The Bagua

The Bagua (pronounced ba-gwa) is a color chart with nine boxes. Each box represents a specific life situation that can be correlated with a specific part of your home or office. By using the bagua color chart to divide your space, you can improve your quality of life by importing your environment. To Feng Shui your space, follow the easy steps below.

1. In your mind's eye (or, even on an actual blueprint) visualize the space that you are attempting to Feng Shui as a perfect square or rectangle. (Note: Do not include any spaces built as additions. These areas get Feng Shui’d separately within the bagua).

2. Now, divide this space into nine equal squares or grids, like a Tic-Tac-Toe board.

3. This grid is known as the Feng Shui bagua map.

4. Align the bottom of the board with the same wall that includes the front or formal entrance way. This is the door that the building intentioned as the formal entrance. It does not matter what door you use the most often. We are only speaking of the front door.

5. Your entrance, then, will fall into one of the three front or bottom grids (individually called 'guas') on this Feng Shui bagua map.

6. Your entrance through the bagua map will fall into Knowledge or Career or Helpful People. There are no exceptions to this. Sometimes, though, your entrance will 'stradle' or 'bleed' into two different areas. This is fine. Just remember to divide the main floor into nine equal spaces as if there were no standing walls in the house, and it were an empty plane to work with.

7. Standing at the threshold with your back to the street side, you are now ready to identify which locations correspond to the energies of which sector on the grid of the bagua.

8. Although the basement, second and third floors in the home/office should eventually be appropriately assessed, for immediate and accurate Feng Shui response, we are only superimposing this bagua map onto what would be considered the main floor. You may, additionally, center this grid over any individual room and begin to Feng Shui as the macrocosm to the micro. But, we like to use the pecking order of; main floor first, master bedroom second, living room third, and outside property last.

9. You can even employ this method of superimposing this bagua over the top of your desk using your seating as the 'entryway.'

10. Be sure to remember that one of the three energetic grids that lie along the same wall as the front door will always be your entranceway, and the rest of the Feng Shui bagua remains fixed according to that entry. (For example, if money is an issue or concern, then stand stationary at your front entrance with your back to the street. Now, where is the far back left-hand wall located? That’s right: the wall that is farthest left and to the back of the whole space, that’s the Wealth area of the bagua map. Now, make an adjustment to stimulate the Chi and watch your fortunes become fruitful. See? Easy!

11. This method of employing the bagua is considered Western (or Black Hat Feng Shui) and disregards the more traditional practice of using compass directions and/or personal astrology in defining space/issue boundaries.