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Exploring the Intersection of Feng Shui and Witchcraft: Creating Harmony in Your Space
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In this 'Solitary Witch' episode of The Bell Witch Podcast, host Swailes the Friendly Green Witch explores the connections between Feng Shui and witchcraft. She discusses feng Shui's history, elemental principles, and practical tips for harmonizing home energy, sharing personal stories and reflections on endings and new beginnings. Swailes covers various feng shui schools, the symbolism of objects, clutter-clearing, and the importance of balance and intention in both magical and everyday practices. She encourages listeners to experiment with energy flow, embrace change, and join the podcast community for further discussion and support.
'The clutter in my house is a massive issue, and the reason I got into feng shui is because it’s really affecting my memory and destroying parts of my life, if I’m really brutally honest.'
Feng Shui practitioners mentioned in this episode
Podcast Pals- The Feng Shui Flow- https://open.spotify.com/show/4P8mUYp5n8WLhtZZhKiX4p?si=f9a472a73b364c31
Castles and Cryptids -https://open.spotify.com/show/6bndfN08XxbGMGC8BoC2fu?si=b1b5a89c58f6405f
Scottish Murders- https://open.spotify.com/show/63qdcQbADDUbB7L9B0Nl4G?si=3743ceea1df843f8
Part of the Darkcast Network Family-Instagram
Made with love and magic by Swailes the Friendly Green Witch friendlygreenwitch | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
Join the NEW Patreon for bonus content and exclusive episodes The Bell Witch Podcast | Podcast | Patreon
Supported by Otley Ghost Tour -https://turnipfishtheatre.com/otley-ghost-tours
Official podcast sponsor Whimsy Goth Market London- thewhimsygothmarket.uk
Music by Geoff Harvey of Pixabay
#fengshui #yingandyang #spirituality #witchcraft #goodchi #energywork #soliterywitch
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
We are castles and cryptids where the castles are haunted and the cryptids are cryptic as fuck. We're a couple of Canadian chicks who are fascinated by freaky shit. So join us as we fall down numerous rabbit holes.
00:00:13
Speaker
Numerous, so very many rabbit holes. Fortune telling. We talk true crime cryptids, haunted AF stuff, and much, much more.
00:00:25
Speaker
There are definitely some movie tangents in there too, because we love our horror movie chat.
00:00:33
Speaker
the Dark Cast Network, bringing our indie podcasts out of the shadows.
00:00:59
Speaker
Bye.
Introduction to Modern Witchcraft and Feng Shui
00:01:12
Speaker
Ey up witches and beautiful souls, welcome to the Bell Witch Podcast with me Swales the Friendly Green Witch, a podcast to help you get witching in the 21st century.
00:01:25
Speaker
This is at last a solitary witch episode from this witch. They are quite hard to put together, they take lot more time than the mootloots. but it's here and it's all about feng shui little tips on that and the overlap of witchcraft which i just find absolutely absolutely fascinating just want to observe the strange vibes at the moment this year the year of nine which is about completion there's been so many endings recently there's so much stuff that's finishing
00:01:59
Speaker
One being the amazing campsite which holds all the pagan camps that i go to throughout the year. Lime Tree Farm in Ripon is finishing at the end of this year and it is a massive blow to the pagan and spirituality community.
00:02:17
Speaker
I've just come back from camp that has been going 18 years. It was last weekend and was just so emotional you know because the people who started the camp 18 years ago have worshipped the land every year, you know, around solstice.
00:02:31
Speaker
So there were a lot of tears and my children felt it too. And we were saying goodbye to the stone circle. The weather kind of reflected our feelings in terms of 40 gale winds and rainy and warm and hot and bothered and I feel like it's a massive ending but it's right the land needs to retire and they're going to rewild it and give it back to nature which I just love like I really love so I left the place with love and maybe in a hundred years some people might come across all the stuff that's there like the stone circle and be like what's this what's this strange civilization thing in this little site can imagine
00:03:14
Speaker
I was thinking the other day it might make a good solitary witch episode to look at stone circles and why they are and what they mean and stuff like that. It's quite an exciting topic to cover.
00:03:26
Speaker
Welcome to my new Patreon members. we have kwh shivley jodie hanson and that's it thank you very much for coming on to my patreon to have a little look there is the cauldron of woo there is witch stories There's behind the seeds videos, a bit of poetry.
00:03:51
Speaker
There's a good 133 posts on there currently. And although it's not the busiest Patreon in the world because I am a solo witch, I do try my best to give you bonus exclusive content as well as early access ad free episodes.
Community Engagement and Listener Call-to-Action
00:04:06
Speaker
And then there's the Discord as well, and you can join the Discord. And if you leave the Patreon, I'm not going to kick you out of the Discord. It's great just to have a little chat community, so please do join.
00:04:17
Speaker
And if you want to show the Bell Witch Podcast some love, I humbly ask that you can leave me some stars, a rating, perhaps share it with your friends, share it on your stories.
00:04:29
Speaker
Tag me on social media, that'd be awesome.
Feng Shui Fundamentals and Energies
00:04:31
Speaker
The Bell Witch Podcast, separated by underscores. Apple Podcasts. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, please, could you leave me a review? Because I just don't get them. I've been on 39 for like a year.
00:04:44
Speaker
it'd be lovely to get a new raid. Because every time I see them, I do a little dance. It's like magic. I do a little dance. Anyway, that's enough from me. I'm going to play you the solitary witch episode. And I think you can really tell that I'm obsessing and I'm really passionate.
00:05:02
Speaker
So I hope it's helpful for you. Do enjoy and I shall speak to you in two weeks.
00:05:11
Speaker
Feng Shui, what is all that about? You may have heard of it and just think it's something about moving furniture around your house that apparently changes things in your life and some kind of weird magic comes into play and changes all sorts of stuff.
