Well, I'm back from Alaska, and boy did we have a good time. If you have not been to see Alaska's "wonder's of the world"-class glaciers, you've got to put it on your must-do list. Believe it or not, the photo of the glacier here actually has a big boat in it. It is a tiny spec in the water to give you an idea of the scale of that glacier! It was truly a unique and special experience (as was seeing the whales and bears, gold panning, lumber-jack and Jill cheering, touring and shopping!) The seminar attendees all agreed this venue was the perfect combination of feng shui training and vacation fun, so we're going to look into putting more of these together. We're going to look into cruises with different partners and different topics as well as another real estate one with Holly. If you have any ideas for training partners, do let me know!

We've received more than enough response to our certification training idea so we are going ahead with the planning of it. As soon as costs are finalized, we will be taking tuition deposits via our web site, so look for it in the upcoming newsletters.

I hear this is a favorite newsletter addition for many, so keep sending in your success stories to share and I'll keep posting them!

Success Story 1.

My Realtor became curious about Feng Shui when I started looking for houses with her. I brought my colored gua that I purchased from Karen to check the layout of each house I saw. Long story short, I purchased Karen's book for her on Amazon and had it sent to her office for her birthday this past month. Last week, she e-mailed me and told me about a situation where her daughter's apartment was raising the rent and she can't afford to have her daughter move nor is there any safe housing on campus. I told her about the silver box and helpful people corner. She e-mailed me not more than two days later saying she did what I said and put the management company's name in the box and her daughter's. The only box she had was a silver fortune cookie box!

Another realtor friend of hers told her he had some apartments available in a safe area near the college campus and the rent is near the same but not higher than the other apartment! What stunned her the most was that this prompted her to open the book and start reading only to find the tips with the little fortune cookie symbols on the pages! And her silver box was a fortune cookie! Coincidence? NOT!

We've added another believer to the power of Chi!

Debbie

Success Story 2.

Here are a couple small successes with feng shui since reading your book...

First, the back of my lot has a 2 car garage that makes up the prosperity/fame/relationship guas of the lot. There is a separate door for each car to enter. I thought that I hadn't opened the door on the right (in the relationship gua) for a while. So I went out and opened it up and swept around out there. (I have tables full of garage sale items in the garage.) The next day I got an email from a girl I hadn't spoken to in months. She said she missed me and wanted to get back in touch. We've been talking again and things are going well.

Secondly, I wanted to add a new cure to my prosperity gua of my house to see what would happen. So I went online and copied a picture of a fruit tree. I placed it on the stove which is also the prosperity gua of the first floor. The next day when I was in the garage dusting my garage sale items my neighbor came up and said, "here, my dad told me to give this to you for your garage sale." It was a small set of sugar bowls with fruit on them.

Those are just 2 of many. Thanks for the great book and site!

Michael

Success Story 3.

I am so happy to say the moment I placed my full purple and red piggy bank in my prosperity corner, my mom called to tell me a refund check that I was not expecting from my storage company arrived at her house! Yay!

Lynn

Question: Is there any feng shui meaning to an unusually high incidence of broken plumbing pipes in a short amount of time? I've got things breaking right and left in my home and I'm at my wits end trying to figure it all out.

Answer: Water running out of the pipe's control in a house can mimic emotions running out of control with the people (or even one person) living in the house, so I would start to investigate if anything particular has happened in someone's life that may have caused an emotional upheaval. The classic cause and effect situation for this is grief. If someone is grieving over a loss (can be a person, pet, job, marriage, friendship, etc.) it can trigger an energy that translates into "the house crying," or, the water element "out of it's banks."

Perhaps an enhancement in the family and friends gua (wood element, green, photos of family and friends, etc.) with intentions of creating emotional harmony within could be helpful. If that doesn't feel appropriate, perhaps an enhancement in the skills and knowledge gua with the intention of gaining insight as to how to harmonize your emotions and feelings may do the trick.When my father unexpectedly died, the pipes in my mother's house hammered and clanked violently for about two days. I remember asking my mom if this was normal (I live out of town and didn't know if this had been going on for a while or what) and everyone else in the family said "NO!" at the same time. Perhaps that's what happens when the plumbing is strong, but there is overwhelming grief and tears suddenly in a house. And in my mon's case, as oddly as it started, it went away on it's own. So I would do a little internal investigation on what feels like a loss and see if anything can be done to alleviate that mental or emotional condition. (If you are familiar with "tapping," or Emotional Release Techniques, that may be one way to help fears and other emotional upheaval.)

