Feng Shui Objects of Desire

Some women won’t leave home without it. Housewives with philandering husbands have sought its help. Some celebrities swear by it and thank their lucky stars for it. Some businessmen, who were experiencing bad fortune, have allegedly turned their luck around because of it. Of course, we’re talking about the feng shui (lucky) objects of desire, a lot of which feng shui enthusiasts will find in the Kyoto Flower Shop at the Century Park Hotel in Malate, Manila.

"Let a hundred lucky objects bloom," says Marilou Lim, Kyoto Flower Shop proprietress and an avid lover of flowers. "We get our flowers from local sources," she adds, pointing at the chrysanthemums abloom amid the assorted lucky charms at the flower shop. "I’ve always loved flowers – by a twist of luck, I got invited by Century Park to put up a flower corner in the hotel."

Many moons ago, starry-eyed couple Marilou and Willie Lim went to Kyoto, Japan’s ancient city of flowers, for their honeymoon. They fell in love with the place at first sight. Sighed the young lovers, "If only we could bring home even a piece of that indescribable paradise!"

Thus, the Kyoto Flower Shop was born. The years have brought a shower of blessings for the couple. To share their good fortune and to celebrate the coming of the Year of the Wooden Monkey, Willie and Marilou have converted their little flower shop into a lucky corner. To do that, the Lims solicited the help of stylist/floral master Rachy Cuna. "I’m not a geomancer," says a self-effacing Rachy. "But when I do interiors, I incorporate my humble knowledge not so much of feng shui as the positiveness in life. I must say that my clients are very happy and prosperous. They tell me, ‘Rachy, it’s true, things have taken a good turn.’ They ask me to move their house around because of the negative things that are happening in their lives. Yes, there are certain times of the month when you can move your house around to give you positive energy."

Truth is, Rachy is a much-sought-after stylist to the rich and famous. And now, he’s lending his expertise to Kyoto Flower Shop. The shop carries a hundred assorted lucky charms that offer a thousand and one cures/solutions to life’s ills.

"We have a consultant from Hong Kong who gave us the list of lucky objects for the coming year," says Rachy. "We always consult him."

Do you believe in feng shui? Feng shui dates back to more than five thousand years ago. Believers say it’s a way of living in harmony with nature. When we live in harmony with nature, all aspects of life become more balanced. Our health is better. Money is plentiful. Relationships are more pleasurable. Geomancers believe that it is possible to influence the energy around us to become more positive and balanced to create a better life for all.

So, what are the lucky objects this year?

To begin with, there’s the lucky bamboo. According to ancient Chinese custom, a gift of living bamboo brings good fortune. This living gift keeps giving, too: You can break off a stem and replant it in water. Voila, you have another lucky bamboo to keep or to give away! The beauty of the bamboo is it’s extremely hardy and requires virtually no care. Now, how lucky can you get!

And here’s this year’s lucky formula: Three lucky bamboos for happiness, five for wealth, seven for good health and 21 for everything else your heart desires. The lucky position to put your bamboo plant is in the east side of the house or the left back side of the office.

Then there are the crystals. In ancient times, crystals were used for spiritual enlightenment. According to believers, it’s clear to see that the quartz crystal is a very powerful energy activator. They add that putting a crystal in a corner of a room will encourage the "ultimate life force" to flow through the room freely. The Chinese also use quartz crystals for protection and warding off bad vibrations.

The crystal ball is believed to aid in concentration – helping us to be focused in terms of goals and magnifying our thoughts into action.

Of course, there’s the Laughing Buddha that promises to bring pure joy into any home. It can also neutralize bad luck. But you won’t exactly be laughing all the way to the bank because of your Laughing Buddha.

Kyoto Flower Shop also carries a formidable array of power beads. Since the beginning of time, people have associated different stones with certain powers – to heal; to inspire; to bring happiness, wealth and love. For instance, the amethyst is believed to possess the strongest spiritual energy – it stimulates the intellect, helps in meditation and concentration, increases psychic skills and intuition, boosts the immune system. Putting an amethyst under your pillow can induce peaceful sleep and ward off nightmares.

A much-eyed stone is the tiger eye (quartz mixed with iron). It is said to fiercely protect against negative influences. In African culture, it is used against black magic. It also helps calm down nervous people.

"We recommend the tiger-eye bracelet to businessmen for luck this year," says Rachy.

And who isn’t familiar with jade as a powerful feng shui crystal?

"Jade brings wealth/prosperity, protection," says Rachy. "It’s an all-around powerful cure."

Let a thousand miniature oranges (or kiat in Chinese) bloom, too. Make sure to fill your ceramic vases with rocks or water. Or get some of those feng shui coins that are square in the center (to represent the energy of the earth while the circle symbolizes the chi of heaven).

And how much will our good fortune cost us? Will it send us to the poorhouse?

"Our prices are very reasonable," says Rachy. "We like to share our shop with the world."

And now, here’s the lucky charm that matches your sign this year, based on the pronouncements of Kyoto Flower Shop’s Hong Kong consultant:
• If you’re a Monkey, wear a Snake or a Rat charm.
• If you’re a Dog, wear a Rabbit or a Horse.
• If you’re a Snake, carry an Ox or a Dragon charm for protection.
• If you’re a Horse, wear a Sheep or a Dog lucky charm.
• If you’re a Tiger, wear a jade pendant or a lucky brass horse.
• If you’re a Rooster, wear a white jade gourd or a jade pendant.
• If you’re a Rat, get a Laughing Buddha.
• If you’re a Dragon, get a Laughing Buddha, too.
• If you’re a Pig, get a god of harmony charm.
• If you’re a Dog, wear power beads.
• If you’re an Ox, get a Laughing Buddha and a gourd.

• If you’re a Rabbit, get six antique coins. That’s for more luck because the Rabbit happens to be one of the lucky signs in the Year of the Wooden Monkey – good fortune multiples by leaps (or should we say hops?) and bounds. Lucky, too, this year, are the Rooster (who’ll have much to crow about?) and the Rat (who won’t be poor as a church mouse?).

"But the Rabbit, Rooster and Rat can wear crystals for energy," Rachy suggests.

Kyoto Flower Shop has attracted quite a faithful following since it opened. "It’s like the Louis Vuitton shop in Hong Kong where you see people lining up," says Rachy.

At Kyoto, you can see housewives, career people, businessmen, young and old. "Yes, feng shui is catching on with young people as well as Westerners from whom we’ve gotten a lot of inquiries at the hotel," Rachy notes. "It’s just that life is so hard these days, every bit of help to make life easy counts. Everybody wants to have positive things in their lives."

Here’s to a lucky – and not rocky – year