00:05:30
Speaker
I mean, I used to kind of think that before I got into all this reading. It is about signalling to the universal energies, wherever you think that energy comes from. It's using your house to signal that you want good opportunities and good vibes to come your way.
00:05:48
Speaker
And at the moment, I'm consuming so much about Feng Shui because... I discovered it recently at the manifest where the lovely Kimberley Gallagher was on the stage talking about discovering Feng Shui and how it's transformed a life.
00:06:04
Speaker
Living and working in Australia as a Feng Shui specialist and practitioner. And she's got a book coming out, but she's got this amazing podcast called The Feng Shui Flow, which I have just been binging. And it is really cool. And it does remind me a lot of magic and about how magic may work and the elementals being present in our lives and how we interact with them and the impact elements have on our well-being as well as like vibes and our aura and stuff.
History and Elements of Feng Shui
00:06:39
Speaker
And so because I'm obsessed and I'm reading lots, I thought perhaps it'd be fun to get a witch's point of view, witch's perspective on feng shui and how it may work and observe the overlaps between the two customs and theories of this ancient practice and belief system.
00:07:00
Speaker
And then I could also weave in some little pointers, some sweet little hot tips just to get your energy flowing a bit easier. Stuff that's not going to disrupt your house too much. You don't need to buy anything.
00:07:15
Speaker
Little habits, little rituals that may help good energy or chi flow into your house. from a witch's pot of you so let's dive in the words feng shui translate to wind and water in chinese it is thought to have started 6 000 years ago and although it is hard to discern exactly where the various styles have origin originated from it's likely it's evolved slowly over a very very long period of time as
00:07:49
Speaker
society and civilization has developed. Feng Shui is the mixing flow and penetration of these two life-altering elements that is water and wind best described as essential energy aka chi.
00:08:09
Speaker
I always want to chai because it's ch-i but it's chi that rhymes with t. You probably know, recognize and may love the yin and yang symbol which is quite big in feng shui.
00:08:24
Speaker
Yin and yang are the words used to describe the two different forms of the energy chi. Yin is slower, more dispersed.
00:08:35
Speaker
It's the feminine aspect of the energy. It's chill. It's a chill vibe. It's a, I can't be arse getting up vibe. It's a meditating vibe. Cool energy in terms of temperature.
00:08:48
Speaker
Which is good, which is needed. And yang is the male aspect of the energy. It's speedy, it's action, more compressed and hotter.
00:09:00
Speaker
Literally, they mean the shady side of the mountain, yin, and the sunny side, yang. Oh, and I've got a fantastic tip. to help you remember which is which, which I have struggled with probably my whole life. So here we go.
00:09:15
Speaker
Yin rhymes with dim and dim is relaxed, like you're relaxing in a room when you're being calm and collective. And yang is like Bang, like pounding or getting into action, being active, being fiery.
00:09:29
Speaker
The dim one is actually from Feng Shui Flow podcast, but the yang one I made up like on the spot, so I can 50% claim this handy little tip.
00:09:42
Speaker
Ying and yang complement each other as their opposing forms that allow you to connect to yourself and everything around you. And what does that remind me of? The goddess and god energies that I work with on my altar as a witch.
00:09:57
Speaker
Light and dark as above so below everything needs to be balanced to create harmony. They both have masculine and feminine energies ah opposing each other.
00:10:09
Speaker
Everything needs to be balanced in nature in order to
Energy Flow and Balance in Life
00:10:12
Speaker
thrive. So yeah, the yin and yang symbol is a visual representation in symbolic form of the balance we are trying to achieve in feng shui.
00:10:24
Speaker
Even if you would spin the yin and yang symbol, they replace each other perfectly, don't they? So it's like an ever spinning wheel of balance. Oh gosh, I just love it. My witchy heart loves it.
00:10:38
Speaker
So if people become burnt out from overdoing stuff, they have had too much yang and that has given up to too much yin because now you're burnt out and you're trying to recover.
00:10:53
Speaker
The balance isn't there, therefore one takes over until it can no longer and then the other one takes over. So yeah, the idea is it's continuing. And the opposite of that is being indecisive so yin and yang stop turning and that prevents anything happening at all. So that's not what you want either. You want the yin and yang energy to gently rotate so they're always replacing each other on either side to stop making decisions and stop moving forward.
00:11:26
Speaker
brings about too much yin and therefore the chi in your life doesn't progress inside and outside. hope this is making sense. If you're going through a period in your life where stuff's not happening or you feel a bit lethargic, like at the moment I'm quite lethargic,
00:11:44
Speaker
and therefore not really wanting to do anything. I've got too much yin because the energy around my house is not helping me create and move because it's a mess, which is why I got into all this because the clutter, oh my God, listener, the clutter is outstanding and I need to change
Ancient Practices and Modern Feng Shui
00:12:04
Speaker
something.
00:12:04
Speaker
And that's a very simplified version of the yin and yang. As I understand it currently, But that's what we're trying to do, we're trying to snap it into little bite-sized, understandable chunks.
00:12:17
Speaker
So let's have a look at the history. Thousands of years ago, shamans would be called upon by the upper classes to find the best land for them to build on.
00:12:28
Speaker
And two of the most important things that shamans would look out for were the right amounts of wind and water. So this was quite important because houses need to be built in sheltered lands amongst harsh cold winds that came sweeping through the houses that were built in the mountains. So it's really important that doors and windows had to be positioned in such a way that was balanced and also tapping into the elementals to gain the most comfortable space in the house.
00:13:01
Speaker
And then of course, water source was massively important because water source is life force. Shamans made the connection that being mindful of these two important elements and inviting them into your home in such a way to benefit the people who lived in the houses and this created what we know today as feng shui.
00:13:25
Speaker
Within the system of Feng Shui there is five key elements which are water, fire, wood and metal. And the idea is you're making sure that all these five elements are balanced equally throughout your home because the different five elements represent different things of similar to our very own ah witchcraft and the five elements we work with which is earth, air, fire and water.
