Feng Shui corrals life’s energy

Kimberley McGee

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 9:29 a.m.

Want more wealth? Has the love sizzle fizzled? Kids out of control?

Time to move the furniture! Bring out the paint brushes! Get thee to a plant nursery!

It's not hocus-pocus, it's Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) and many valley residents are catching the spirit.

"Everything is energy; everything is alive with that energy and either it is supporting you or not," Kristie Allan, a Feng Shui consultant in Las Vegas, says of the basic principles behind the 5,000-year-old science. "If you look around and something is bothering you, you have to be sure to remove that from your life."

Feng Shui, which means "wind" and "water" in Chinese, is the practice of living harmoniously with the energy of the environment and the art of placement -- of furniture, mirrors, water, wood, plants and colors, to name a few -- to aid the flow of energy in a room to keep it balanced and moving in a good direction.

"It really is a life tool. When you start really getting into it you can use it for anything," Allan says.

The premise is simple: become aware of what you desire -- to make money, to find love, even to quit smoking -- and make an effort to achieve that desire by lighting a dark corner or moving furniture around to be more inviting.

"If there's an area of your life not going the way you want, you can Feng Shui that area in your home and see results," she says.

It can be overwhelming to the average dweller as they look around their home and attempt to follow all of the different rules to the letter. But Allan warns to approach the science simply by just becoming aware of your surroundings and the rest will fall into place.

"When people try to do it in a technical way, they lose it," Allan says. "There is nothing about Feng Shui that is written in stone -- nothing. You should honor the function of the room. Set it up as according to the function and keep Feng Shui in mind as you set it up.

"After a while you get it; you can see it," she says. "If you understand what it is you are trying to achieve, then you understand what you are doing."

Some basic concepts of the ancient science are:

"For Realtors, it's not uncommon for them to hear about Feng Shui from their clients," Allan says. "For instance, a lot of Asians will not buy a home where the stairs lead right out the front door."

But that doesn't mean the home has bad energy. Anything can be fixed.

"Almost always it can be corrected without moving the home," Allan quips. "Always work with what you've got."

Comedian Dick Smothers and his wife, Denby, had their Las Vegas home Feng Shui'd before they moved in a year and a half ago -- curving paths, softening angles and landscaping for their future with plants they love, significantly placing them in the yard.

A pair of crepe myrtle trees are in the "love and marriage" section of the Bagua map, a nine-sectioned guide used in Feng Shui to determine where energy is best directed in an area.

Denby was an interior decorator for 15 years. "I would decorate for style, a certain look, depending on the type of job it was," she says.

But Feng Shui is not decorating, Denby says, although some may consider moving furniture and using light and nature as part of that category. "It's putting effort in your life."

"You are aware of what you are choosing, what is happening in your life," Dick says. "We made (the home) a living space instead of concrete and mortar."

The couple curved the path into their home to slow energy coming into the house, avoiding the no-no of straight lines. "It's a poison arrow coming right at you," Allan says. To bring that point home she raises her arm and points one slender finger at Denby who, just slightly, and visibly, flinches. "It's just like that."

In the Smothers' modest courtyard, flowers give height to the ground so energy rises to greet the guest. The tall front doors are painted a woody green, and two wreaths with yellow ribbons adorn each door.

"Your front door should smile," Allan says. "It should be bright and inviting so that when you enter you immediately feel welcome. That's good Feng Shui."

Two groomed citrus trees flank both side of the doors and act as guardians and greeters. Denby chose the trees because Dick loves the small orange fruit it bears, snacking on them in the morning as the two read the paper in the courtyard.

"Her home is honoring who she is and your home should honor you," Allan says.

"This home is really comforting," Denby says. "I haven't said that before in other houses."

Dick and Denby recently rearranged their study, which had been Feng Shui'd a little more than a year ago. "We had simply outgrown the space," she says. "It was just cluttered and it didn't feel good anymore."

Dick agrees, emphasizing that he now has a better view of the courtyard and the hallway and feels more productive in the reorganized room. "You are always going for the balance and the balance always changes, it's not 50-50," Allan says.

The essence of Feng Shui became evident when Dick's son won a Koi fish at a 4th of July fair two summers ago. Dick plopped the fish -- Yo-Yo, named after his signature comedy bit performed with his brother, Tommy -- in the small fountain and pond in their back yard.

"This was an exceptionally vibrant fish," Dick says. "So we brought in friends," more Koi fish that did not make nice with the others and were attacked. Dick -- who climbs into the pond and feeds, cleans and talks to the nine fish he has acquired -- rescued the ailing Koi and put them in the smaller pond in the front courtyard, hopefully to recuperate.

This made him notice the stark bareness of the courtyard fountain -- that it was in need of some Feng Shui. After a few weeks of tinkering with different plants, heights and shapes, breathing life into the area with color and energy, Dick was satisfied with his handiwork. One morning he noticed a flash of orange in the shallow water: The fish had survived.

Chalk one up to Feng Shui.

Anna Cortez, a Feng Shui follower and local businesswoman, has been interested in the ancient art for the past few years and believes that working with the energy that surrounds everyone and everything has made her life more harmonious.

But she stresses not to get fanatical about it.

"It's extremely complex and easy to get waylaid and discouraged with all the rules," Cortez says. "If it just feels good then you just know, then concentrate on specifics" such as two of something pink in the romance section of the Bagua, or blues and greens or wood in the "health and family" corner.

Alan Cox, a hair stylist at Beauty World in Green Valley, Feng Shui'd his work station to bring more wealth to his contractual business, so that he can open his own shop soon.

"(Customers) just seem to come out of nowhere," Cox says. "They come (by) word-of-mouth or someone will find my card after six months."

A large, round, wood-framed mirror hangs on the outer wall of his three-walled station. To bring the good energy a round mirror attracts, Cox mounted a small, round mirror on the inside of the wall to pull the energy into his station.

"It can't hurt," he says.

He discusses Feng Shui with customers and says a few have adopted some of the practices. "I have fun with my customers, a lot of people don't know about it," he says.

His co-workers poke fun at the 6-foot, 2-inch married mystic, but he says they eventually come around with questions as their curiosity is piqued.

"It makes sense to me," Cox says. "I'm not taking it so serious that I'm stressed out, but it's fun and I'm enjoying it."

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