can roll right out. (Yes, you may have left the Prosperity corner for a moment, but please bear with me.)

  Here are a couple of cures to use if you are faced with this staircase alignment. Either hang a multifaceted glass crystal between the bottom step and the door, with the intention of dispersing the ch’i, or place red (like a red line or floor mat) at the bottom of the stairway, with the intention of stoppi
ng the ch’i. Either way is pretty effective.

  You also want to make people notice the main floor of the house upon entering, instead of wondering what’s upstairs (this creates split intention and weakened ch’i). Place something very eye catching (like a big bunch of flowers) to the side of the staircase, so full attention is drawn to it and away from the staircase.

  | Credit Card Blues? Try Another Color |

  If that American Express bill is on its way and you have no clue where the money to pay it is coming from, you may be slightly lacking in money wisdom as well as money. The last thing you want in this lifetime is bad credit. So, as well as doing some improvements to the Prosperity section, I would suggest shining up the old wisdom area (Skills and Knowledge) as well. You don’t have to think too hard to come up with people who made millions and then declared bankruptcy very soon after. Do Vanilla Ice, Hammer, and Mike Tyson ring a bell? This proves that having plenty of money still doesn’t ensure financial freedom and a feeling of abundance. What’s missing is the wisdom to use money properly. I always suggest making changes to the Skills and Knowledge (wisdom) section when the money starts to flow, because if you don’t know how to make the money work for you, there will never be enough. Do something extra to this area with the intention that by doing it you are creating the wisdom necessary to handle the upcoming prosperity. If there is someone you respect for their wisdom, either write their name on a piece of blue paper or get a picture of them and place it in the Skills and Knowledge section of your home or room (see Chapter 8). If you can’t think of anyone, perhaps a penny with Lincoln on it will do—a man admired for his intelligence, actually on money.

  I knew of a politician who had the laundry room in his Prosperity corner—can you say “money laundering”? I say this as a reminder to read the space very literally and see what it is saying to you, and saying about you to others.

  | Bust a Move—There’s No Place Like Your Own Home |

  If you are looking for money for something specific like a new home, make sure your Prosperity section knows that. Draw up a plan for your dream house, research architects and landscape architects, or cut a picture of your dream home out of a magazine. Write down, “I am now receiving money for my dream home,” and place it in this corner. (By now you’ve already figured out that purple ink or paper is cool for this, right?) Or perhaps place the item in a purple frame and hang it in this corner. This will work for anything you need money for, not just a home. So, whatever it is, find a way to express it in the Prosperity corner.

  My client Jessica decided that she no longer wanted to live in the rat race. She wanted a big home in the country. In her Prosperity corner, which was her walk-in closet, she framed her dream floor plan that she found in a magazine along with a photo she took that she called “the view from the house.” Jessica hung a small wind chime above it so the “wind” of feng shui would find it.

  Last time I tried to contact her, the phone number was no longer valid. I heard from a friend of hers that she had indeed moved!

  | As Soon As I Win the Lottery . . . Well, Here’s Your Magic Ticket |

  Waiting to win the lottery so you can get back on your feet? Or better yet, waiting for the right person to come along to marry you and bail you out? How about that inheritance or big raise? If you are looking at external sources to fix your current financial problems, but in the meantime still spend more than you earn, you might want to rethink your Prosperity and Family areas. This cycle of feeling broke and then spending to feel better can eat away at your self-esteem. It sets up a spiraling sequence of negative events. If you want to break the cycle, here’s what you need to do.

  You have to want a different life bad enough. That means taking responsibility for your life and getting into the mind-set that you can change it yourself. If you clean up your own situation yourself, you will never again have to worry about money. If you rely on others to fix it, you may have to continue relying upon them. Does knowing this make you more inspired to do it yourself? Yes, it is OK to have helpful people along the way, but they should enter your life to help without your having to give up control or, worse, your self-worth.