00:13:53
Speaker
and spirit or soul. In Feng Shui, wood represents growth, vitality and creativity and is associated with expansion, flexibility, new beginnings.
00:14:09
Speaker
Colours are green and teal. The direction is east. And the linked areas are health, family and personal development. Plants are very good at representing wood in the home and so is obviously all the tables and chairs and all that jazz.
00:14:27
Speaker
Then you've got fire that represents light witchcraft, passion, energy, transformation, movement associated with traits such as leadership, bodice and enthusiasm. All the colours that we know, red, orange and bright yellow, direction is south.
00:14:45
Speaker
linked areas, fame, reputation and inspiration and is obviously represented by the lovely flame, candles, fire pits, your cooker, your hob, etc.
00:15:00
Speaker
Earth represents stability, nourishment and grounding and it is associated with support, balance and reliability. Reliability. Gosh, I can't say it.
00:15:11
Speaker
The colours are brown, beige and earthy tones. The direction is a little bit different in Feng Shui. Here it is either the center, the northeast or the northwest.
00:15:23
Speaker
Linked areas are relationships and knowledge and inner peace. In Feng Shui, Earth is represented by tableware, crockery, earthware, pottery, tiles and all that kind of stuff.
00:15:37
Speaker
Not plants, which is a bit weird, but stuff from within, beneath the earth that's deep down. Like crystals. Crystals are also fabulous to represent the earth in Feng Shui too.
00:15:50
Speaker
Then you've got your metal, which represents precision, clarity and efficiency associated with logic, focus and order.
00:16:01
Speaker
White, silver, gold are its colours. Directions are west, northwest and this is linked to communication, helpful people and travel. This reminds me of the air element of the tarot, I think, like swords, clarity, wind, speaking truth.
00:16:20
Speaker
Just an observation. And then the water represents flow, wisdom and intuition associated with mystery, emotional and depth. So that's a bit kind of like moon card-ish.
00:16:34
Speaker
Colours are black and deep blue. The direction is north and the linked areas are career, spirituality and movement. In the
Energy Practices and Feng Shui Schools
00:16:44
Speaker
Feng Shui practice, these elements interact through cycles of creation and destruction. For example, the wood feeds the fire.
00:16:54
Speaker
The fire creates earth as in ash. Earth produces metal. Metal enriches water and water nourishes And the harmony depends on how these elements are balanced in your space, in each room, each corner, and the directions that carries a unique energy signature.
00:17:15
Speaker
And what I quite love as well is when you look at the graphics in books about how these energies work together, they do in fact create a pentacle, which I just think is amazing. I mean, that's no coincidence, that. And I feel that there's a lot of connection to Reiki with Feng Shui. It's like a natural progression to learn Reiki and understand chakras and then look at your auras and your meridians and And all that works with Feng Shui because Reiki and Chakra is very much about the inside of your energy centers and your house also interacts with those energy centers.
00:17:57
Speaker
And that is why we do Feng Shui to help us react and interact with the energy centers within us and without us. Feng Shui works on the basis that you have an emotional energy field running throughout and around your body.
00:18:13
Speaker
The energy can be seen around you as an aura or it flows inside through your activity centers called chakras and out along the paths known as meridians.
00:18:24
Speaker
And lots of things can affect these energy centers such as electromagnetic energies which carries your thoughts, ideas and emotions to every cell in your body.
00:18:37
Speaker
So the energies around you absolutely do influence the energies within you. Your emotional energy is constantly interacting with the energy around your home.
00:18:49
Speaker
And as a result, some of your feelings reflect the place in which you live. Blimey, that is the truest thing ever right now for me. And then, kind I love this bit.
00:18:59
Speaker
There's the five animals in feng shui. Now, I understand this is getting a little bit complicated and a lot of newbie feng shui stuff doesn't seem to include the five animals, but I just think it's brilliant as a witch.
00:19:13
Speaker
So the five animals are the dragon, the phoenix, the tiger, the tortoise and of course the beautiful snake. And these represent your outer energy fields around your body.
00:19:26
Speaker
So your natural flow of chi will become more powerful if you are sitting or standing in the right positions that the animals are in. For example, the phoenix is in front of you. So when you walk around, you're led by your phoenix, which is what the power position all about. If you sit in a room with lots of space in front of you and you can see the door, you're ready for opportunities.
00:19:52
Speaker
That is giving your phoenix room to stretch out its beautiful wings and create something magnificent. To your right, you have got your tiger, whose aim is to guard and move forward with you.
00:20:08
Speaker
And I've not read this, but I feel there's something about achieving stuff with your right hand, if you're right handed. It's your dominant hand, it's the hand you shake with, it's the hand you take with, it's the hand to grasp opportunities with. I've not read this, but I feel that weirdly deep within.
00:20:26
Speaker
So this can be helped by an arm of a chair or items of furniture that are comfortable for your arms and also a low wall can help with this. Behind you is protected by a symbolic hard shell, which is the tortoise.
00:20:42
Speaker
And this child seeks out solid structures like the back of a chair or a wall or your bed head against the wall made of wood. And this helps you be solid, grounded and protected. And then the dragon sits to your left.
00:20:58
Speaker
The dragon seeking new opportunities and will thrive from things on your left. such as lights, flame, a fountain, moving body of water, or a hedge, nature, or a vase of flowers in your house.
00:21:15
Speaker
And then, love this, the snake sits in the centre of the four animals and that represents you Hmm. Doesn't that sound a little bit like Kundalini stuff with the snake in the centre of you at your spine of your chakra? I just think that is such another, another little uncanny overlap there. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
00:21:37
Speaker
So the idea is to help with your Qi in your house when you sit in like your living room you can design your space in correspondence with these five animal elements that sit around you so that when you're relaxed in your natural state these animals can be working for you in traditional Chinese Feng Shui law.
