It's not easy being green

By Compiled by MIKE WILSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 14, 2000

From a letter to the editor in the August issue of Feng Shui for Modern Living, published in London and distributed worldwide. According to the magazine, the purpose of feng shui is "to live in harmony with your environment so that the energy surrounding you works for you rather than against you." To have good feng shui, one's ch'i, or invisible energy, must be allowed to flow freely.

-- Mike Wilson, Floridian editor

I am relatively new to the delights of feng shui, and while I find it fascinating and your magazine interesting, like all newcomers I become confused at times. I recently purchased Lillian Too's book Easy to Use Feng Shui, in which it states that the three-legged frog should be placed as if it has just come into the house, facing inwards, and never facing out. Yet, in a mailing list from the Feng Shui Store (advertised in your magazine), it states the three-legged toad should be placed facing towards the door. I would be interested to know which is correct!

Also, being born in 1945, my kua number is five and on the Inauspicious Elements Table . . . it states that for my bedroom, having green would be bad. I have pale green striped wallpaper on one wall, green curtains, and green lamp shades. This sounds like a disaster -- should I redecorate in, say, peach?

Rosemary Young, Durham UK

The magazine's editor replies:

The facing direction of the three-legged toad is a matter of current controversy. I prefer the theory that he must face the door to greet incoming wealth ch'i. I don't think that your jua number indicates that green is bad for you, although all that green sounds a bit unbalanced.

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