  Enhancing the Family area will aid in getting those basics in life taken care of—rent, food, and mundane bills. You know, the boring stuff. When these boring bills aren’t taken care of, everything is in turmoil. Once these basics are met, then the Prosperity area takes over. It supplies money for the good things in life—vacations, better cars, bigger homes. You know, the fun and frivolous stuff.

  | Dirty Money |

  What if the Prosperity section of your house is your messy teenage son’s room? Well, since this is considered a power corner, he may be enjoying having power in the household. And if he is messy, he may be counterbalancing all of the hard work you are doing in the rest of the home for Prosperity. Who really knows what a stinky pit-stained jersey in this corner might do for you? I would guess it’s not good. If this is the way it must be for now, make sure the Prosperity areas of every other room in your house and on your property are in perfect order to counterbalance the temporary pigpen. (Yes, you can overlay the bagua onto your lot as well. Use the formal front of the lot as the front door side.) You might request permission to place something in the room with Prosperity intentions (like a purple piece of velvet behind the WWF poster).

  | No Time to Waste—Show Me the Money Now |

  While remodeling her Prosperity corner kitchen, my friend asked for feng shui advice. I suggested she add as much purple as she could. When she approached her skeptical husband with the idea, he thought we both were nuts. But somehow she prevailed. One Super Bowl Sunday, before they went partying, they painted their kitchen ceiling a beautiful shade of periwinkle. Later that day, and after the game, I received a call from them as they were coming home from the party. They had both won their office pools, totaling $400. “We’re gonna paint the whole kitchen purple, baby!” the once-skeptical husband shouted. In less than eight hours, they had added to their abundance.

  If that is not fast enough for you, get this: Another friend asked me about feng shui and how it could work for him. He was in between jobs and wondering not only about finances, but about what he was going to do next. Knowing his awesome talents, I couldn’t believe he had any trouble getting work. Although I had never been to his house, I explained how to find the Prosperity corner of his cottage. When I asked him what was in that area, he said, “There’s a rickety washing machine, an ironing board, and an overflowing kitty litter box. Why?” Naturally, being the somewhat sarcastic feng shui counselor, I said, “No wonder your finances are in such crappy shape!” I told him to clean out the cat box immediately. Then I said to get something purple and stick it up there right away. The minute he hung up the phone he cleaned the box and looked for something purple. All he had was a sort of fuchsia pink spool of wrapping ribbon. So he sat it on the washing machine and walked away thinking the problem was solved. In half an hour, the phone rang with, as he says, the most creatively challenging job offer he had received to date, not to mention the highest paying—designing an interactive theme park in Europe. He was blown away. So he immediately went to the laundry room, stripped down the curtains, and dyed them purple. He rehung them, then thoroughly cleaned, and put up a wind chime. He’s been humming a new tune ever since.

  Where people go, so goes ch’i. Picture the mall during the holiday season and an abandoned warehouse. Which one feels more alive with energy?

  | King in a High Chair |

  The Prosperity corner of your home is equal to the king’s throne. At all occasions the king is meticulously placed in the most dominant position. Look at your Prosperity corner with such reverence. If this corner is in your master bedroom, you are the king. If it is a family room, kitchen, or dining room, use the above-mentioned cures and you are fine. If it is your guest bedroom, a child’s room, or worse yet, your mother-in-law’s quarters, you may be in for a power struggle within the home. If it is a guest room, it
may be vacant some of the time. In this case, uplift the ch’i and get it moving by adding movement. Use it as a hobby room when guests are not around so family members use the space. Placing an aquarium or other permanent moving cure in the room is also a suitable solution.

  On the other hand, when guests are there, they may not want to leave when originally planned. If it is the dreaded mother—in—law’s room, she may assume she is in charge. If it is a child’s room, they may not know their place within the family structure and may attempt to run the show. But if the child is suffering from low self-esteem, this may be the perfect balancing spot for them. Just be very careful to whom you give the power corner.

  | You Get What You Give |

  Some people call this philanthropy, but it is true, you reap what you sow. So, just do this—give to others. When you do, you give to yourself. This is another one of those weird universal laws that would take way too long to explain. There is a catch, though. You must give freely—no strings attached. The only words in your heart should be, “I am free to give because there is always supply for my every demand.”

  I am living proof that this law is true. Just before studying feng shui, I was at a point—during the recession of the early nineties (most Californians were calling it a depression)— where I literally had one dollar to my name. I was living on borrowed time with the landlord, and buying food and gas on my few remaining credit cards. One day, as I exited off the freeway, I saw a man asking for money. Although that is not an unusual occurrence in southern California, it was unusual at this off ramp. It was in the middle of nowhere by California standards.