00:22:03
Speaker
Did you know that there are loads of different schools of Feng Shui? I had no idea about this. So there's the Compass and Non-Compass schools and this is about the landscape which is considered to be the greatest influence of setting up a home where this plane and the sun are the predominant force.
00:22:26
Speaker
So this is obviously about in the old days when you could build your own house. I mean, we can't really apply that in modern day Western capitalism society. Swales, bingo, got capitalism in there.
00:22:39
Speaker
And then there's form school. So this is about the shapes and the forms of the landscape that are studied to identify four mystical animals, which you've just talked about.
00:22:53
Speaker
And then these are used to map out the natural flow of chi through the terrain where your house will be built. That helps you orientate and set up a dwelling.
00:23:05
Speaker
Bit complicated, not accessible. Free gate. school this is a relatively new style of feng shui developed during the 1970s in new york the position of the door to a building orinates the magic square which is the bagua which is placed over the floor plan creating a map of how the chi will flow through the house and to each room Each secra of the Bargoa represents an area of your life, like the far right is the corner of wealth, etc, etc.
00:23:41
Speaker
This is quite a cool one for beginners because it's easy to access and yeah I think you use your front door as north, which helps you base the map and then you can alter your house in accordance to the map.
00:23:57
Speaker
Then there's eight, mansion school. This is a compass-based approach. It's quite complicated. It's all about the date of birth and that defines your Kua number.
00:24:09
Speaker
And this is the Chi number you were born with. And whether you are part a West or East life group. From this, homes facing four of the eight compass directions are favourable.
00:24:23
Speaker
So that's quite complicated. It doesn't seem very popular because you've got to know lots of little details. And i think there's probably a bit of astrology overlap there. then there's Flying Star School. This is a traditional Chinese compass-based system.
00:24:37
Speaker
An astrology chart of the period in which our building was constructed is merged with the chart of the present year. And the magic square is then orientated according to the layer of the building and its surroundings.
00:24:51
Speaker
For this method, there's a special compass called the low pan. And I think this is where every year it changes with like the tilt of the earth and stuff. So that's also quite complicated.
00:25:04
Speaker
Eight Directions School. This is a Japanese development of the traditional compass-based feng shui. In this school, a compass is used to orientate the eight directions over your home's floor plan.
00:25:18
Speaker
Based on the magic square, each direction carries a specific kind of energy into the home. This can be enhanced or calmed according to your needs In addition, your sleeping and sitting in positions determine which of the energies you absorb more of.
00:25:34
Speaker
So this is probably, i would say, the most common one because this talks about how you can move your furniture and sitting in your power position and sleeping away from a door and all that jazz.
00:25:47
Speaker
But I think most people who do Feng Shui, at least on their own, do kind of like a mixture of all these, which I kind of do as well, because we're learning and we're doing as best and any change is good, right?
Household Influences on Energy
00:25:58
Speaker
I mean, being in a rut and feeling the energy isn't moving right.
00:26:01
Speaker
Always worth a bash at doing a little bit of basic Feng Shui. Been using a number of books for this. One is The Feng Shui Bible by Simon Browne.
00:26:12
Speaker
Secrets of Space Clearing by Denise Lin. Feng Shui Your Life by Marie Diamond, which is bloody brilliant. And then this old school one called Easy to Use Feng Shui, 186 Ways to Success.
00:26:28
Speaker
I do find with the older books, they're a lot more brutal than the newer books. And they're a bit like you do this or you're going to have bad luck for the rest of your life, which is really damaging. And they do actually label it like dangerous energy.
00:26:42
Speaker
And the older one also talks about like women's faces and stuff and the shape and what's bad child, and what's good child. I was bit like, wow, that is harsh because you can't change your face, can you?
00:26:54
Speaker
In the old school book, they were talking about poison arrows. So you probably know about these. These are straight lines that Chi doesn't like and they can be quite aggressive.
00:27:07
Speaker
I think it's about how quickly the energies move along long straight lines. So it was saying if you've got a long hallway in your house that you've got to walk through to obviously get out the front door,
00:27:19
Speaker
which is exactly what I've got. This is considered a really bad poison arrow. And every time you leave your house, the energy will shoot you in the back. And every time you come in, the poison is an arrow will shoot you in the heart.
00:27:36
Speaker
And therefore you'll have bad karma and stuff. They actually use the word deadly energies or something. And I were like, hey, simmer down. That is way over the top. Okay, let's just chill.
00:27:49
Speaker
If you've got a long straight haul, what can you do? You can't really do much, can you? I mean, I've been listening to the Feng Shui Flow podcast and it was suggesting you can calm the chi down because it moves fast in a straight corridor by adding a plant and a mirror, maybe some mirrors that aren't facing the outside door because Mirrors are a sod in feng shui. They bounce the energy around. So if you have a mirror opposite your front door, it'll come in fast and just bounce right out of there.
00:28:24
Speaker
Also, they double the energy. So if you have them in your office, mirroring your workstation or your computer or your finance books or whatnot, you're doubling your work.
00:28:35
Speaker
Mirrors, yeah, mirrors are a big deal in feng shui. And it's not a good idea in feng shui to have a mirror directly opposite your bed so you can see yourself in the mirror when you sleep.
00:28:49
Speaker
Because there's some superstitions that it can confuse your soul if you're dreaming and maybe doing a spot of lucid dreaming or astral projection.
00:29:00
Speaker
Who knows what we do when we're asleep because there's two of it, it can confuse the soul and so it might get stuck in the mirror. Not sure I believe that, but yeah, I would never sleep with a mirror facing my bed. I do have a mirror to the side of my bed towards my feet, which doesn't bother me so much. I think that's okay. but But I may have said this before, when I go to Centre Parks, I always cover the mirror with the spreader runner piece of fabric thing they give you because it is proper dodgy the way it's angled. It's like proper staring at me and I really dislike it.
