The Importance of understading the cycles before planningand planting bamboos and grasses in oriental style Feng Shui gardens

The TransfornationalPhases:

  The phases of feng shui .Feng shui gardens for bamboo.

There are five transformationalphases. The dynamics of each element are that it can work in a number ofinteractive cycles.

This gives us flexibility whenadjusting or fine-tuning the energy values in our home or space.

Each element can interact withanother element by producing that element, by destroying another element,draining another element, or in turn exhausting itself supporting anotherelement.

It is the understanding of how theseelements interact and work on each other that form the physics and chemistry soto speak of practicing Feng Shui.

I must stress that a thoroughunderstanding of the elements and their characteristics is of fundamentalimportance if you want to get it right.

 

Example in Nature:

By photosynthesis, plants buildmolecules of carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water, in return they produce andrelease oxygen to the atmosphere which is obviously beneficial to us. Thisonly happens during daylight and is a direct interaction with sun light. Theplants chlorophyll transforms the suns radiant energy to chemical energy thatis stored as a carbohydrates and then transforming them into proteins and other materials that are stored and converted to the plant matter itself.

In due course this matter gets consumed by animal’s, insects and humans and transferredback into energy. This stored solar energy that transforms into plant, animalmatter eventually dies, and over a period of several million years that matteris compressed and transformed to what we know as fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

These fossil fuels provide a huge proportion of our energy requirements  and in the process of burning them we are once again releasing that stored solarenergy and creating carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide  is once again absorbed by the greenpigment of plants called chlorophyll and the ash from the burnt fuel  contributes to the make up of the soil providing potash and carbon etc.

This is only one over simplified example but there are literally hundreds of examples thatillustrate the constructive, destructive, nourishing and weakening cycles of Feng Shui if you take time to look for them. And what better place to look for them than in your garden.

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Oooooh! Scarey spider.

fargesia nitida iuzhaigou

Fargesia. Nitida. Black/blue  awater element.

Japanese blood grass

Japanese blood grass.Cautious fire element.

Shibataea kumasasa feng shui cure

Shibataea kumasasa. Green leafywood element

ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens

Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' ,  another good  water element.

Carex 'Silver Scepter'.Grey/silver adds a   metal element

carex_chocholate_milk

Carex 'Milk Chocolate.' An earthelement

Uncinia new zealand hook sedge

Uncinia .New Zealand hook sedge.A good fire element.

 

Laying out the garden with the LoShu:

 
The Productive Cycle:

Feng Shui for the garden. Productive cycle.

The basic five elements are water,wood, fire, earth and metal. In the productive cycle, the Xiang or Sheng Cycleas it is sometimes called (shown left). We can see how each element issupportive of the next. The different cycles can be likened to a family unitwith each cycle representing the roles or necessity of a family member. ThisCycle is represented by the Parental role of Mother  in supporting andnourishing its respective Child.

The Destructive Cycle:
Gardeners Feng Shui the destructive cycle. Bamboo grass.   

I n this cycle the basic five elementsare arranged in a destructive cycle, or Sha Cycle. Water, fire, metal, wood andearth. In the destructive cycle here, we can see how each element effectivelydestroys the next not unlike an over strict  patriarch. This cycle is verypowerful and can be very destructive, in turn destroying the balance byremoving an element altogether. It is not necessarily the first cycle to chosewhen trying to reduce a bad element or influence. It is better to look for alternatives in the initial stages and take the softer option.

The Weakening Cycle:
  

TheDestructive   Cycle as we have seen can be too drastic a measure to takewhen trying to balance the energies. It is far better to use the Reduction andWeakening Cycles. The reduction Cycle is arranged exactly in the same way asthe Productive Cycle the only difference is the energy flows the opposite way.These two cycles are not quite as easy to understand at first but you willstart to see the pattern once you look at the examples and try a few changes athome yourself.

The Reduction Cycle:
  

Example 1: If you wish to stimulatethe Southeast, that is the wealth and prosperity area. Then you would need to take agood look of what is there in the way of colour, elements and shapes. Wood isthe element of the Southeast so straight away the addition of a green leafyplant especially a Ruscus leaved bamboo Shibataea Kumasasa   will be an instantimprovement. In addition, the adding of Water in any form, actual or symbolicwill nurture and stimulate wood.  Avoid Earth items such as earthenware orclay pots and Earth colours and shapes as wood is weakened through destroyingEarth.

Now look to see if there is any fire in that area in theway of sharp angular or triangular garden ornaments, anything Orange or redespecially roses or fire of any sort such as a patio heater BBQ etc, as thisexhausts Wood by nourishing Fire. If there is Fire, add Water or more Water toreduce the fire and feed the wood. Avoid any metal as metal destroyswood.

Example 2: Using thedestructive cycle is a last resort and a desperate cure all, because you aredestroying an element you will be causing an imbalance within the cycle andconsequently another element will become deficient, causing problems in anotherarea. For example lets say there was an over abundance of Fire in theSouthwest. This is the area associated with romance and relationships, maybethis Fire, a very powerful agent is stimulating this area to a point where itis causing problems. Maybe it is attracting too much attention from unwantedsuitors, or possibly you suspect it is the cause of possible infidelity on thebehalf of your partner. To destroy the fires just add plenty of Water. Oooooh! Scarey spider.

Caution

Beware fire produces Earth,the element associated with the Southwest. By adding lots of Water, you willextinguish the Fire and it will no longer act as a supporter to Earth in turndestroys water. Water like fire is a powerful agent, and will severely drainthe Earth element as it attempt to destroy it. In consequence the cycle isfurther exacerbated because due to the earth’s efforts to destroy theWater, More water will be needed to Destroy the Fire and the situation becomecyclostrophic resulting in the Earth element being so dissipated that  thechances of any romance or relationship flourishing even at a communicationslevel at all, will be pretty slim.

A far better solution would be to try to remove as many Fireelements in the way of shape and colour as possible replacing them with Earthcolours and shapes to adjust balance and add the element Metal that has theeffect of controlling both of them by draining Fire and dissipatingEarth.

 

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