This post is part of the #MYRITUAL2015 event!
My good friend Amy Won of TreeSpace Studio has invited me to participate in her “Rituals” event. I love rituals, particularly traditional rituals that have depth, meaning and story to them. For Amy’s exploration into ritual, I have decided to share two of the most currently relevant. Watch out for the second one coming out a in a few weeks.
As some of you may know, Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year (also known as Spring Festival) falls on Thursday, February 18th this year. To celebrate the Lunar New Year, my BTB feng shui teachers have transmitted to me several meaningful rituals. I’m so pleased to share a simple, yet powerful new year ritual called “Changing the Qi of the Home.”
When:
This ritual is best performed ON Chinese New Year's day, but may also be performed within 9 days. The best time to perform this ritual is between the hours of 11am and 1pm, which are considered the most “yang” hours of the day. Yang energy is super bright, full of life, and powerful like the sun at high noon.
What you need:
9 fresh oranges – Oranges and orange peels produce a happy bright citrus scent that is very “yang” and has the power to clear out any negativity and transform it into brilliant and life-affirming energy.
Steps:
- Open all of the windows and doors that open to the outside for a minimum of 15 minutes. Allow fresh air to move throughout the entire home.
- While the windows are open, wash each orange. Carefully cut 9 round pieces of orange peel from each orange. You should have 81 pieces total. The orange peel pieces can be roughly the size of a quarter. Place these in a beautiful clean bowl that you love.
- Close the windows and doors.
- With your bowl of orange peels, walk to your front door.
- As you move around the perimeter of each room in your home in a clockwise fashion, carefully and thoughtful squeeze a piece or orange peel. Smell the scent and then drop the peel. The clockwise circumambulation creates a tightening of the energy in the space and makes it sacred.
- When you end up back at the front door, set your intention that you are filling your home with bright white light and contentment for the new year ahead of you.
- This is a wonderful and strong ritual that I suggest all of you do! It can be done throughout the year, but it is especially powerful at the Lunar New Year.
Gong Hey Fatt Choy!
Chinese astrology always recommends carrying a three-dimensional horse charm during the year of the sheep, no matter what your animal. You can get yours at the Holistic Spaces store as a keychain or bracelet!
For more information on feng shui and Chinese New Year, visit www.holisticspaces.com.
About Anjie Cho:
Best selling author of "108 Ways to Create Holistic Spaces: Feng Shui and Green Design for Healing and Organic Homes" and Architect for clients such as Satya Jewelry, Anjie Cho is a sought-after expert in the fields of feng shui and green living. Anjie Cho is a registered architect and certified feng shui consultant. A graduate in Architecture from the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley, she has been creating beautiful and nourishing environments since 1999.
Visit her blog at www.holisticspaces.com
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