00:29:32
Speaker
So maybe I do believe though the folklore tale about how mirrors can trap your soul. I mean, the more I think about it. But mirrors are useful in money bowls. If you put a mirror underneath your money bowl, that doubles the money.
00:29:47
Speaker
Another really awesome basic ritual you can get into is stuff that you do in your bathroom. Bathrooms are quite negative in Feng Shui because they're the room of waste.
00:30:01
Speaker
They are the drainage system to your house. and that's where you lose stuff so if you have a toilet facing the front door which i do at the end of my deadly corridor always keep the lid down on toilets any toilet all toilets because the good chai can go down the toilet and out so it's really easy 101 to just keep the toilet lid down and keep the bathroom door closed at all times if you can with the window open to allow good Qi circulation and that discourages the good vibrations to bugger off through the piping and don't beautify your bathroom because you don't want to invite the good Qi out into your bathroom the waste room where there's exits all around
00:30:51
Speaker
in the form of pipes and drains. Also, apparently, if you feel like money doesn't stay with you and it leaks out of you, check your house for leaks, for water running where you don't know. a little drip drip here can help money to flow too fast out of your hands.
00:31:09
Speaker
Plants in your home is fantastic for the feng shui-ing. I'm a plant mum, I have them all over the place and I'm not surprised to hear that plants are a big deal in feng shui as well.
00:31:22
Speaker
All the leafy round plants, especially money plants, jade plants, you know the pancake ones that are round. The round shape in feng shui is massive business, so positive.
00:31:35
Speaker
Everything needs to be as round as possible including your plant leaves. And, o another connection. The circle for witchcraft is also very important.
00:31:47
Speaker
The wheel of fortune, the wheel of the year, a circle of witches, coven, full moon. Uh-huh.
00:32:05
Speaker
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00:32:30
Speaker
Cacti, not a good move in feng shui because of the spikes. They can be seen as quite negative in their vibration and quite defensive and aggressive.
00:32:43
Speaker
Kind of like on guard, like shielding, like aggression. And that could discourage the good chi from coming into your house. I try to think of it as she is guest we're trying to invite into the house by making it as comfortable as possible and that includes a nice clear hallway to come in, a welcome mat on the floor, nice fresh air moving round, a gorgeous mellon space with a beautiful scented candle,
00:33:15
Speaker
But we don't want scary, spiky plants to scare it off or it might hurt itself. And there is something about them called dragon breath, where it can grab hold of the positive chi and ripples in it, which I find just amazing. And weirdly, really deep down, kind of feel it. I kind of know.
00:33:37
Speaker
And I've never had many cacti. And the cacti have had, I've pretty much killed. I had one recently that I was looking at going like, I'm going to give that away, you know, because I'm not getting anything from it.
00:33:48
Speaker
And then I read this book about how cacti isn't so great in feng shui. And that was like, oh, that's the universe telling me to get rid I have two other cacti in this house.
00:34:01
Speaker
They're tiny little baby ones and not so spiky really. And I'm reluctant to get rid of them because I grew them from a cutting or a leaf or whatever. And I'm quite chuffed that I've managed to keep them going and they're thriving.
00:34:13
Speaker
And this is just a guide. I mean, in my Discord channel, I was saying about cacti and somebody said, oh, I'm not getting rid of my cacti because I love all plants. They mean so much to me. And was like, well, yeah, that's how you feel. Then that is correct.
00:34:27
Speaker
If you're feeling like the good vibes and the chi is moving around and you've got a couple of cacti and they're not causing any bother, then do not get rid. you know, if they're giving you delight in that area of plant keeping, then absolutely keep them.
00:34:40
Speaker
But that cacti I had, it was like, no, that's a sign. It's going. And so I give it away. And I found this quite surprising. Bonsai plants. represent stunted growth and for this reason are not good feng shui and bonsais take a lot of looking after and you've got continuously trim them so from feng shui energy point of view you're physically cutting stuff back to keep it looking nice as opposed to letting things naturally yin and yang around the place so it does make sense in my witchy brain i do i get it i do get it
00:35:18
Speaker
I thought they were associated with that part of the world and go hand in hand with that culture, that belief system. But as a white Western woman, that is very ignorant of me. Live and learn, live and learn.
00:35:35
Speaker
And also it's like with the flowers, you know, i've I always say I don't ah don't really like putting it fresh flowers on my altar as a witch because I don't like the idea of stuff dying on the altar and that is very reflective of feng shui. Yeah, flowers are amazing.
00:35:55
Speaker
Anything growing and thriving is amazing but as soon as them flowers begin to wilt, that's the time to take them out the house and put them in the compost and part of my eco warrior essence does struggle with feng shui in terms of it's asking you not to have anything that's chipped or broken or you want to fix if you do want to fix you should really take it out of the house or fix it straight away but even holy clothes you know jeans with holes scruffy stuff you've got to get rid of it you can't keep hold of it because it all affects the the chi i mean i do get it it's like dressing like you want to feel dressing like a goddess every day to make he yourself feel like a goddess
00:36:44
Speaker
And everybody needs scruffs don't they for like gardening and DIY and stuff. I guess you wouldn't wear them just because. But sometimes you just want to wear your slouchy pants and Netflix and chill all day. I think that's all right myself.
00:36:57
Speaker
Just don't do it all the time. I just think, I don't know, it's quite wasteful, you know, getting rid of stuff just because there's a teeny weeny chip in it. But then I guess it's kind of like glamour magic. You're going to be using stuff and dressing yourself in clothes that are beautiful and...
00:37:15
Speaker
Perfect. And that's signaling to the universe and this chi energy of the vibes you're trying to attract.
Symbolism in Feng Shui Elements
00:37:24
Speaker
So again, that's quite sort glamour magic-y, but very wasteful. And I have got rid of a lot of stuff, but there is the odd comfy jumper that I just love that's got a big old armpit hole that I'm still trying to let go of.
