Q&A Sunday: LED Bulbs vs. Full-Spectrum Bulbs

In terms of BTB feng shui, what is the opinion of LED bulbs? Do they emit EMFs? I thought full-spectrum bulbs were better.

Rita, on How to Buy New Light Bulbs Without Guessing

Hi Rita, 

Thanks for your question! Feng shui doesn't really take this sort of detail into consideration, and in my work with BTB feng shui, we haven't touched on light bulbs much. In general, I believe this would be more of a Bau Biologie question. 

However, we did do some research in attempt to help, and this is what we found!

First, the term "full-spectrum" seems to actually refer to the type of light a bulb puts off, ranging from infrared to near-ultraviolet, and there are available full-spectrum options in CFL, LED and incandescent. It is worth noting that, like with greenwashing, there are bulbs that specify "full-spectrum" that actually do not include the entire spectrum and aren't much different from an average bulb. 

That said, there does seem to be evidence that LED bulbs give off more EMFs than incandescent, in the form of "dirty electricity." Most research and writing confirms that LED bulbs do emit a certain type of EMF, known as dirty electricity, which is caused by products that transform the type of electricity flowing through wires into other types (from AC to DC) in order to provide lower voltage and use less energy. 

If this is a concern for you, you can try halogen incandescent bulbs, which are clean, or look for high-quality, high-efficiency LED bulbs that do not use a transformer, as they are safer than traditional LED bulbs with regards to EMFs. 

In any case, I would definitely recommend researching further into available lightbulbs and Bau Biologie for more information! 

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!

Q&A Sunday: Chinese Astrology for Tigers

I'm excited to have stumbled upon you via Pinterest. I found a link for your podcast, started listening, and it really fed my interest in feng shui and Chinese astrology. I'm moving into a new apartment next month and am soaking up all the knowledge and expertise you offer...thank you!! I have a small question related to astrology. I'm looking for a strong resource for a 2016 Tiger astrology reading. I'm confused about my career and the next steps to take and would love some clarity! Do you have any suggestions on this? Thank you so much!

Jennifer S., Madison, WI

Hi Jennifer, 

Congratulations on the move, and thank you so much for following the podcast and blog! I'm happy to hear you're finding them helpful. :) I hope you get settled well into your new apartment! Be sure to check out our tips for that too!

I can tell you some basics about the Tiger in a Monkey (2016) year. In the Chinese Zodiac system, there’s a wheel that shows the relationships between different animals. I’ve included an image above. You can see that Tiger and Monkey are actually diagonal from each other which indicates an opposing relationship. Now, this doesn’t mean it’s “bad,” but it does indicate a challenging year for you. Similarly, Horse and Rat are opposites, Dog and Dragon and so forth.

What does a challenging year mean? Well, you may need to face the qualities of the Monkey which are not as easy or natural for you. And challenges give you an opportunity to grow and stretch, right? Monkeys are playful and clever, they can maneuver through most situations. On the other hand, Tigers are more humble and grounded. So it’s possible that a Tiger in a Monkey year will feel a bit ungrounded and learn to be a bit more premeditative about how they move forward.

You can also carry a charm with you that is a three-dimensional representation of the year animal’s best friend. In the Monkey year, this would be the Snake, and you can find one in the Holistic Spaces store! The idea in Chinese Astrology is that when you carry a charm of the year animal's best friend, the year animal will see that image of its friend and be so enamored that it brings you no harm. So you can see why carrying one brings protection and good luck!

In my podcast with Doris Ingber, Welcome 2016 Chinese New Year with the Fire Monkey, she goes into her forecast for the Tiger in 2016, and we also chat about the Four Pillars, Chinese astrology that uses the zodiac animals. In the Four Pillars, you have an hour, day, month and year animal. So there is much more to learn! I’m not sure about any accurate online sources for the Four Pillars, but I highly recommend seeking out a practitioner for a Four Pillars reading. Doris Ingber is great. I also can recommend another good friend, Beth Grace, who also has a monthly newsletter with more info. They would both be great at giving you guidance on your career path. And of course feng shui always helps! Keep an eye out for an upcoming blog post about how to clarify your career path with feng shui! Thanks for the idea! :)

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday" (formerly “Question of the Month”).  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers.  Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!

Q&A Sunday: Laying a Bagua with Multiple Outside Doors

Thank you for your Holistic Spaces podcast. I’m enjoying it very much. I have a bungalow built in 1919 in South Minneapolis with multiple doorways entering the space. Here is my question: using the floor plan provided, how would you lay the bagua on my home?

Alida, Minneapolis, MN

Door #1: From the sidewalk, a walkway leads up to the deck. If you enter through the steps and deck railings, you are facing east and the front windows.

Door #2: On the deck, you have to turn to face north to actually enter the house. This is the door with a deadbolt.

Once inside that room, you’re in a 3-season porch. Half the year it’s my “sun room” and half the year it’s an unheated “mud room.”

Door #3: To enter the main house, you turn to face east again and walk through another door to enter the living room. I believe this is the original door to the house and that the sunroom was added later. (It has an uncharacteristically large closet and lots of outlets!)

Door #4: a sliding glass door from the kitchen to a back deck.

There is a roof over the porch. I’m attaching a photo of the house and the front door from the yard.

Door #2 leads from the porch into the main house. The porch does not have heating ducts, so it feels separate from the main house. #2 faces the street, albeit through the porch.

 

Hi Alida!

Thanks for all this. All the doors can be (understandably) confusing as to how to layout the bagua. People get stumped by this type of situation frequently. First of all, the qi of the home looks very lush. There is a sense of seclusion. Doors represent the mouth of the inhabitants, therefore the main door is called the “Mouth of Qi.” The mouth of qi determines how qi enters your home. 

Door #2 is indeed the main door, or what we call in feng shui, the Yang door. It’s what the official front door is. So you would lay the bagua as shown here where half of your home is outside the bagua.

Door #1 is a yin door. It’s not really a door, but it is a portal. 

Door #3 is another yin door. I understand you were probably hoping #3 was the yang door.

Door #4 is a back door and can be a yin door if you use this frequently to enter the home (maybe the garage is back there).

In regards to a yin door, you can place a secondary bagua using doors 1 & 2, to glean more insight on your situation.

A practitioner may be able to assist you in how to effectively use the yin bagua layouts to support you further. For instance if you do a bagua adjustment, you can do it on your yang layout, a yin layout, and on your bedroom layout.

With a space that has multiple doors, laying a bagua can be confusing, but it can always be done! My first recommendation of course, for accuracy, is to enlist the help of a feng shui professional. If you would like to make adjustments on your own, I would recommend using the bagua I've laid here or laying the bagua on separate rooms of your home. 

Please do reach out if you decide to lay the bagua on your own and have additional questions!

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday" (formerly “Question of the Month”).  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers.  Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!