Some days you’ll go to any hippy extreme to zap toxic energy from your zone, and some woo-woo antics are shockingly effective (ever not felt better after sage-ing your house?) Plants are always used to create a feng shui positive environment because they not only add vibrancy, oxygen and life force, they symbolize growth and support us energetically. Much of feng shui is about creating an environment that gives us energy versus one that drains us of our energy and life force.
Plant Selection
These Plants Will Bring You Good Energy
The most “feng shui positive” plants are full, lush, and vibrant. When choosing plants, select rounded leaves over spiky, thorny, or pointy leaves. Having too many pointy-leaved plants sends out a prickly energy, which your subconscious reads as “stay away”. This is not an inviting energy.
The artificial vs. real plant debate
Grandmaster Lin Yun, the founder of the Black Sect school of feng shui, said, “If you have to touch a plant to determine whether it is real or not, it holds even more power than a live plant.” This means that if an artificial plant looks real, it is doing its job. Your subconscious will see it as symbolic of a real plant, and it will have the same effect. Live plant energy is favorable and it’s good to have some around; however, it is better to have an artificial plant that looks alive and real, than to have a real plant that is sickly or dead. Silk plants are excellent and are made so well these days they are hard to visually tell them apart from real ones!
Dead and dried plants
Dead flowers and dead or sick plants emit dead energy into the environment. Even dried flowers symbolize death to the subconscious mind. I suggest that you replace dead or dying plants with live ones for an immediate boost of energy.
Many people feel bad about throwing away plants that still have a bit of life in them, but are beyond reviving. I tell my clients that the best time to “recycle” almost-dead plants back into the universal flow is during the three days prior to a new moon because it represents new beginnings. This timing energetically gives the plants an opportunity to “begin anew”, and many of us feel better when we know we are getting rid of them at an optimal time. If the plant is already dead, then discarding anytime is fine.
Dried flower leis and plants with meaning
If you have dried flower leis or other types of dried flowers in your home that hold significant meaning or special memories, then one of my basic rules apply: “Have things you love around you.” If it is something you love, even though it is “dead”, it has a good energy and it’s fine to have around.
If, however, it has begun to disintegrate and you can’t remember why you kept it in the first place, it has lost its positive personal energy and it’s time to get rid of it.
Potpourri is often brought up because it is commonly used in homes and some are curious about it from a feng shui perspective. Although potpourri is made of “dead” plant parts, it does have life in it in the form of its added fragrance. However, once the fragrance dissipates, the dust settles, and cobwebs start forming, it is time to discard it. As long as it is kept “fresh”, it does not take away from the positive feng shui.
Useful plant tips:
- Move existing plants around to change up the energy of the environment.
- Fill empty corners with plants to create curves, fullness, and balance in a room.
- Use plants at the entrance to “entrance” the energy.
- Buy a plant when you need a boost and desire support.
Alice Inoue is a life guide that uses the modalities of feng shui, astrology and spirituality in her work. Her offerings include award-winning, mind-body-spirit themed books, as well as a series of feng shui instructional DVD’s.