00:37:39
Speaker
There's something about even the art and the visualization you hang in your house. Feng Shui asks us to really think about arts and photographs, why we like them, do they bring us joy.
00:37:52
Speaker
It also discourages pictures of still water because that is associated with stagnant energy, you know, like a calm lake. It's very beautiful and relaxing and good for meditation.
00:38:05
Speaker
But in terms of... Qi energy, you want moving water, you want to hear it flowing, you want to visualize it moving. Even though i read apparently the sea isn't good because the sea is so vast and it's too much water energy that will affect the the important balance.
00:38:25
Speaker
So I must admit, I have purchased a little water fountain from the old Tinterwebs and waiting on it to come in. And it is a gold, kind of like a ship. It looks like a ship and it's got the lily pads and the water.
00:38:40
Speaker
goes from one lip pad to the other one and i'm hoping this is gonna help me move the energy around my house because it's moving water it's gold which is also really good in this and also a boat apparently is really good because the boat is transport which moves you you see out where i'm going with this when you really think about it and notice the little hidden meanings of stuff it is witchcraft it is Bloody hell though, this old school book is suggesting you get like koi carp and a turtle for success.
00:39:13
Speaker
Not because you enjoy the pets, but because it's good feng shui. That is such dated advice, okay? I'm not going to go out there and get a turtle just for this.
00:39:24
Speaker
I do have fish though and fish is also really good. Aquariums are really good if you're into that. I have a little aquarium in the shape of a crystal ball and who knew that is really good feng shui and is helping me in the family room move the energies around with the beautiful little fishes.
00:39:43
Speaker
Also aren't koi carp like seriously expensive like collector's fish? No, I will stick to effigies that represents the feng shui energies, which leads me nicely on to the next thing that I did, which was get a three-legged toad, which is so gorgeous looking. I really like it.
00:40:09
Speaker
And I got it from Vinterd. It's secondhand it's really beautiful. And you put a little coin in its mouth, you know, the little coins with the square hole in the middle, which is a feng shui thing. So I get this frog through the door and I was a bit like, I need to name this frog.
00:40:25
Speaker
And I put it on my Instagram. I don't know if you saw. And I had Bob and I had Liam and I had, what was it now? Clover, Jake, all kinds of silly stuff. But...
00:40:38
Speaker
The queen of naming everything, which is Shannon Pearl, who's becoming a bit of a bestie in Swalesland. She came up with the name for the frog and I'm just going to tell you right, it's amazing.
00:40:51
Speaker
Drumroll, please.
00:40:58
Speaker
Roderick Bazaar. Oh my god, love it. I absolutely love it. It's such a good name and it suits him. And I do honestly feel it'll work so much better now that he's got a name, he's being christened. So thank you, Shannon. That is pretty marvellous.
00:41:16
Speaker
In China, the frogs are regarded very lucky animals to find around the yard. The Chinese believe that if the whole family of frogs are living in your backyard, you will be protected from any dangers or bad luck which might come your way.
00:41:31
Speaker
The three-legged frog, however, is supposed to be extremely auspicious and is easy to find in good fortune, dolls and Chinese supermarkets.
00:41:42
Speaker
The three-legged frog or toad is deciphered having three coins in its mouth to signify the bringing of gold into to your home. But you've be careful because this symbolism can also mean taking gold out of the house.
00:41:59
Speaker
So it's very important where you place the frog. It needs to be near the front door facing inwards, not outwards, inwards. because it's asking the money to come through your door into your house. If you place it, part in the door, which I actually did in the beginning, in the hallway on the left hand side of the corridor near this witchy room where I'm recording right now.
00:42:23
Speaker
We're only there for an evening and I figured it out really quick. It needed actually to have its back towards the front door to bring good fortune into our house. You never put the frog in the kitchen or any of the bathrooms near the toilet, which is pretty obvious to me, as it can turn the frog angry.
00:42:44
Speaker
I just find that really cool. And that feels like a witchy thing too. Like there's there's a deity, there's a god, there's a symbol, there's a statue, which I have all of my altar. It represents something and it means something and it's treated with respect.
00:42:56
Speaker
Totally the same, a man. It's also not a good idea to put them in the bedrooms. They are best placed in either the living room or the dining areas, but mostly near the entrance of your home.
00:43:10
Speaker
It's even better to have two identical frogs two identical most things in feng shui I realise it asks you to have two identical pots either side of your front door because again it's that symbolising balance to the universe to the energies you want to get yin and yang perfect and so stuff in twos is really beneficial in your house but let's be honest we can't go around just buying two of everything can we because that is not what it's about
00:43:42
Speaker
And also there's the clutter thing we've got to cover yet. So if you do happen to have two of something, try mirror them and see what happens. It's such a basic thing. Get two of the same, mirror it and should change your chi just a little bit.
00:43:58
Speaker
I do want to say, though, it's got to be more than just buying a frog and putting it in your house. But I think as a witch, as you're listening to this and you're a witch, you already know the gravity and the weight of worshipping a deity, worshipping a symbol in that format.
00:44:15
Speaker
You know, because we do it all the time in The Goddess and the God, and we have statues of moon gazing hares, hickety and all that. So I do believe if if you have respect for the three-legged frog or toad, it will work for you.
00:44:28
Speaker
oh And especially in the bedroom, having pairs of stuff in the bedroom is massively good, especially if you're looking for a partner or if you're in a relationship that needs a bit of work.
00:44:39
Speaker
Try putting a pair of something in your room. For me personally, so I've taken pictures of my relatives out of my bedroom and replaced it with a really nice picture of me and my husband.
00:44:54
Speaker
And also this sweet little ornament he bought me, which is like two little lovebirds on a twig looking each other. And a pair of hearts shaped crystals as well. So I've put all them in.
00:45:07
Speaker
And if you are looking to attract a partner, live as if they're already in your house. Sounds a bit weird, but it kind of goes on par with manifesting as well, do you know, like sleeping on the side of the bed, having room for a partner, having a gap in your wardrobe for your partner's clothes when they arrive. Having a pair of identical lamps on either side of your bed is also fantastic.