I have also seen many sudden leaks or pipe breaks as a type of "clean up" due to the introduction of a lot of feng shui intention for a revitalized and energized home. In this circumstance, the home literally breaks at the weakest links all at once. And as much as it appears to be a bad thing when it is happening, it is actually a good thing in the end because the house literally gives up its weaknesses all at once. And once they are fixed, it retains a much stronger hold on the good or vital chi that you have intended to hold for a much longer time.

So, if you have recently powered up your home with lots of good intentions or have found yourself in a grieving state of mind, your house may have had the need to "relieve itself."

Question 2: Ever since my son and I moved into a beautiful new "beach cottage" home, we've noticed that we've taken on a whole new attitude that I would call...well...lazy. What can we do to help us get in the groove of life? I'm a single mom, and need to be on the ball, and lately, I feel like we're both beginning to like living in our pajamas a little too much. :)

Answer: Now, without seeing the exact place you are living, what I would guess is happening is that you are a little too "over watered" for your own good or balance. Water element has many moods, and those moods can be mimicked in your attitude and your outlook on life. If you think about it, people who live "on the beach" have a stereotype of being more laid back, casual, and well, not as in a hurry as those that perhaps live a bit more inland.

If you've ever visited Key West or some other water-oriented destination you know what I mean. If you fly into the Keys, you'll notice the culture-shockingly slow pace that drives some people crazy for the first day or so after arrival. Then, they usually get in the groove, and eventually worry how they are going to take "the jolt" of getting back into "reality."

My suggestion is to introduce earth element into your surroundings until you start to feel more in balance. Earth controls the water, and could help you get your feet back on the ground so you can run instead of tread water. Earth element can be earth toned colors, earthen items like bricks, stones, pebbles, gravel, pottery, ceramics, tiles, and plain ol' dirt. Perhaps some plants in pots could be both good for the new cottage and your attitude! Often, people in beach bungalows decorate with shells and other "beach stuff" like ocean scenes and fish in the art, etc. If you've done that, I'd suggest backing off on it, as you are adding more water where you already have too much from the sound of things. And since water is a downward pulling elemental force, you may want to spark things "up" by adding a bit of fire element - that's reds or hot colors or triangular or pointy objects, candles or a fire pit in the sand...whatever...any bit of fire element can spark a lazy attitude into action.

Feng Shui Palace Product Specials is the link.

1. I am ever wise and true to my life purpose.

2. I easily maintain a feeling of serenity.

Most of my lecture work these days comes from private companies and venues that cannot be accessed by the public (thus the lack of events in my travel schedule.) If you know any meeting planners, destination management companies, or conference heads who are looking for a speaker to do a keynote, workshop, or breakout session, I'd love to be given the chance to forward my information. (It may just help get me to your town!) If you happen to have worked with any of these type of companies and can recommend them, or you yourself work or know of someone who works for this type of company, feel free to let me know by e-mailing me at karen@fengshuipalace.com

Thanks in advance!

September 8 and 11, 2006

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

I am available for consultations in the San Francisco Bay area. Please call (714) 508-9935 to inquire and set up a consultation time.

October 6, and 20, 2006

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

I am available for consultations in the San Francisco Bay area. Please call (714) 508-9935 to inquire and set up a consultation time.

October 16, 2006

San Diego, CA

I will be available for consultations in San Diego. Please call 714-508-9935 to inquire and set up a consultation time.

Cincinnati, Ohio/ Northern Kentucky

December 23rd and 26th,

I am available to be a Christmas gift or holiday present on these two days as I spend the holidays with family members in the Cincinnati area. If interested, please book your consultation time prior to December 1 by calling (714) 508-9935.

With intentions of being of service,

Karen

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