Sha at your Doorstep I

The primary objective of Feng Shui is to bring in good yang chi into the house or plot. This is being achieved by the correct placement of the gate. In the Form School of Feng Shui, the Dragon (left from within the plot) gate is the first choice and the centrally located gate is the second choice, the Tiger gate is the last choice.

The gate or the main door is considered to be the 'mouth' of the plot or the house. The gate ushers outside chi into the property, hence the quality of the chi the gate brings into the property is of utmost importance as this can affect the health and fortune of the occupants. We are going to deal with several situations where the sha is just right outside the main entrance.

The first case is a property which has a pile of garbage in front of its gate. The health of the occupants will be adversely compromised and the family fortune or business will be difficult to come by. The cure to this situation is to have the garbage removed.

Next we have the situation where a chimney stack is fronting the main door, worse if we have the exhaust of an air conditioning system or that of a generator facing the front door. This is considered a sha that forbodes death or illness. The cure is to hang a convex mirror and a hexagram Ba-gua above your door or better still relocate your main entrance.

Another sha is an electric post fronting the main door. This is hazardous to the health of the household especially if it has transformers attached to it. The best cure will be to request the utility company to relocate the electric post. If this is not possible then hang a hexagram Ba-gua over the door facing the electric post.

A tree in front of the door can adversely affect the health of the occupants, especially if it is a banana tree. This is believed to be one of the causes of mental aberration. The cure is to relocate the tree if you do not want to remove it, if both options are not possible to implement try relocating your door. If this is still not possible then hang a hexagram Ba-gua over your door.

Another type of sha that is discernible to the trained eyes of a Geomancer is sha emitted from the gables or ridges of neighboring houses or buildings. These are known as 'hidden arrows', the sha can be directed towards your door or window. It is the health and fortune of the occupants that will be jeopardized. The cure is to hang a convex mirror and a hexagram Ba-gua on top of your door or window.

The sha from the street sign and lamp post could be dispersed with a convex mirror hung on top of the door facing the source of sha.

The most obvious sha found in urban living is when the neighbor's gate across the street is opposite your door. The function of the gate, considered to be the 'mouth' of a property in Feng Shui, is to draw in fortune. The house with the bigger gate will be able to 'suck' in more chi or fortune from the street than the house with a smaller gate. It will be more logical for both parties to place their gates in different directions than to outdo each other by installing bigger gates. If your gate is the smaller one and there is no way to transfer it hang a hexagram Ba-gua on the gate post.

When the driveway of your neighbor is in line with your main door, this constitutes a 'chiong' (opposing sha) akin to being hit by traffic on a T-junction. This could result in the loss of business opportunity because the 'chiong' disperses chi from entering your house. The cure is to hang a convex mirror and a hexagram Ba-gua on top of your door.