00:45:32
Speaker
it does remind me of manifesting, you know, making room in your life, giving stuff away to create space for that thing to come in. Trying to think of all the new things I've started doing this past couple of weeks and it isn't so much moving furniture around. I'm
Practical Feng Shui Techniques
00:45:46
Speaker
limited on that because my house is a very strange house and it has tons of windows, loads of doors and not much solid wall space. It's really hard to move furniture around but I'm focusing on the front door especially because we have a porch and it was full of plants and a little bit dirty so I'll give it a deep clean.
00:46:07
Speaker
I washed all the windows, oh my god, window washing is massive isn in Feng Shui to encourage that little energy to come in. One of my new favourite things as well is coming back from the school run, opening all the windows and the doors, the front door and the back door,
00:46:24
Speaker
standing there like a pillock and going like you know really dramatically with my hands in the air going like welcome good energies welcome good chai come flow into my house that really does feel like a witch move i swear i do that every morning now it's becoming an actual thing And I just really like it. I like the feel of the wind going past my head as I'm stood there.
00:46:48
Speaker
And I like how it breezes through the house. And I think it's good in terms of just hygiene. Like it's really beneficial. And because the back door is associated with energy leaving and the back door and the front door don't mirror each other, which is helpful, especially considering I've got a deadly hallway.
00:47:07
Speaker
i just love it. i love it all. It makes so much sense to me deep down. I really do know this. Oh yeah, and also there's a broom. oh my gosh, there's a broom by the door in Feng Shui.
00:47:21
Speaker
So much similar to how we do it, which bristles up during the night to keep the bad energy out. bristles down during the day to welcome the good energies in how amazing is that witchcraft right there oh my god i suppose it's easy in the summer though isn't it to have all your doors and windows open it's so easy in the winter ah might not be quite as fanatic about it but i'm still going to try and do it because i do really think this is the biggest movement in my house is letting the wind blow through it every morning
00:47:57
Speaker
When you look into it, there's just so much you can do about your power positions and where you put your head when you go to sleep. we're lucky enough to have a big wooden bed with a big headboard. And apparently that's amazing for feng shui because it helps the turtle on your back, you know, to feel secure.
00:48:17
Speaker
And it's good to have your head against the wall and the window to your right, I think it is. And they do ask you not to have door facing your feet in some feng shui. But again, you can't move a door, can you? How you going do that?
00:48:32
Speaker
One of the books mentioned you shouldn't have deities in your bedroom as well because you do certain things in your bedroom with your lover and it's offensive. And I was a bit like, oh my gosh, I kind of wish hadn't read that because my little altar in my bedroom is just so important to me.
00:48:50
Speaker
so I'm going to have to cover it up or something at night.
00:48:55
Speaker
Not always, but sometimes. If the moment should take us. I also found a fantastic excuse in the form of feng shui to order a lovely new tourmaline for my newly cleaned porch to help the bad energies stay away, suck them all up, I think. Does tourmaline suck up the bad energies or repel them?
00:49:19
Speaker
I feel like it sucks them up and maybe the other one repels them, you know, the um it obsidian. I don't know why I feel like this. This is a witchy thing perhaps. But yeah, any excuse for a new crystal, I have bought a lovely big one from Canny Crystals.
00:49:35
Speaker
And yeah, it's very nice. Sat on my windowsill. Crystals as well, obviously massive in feng shui. They talk about the quartz's rose quartz.
00:49:48
Speaker
to encourage the loving energy and all that jazz, I might have to stop because I'm babbling like mad and I don't want to overface you. feel like I could talk about this for quite a long time. It really has enlightened my soul and I'm enjoying it so much.
00:50:03
Speaker
But I need to put a decent amount on the clutter. Oh my God, which the clutter in my house is a massive issue. And the reason I got into Feng Shui, because it's just getting to a point now where it is really affecting my memory and it's destroying parts of my life. If I'm really brutally honest, people ask me for stuff, friends ask me for stuff, emails, I forget.
00:50:29
Speaker
really important stuff names you know of people I've just met it all just oh it's really bad at the moment and you know I've got two kids they are messy the living room where we spend most of our time is an absolute bombsite and it overfaces me often I struggle with it so much it is having a knock-on effect with my mental health It helps that I've got this witchy room, which I'm trying to not overstuff with witchy things and books are especially a problem in my life, which I've said before.
00:51:03
Speaker
Having stuff in its place just really helps and the energy comes through and can move around all right. When you've got clutter around, it's almost like...
00:51:14
Speaker
the energy snags on the clutter, you know, like when you walk around and the dog grabs your sleeve and it makes you mad. In my mind, that's what clutter does in your house.
00:51:25
Speaker
Like it snags the energy and stops it flowing where it should flow. I can't just get rid of stuff because it's not my stuff. I have been selling a lot on Vinted to try and get shut. I've been giving stuff away.
00:51:38
Speaker
I've been binning stuff that I've had for years and just isn't worthy of giving away. That kind of stuff, you've got to give yourself acknowledgement and permission to let it go. Like, especially when people buy you stuff.
00:51:50
Speaker
And it's lovely stuff, but it's not you. I've i've always been that person to hold on to it, but it's almost giving it a disservice to to the item, you know, because it's being bought and it's not being loved, even though it was bought with love. So it seems, in my mind...
00:52:06
Speaker
it's a good thing to give it to somebody who perhaps will love it and will maybe buy it and be like, oh my God, that is so me. And if you can't get rid of stuff, put it in a box, put it in your garage or your loft.
00:52:17
Speaker
If you hadn't thought about it for a year, time to get shut. Oh my God, it sounds so easy. It does sound easy. It's not easy. It's not. but I'm hoping doing all this feng shui will encourage me to let go of more.
00:52:33
Speaker
I always think of that line from Fight Club where Brad Pitt goes, the stuff you own ends up owning you at the beginning. I think about that quote all the time and it is the most truest quote.
00:52:49
Speaker
Who knew that Tyler Durden were just like on point with his feng shui?
00:52:57
Speaker
Even on my laptop, my dodgy, blinky laptop, I used to have rolling pictures of you know like landscapes, like the desert and a beautiful lake and photography that weren't mine that used to just change every time I switched it on.
00:53:14
Speaker
And this isn't great for Feng Shui because especially deserts, deserts come from a place of hardship and a place of drought. And then you've got the still water again with not much fluid movement, stagnant energies.
00:53:29
Speaker
And so I read that it was ideal to change your background wallpaper on your computer to something you want to achieve in business. So I've put a logo of the Bell Witch podcast basically in the middle with lovely orange background because orange a colour associated with success and abundance and them two things worked quite well together so I thought oh yeah I'll change it and stop the the old Desert landscape going on.
00:54:01
Speaker
See if that makes a difference. Oh yeah, and on the topic of photographs, having photographs of your family or anybody really in the kitchen, especially on the fridge, is considered quite negative.
00:54:16
Speaker
Feng Shui because you put in coldness of that relationship from your fridge onto the people in the pictures, which is bananas. I mean, my fridge is covered in picture magnets of my kids and my family and my my friends and fun times and silly times. I actually quite love that they're there.
00:54:37
Speaker
But recently, the way the window is opposite the fridge It's bleaching the pictures on the fridge. And I did think maybe a month ago I should probably take those down because the light is wrecking the pictures on the fridge.
00:54:52
Speaker
And then I read this book and it suggests having no pictures of people as magnets on your fridge. Don't you just think that's uncanny? That is the universe giving little hints and tips if you're open to it and you see what it's trying to say to you.
00:55:06
Speaker
It's bloody witchcraft, a twitter I swear it is. In Feng Shui, your oven and your microwave is what's known as mouth of chi, meaning a place where the energy flows from.
00:55:20
Speaker
So to make the most of this incoming flow of the fresh energy, it's best to have them facing the family's breadwinner's direction.
00:55:31
Speaker
But since most ovens are built in and tricky to move, you can always reposition the microwave to face the direction as an easy alternative. And I guess they give out a lot of energy, don't they, in terms of heat, fire, electricity, vibrations and all that.
00:55:49
Speaker
So it does make sense not to have them facing each other. That does feel like really bad energies combining because one is hot, especially with the fridge, like the fridge is cooling, the oven is heating. So I guess it's like a bad mix of energy.
00:56:05
Speaker
energies islands apparently are an issue i don't really understand that myself anything with corners is an issue throughout these books i've been reading it's just such a big deal to feng shui to have round furniture a round dining table is amazing Absolutely amazing for feng shui. And they are quite rare. I mean, i we have one, but it's from my husband's childhood. We're very lucky to have it.
00:56:30
Speaker
It's a proper old banger type table, but I like it a lot more now that I know round is better feng shui. And when I look at our life, we do have a nice dining ritual of sitting round the table and facing each other. There's no corners.
00:56:47
Speaker
And we don't really argue over dinner. Maybe that's why, because we've got a round table. And also the breadwinner sits in the power position where they can see the doors, both doors, the entrance to the dining room and also the back door. And I think that has something to do with it as well. I just think when you really look into it and you look around your house and you notice little patterns, you can see the little bit of influence they have on your daily
Conclusion and Audience Engagement
00:57:14
Speaker
living.
00:57:14
Speaker
But ultimately, shui is beneficial in practicality. It's asking you to be neat and organise, asking you to look at your stuff and decide whether you want it or not. If you use it, do your cabinets out, do your kitchen cupboards out.
00:57:30
Speaker
look at stuff that's out of date and bin it it's all those really practical little rituals that help your aura help your energies to flow help the child to come in and also help you just be the best human you can be i suppose it's probably not the most calm energy in yourself because there's a little bit of order to your life so maybe it is just a practical thing but i feel like there's so much more to it and it makes complete sense to me it really does Anyway, I'm going to leave you there because I feel like i bombarded you.
00:58:04
Speaker
I've had so much fun talking about Feng Shui and I will keep you updated if things start to happen for me. It's early days yet. I've only been doing this a couple of weeks maybe and...
00:58:16
Speaker
The big stuff I've done and now I'm just like fine tuning the little stuff. But the biggest change is opening the door every morning, doors and windows and putting the toilet seats down and closing the bathroom doors. Them two, I feel are quite big achievements for a house with kids.
00:58:35
Speaker
I put little post-it notes all over the bathroom saying lid down, flush and a little smiley face to try and get into the habit of doing this.
00:58:46
Speaker
So do let me know if if I've inspired you to get on the Feng Shui bus too. It'd be great to hear what you've been up to. And join the Discord and let's have a conversation about it because there's just so much to know. It's really deep. This is very brief overview. that's just There's just so much more to it.
00:59:02
Speaker
There's loads of really cool specialists out there. One being Marie Diamond and Kimberly Gallagher, who's really lovely and always replies to DMs and stuff, which is just so good.
00:59:14
Speaker
I love her.
00:59:19
Speaker
You have been listening to the Bell Witch Podcast. Created with love and magic by me, Swales, the friendly green witch. I love to hear from you and I absolutely love, love, love, love to celebrate you.
00:59:34
Speaker
you have a podcast or a business, a witchy business, a pagan related topic you love to talk about, you can reach me on thebellwitchpodcast at yahoo.com.
00:59:46
Speaker
dot com Send me a trailer and I will absolutely play it because there is magic in sharing audiences amongst podcasts. Music by Jeff Harvey of Pixabay.
00:59:58
Speaker
The official Bell Witch photographer is the lovely Beverly Thornton. Thank you so much for choosing the Bell Witch podcast to fill your ears. Stay magical, witches!