Mindful Design Feng Shui Q&A: Bathrooms and the Wealth Area
This was a question from a member of our Facebook group:
“Would you rent an apartment with a bathroom in the wealth area?”
- What is a wealth area?
- What does it mean when you have a bathroom in it?
- Can you correct it?
Let’s start with a simple explanation about what the “wealth area” means in feng shui. There are nine areas of the bagua, it is a three by three grid that you place over your home (you can also lay it over a lot, bedroom…) Each of those areas (called guas) is associated with a different part of your life, including wealth. The same rules apply for an apartment. whatever space that you are renting or leasing is what you can control and is part of your home’s bagua.
Having a toilet in your wealth area is not ideal. Water is equated with resources and energy, so flushing water down the drain symbolizes those resources leaving the house. This means there would be an energetic drain in your wealth area (gua), so you would have to address that.
Having said that, I wouldn’t discount the apartment entirely based on this one detail. There are always pros and cons, and you have to weigh the good and the bad. Do you love the apartment? Is it in a great neighborhood? Does it have a great overall energy?
In feng shui, you can always work with what you have. There are ways to mitigate the issue. If you decide to rent the place because it has so many other benefits, or maybe wealth is not an area of concern for you, it’s still a good idea to adjust it.
There are some fairly simple mundane adjustments you can do by using the five elements. You could add in the earth element (earth blocks water), or better yet, add in the wood element. The wealth gua is associated with wood, so you could strengthen and enhance that area by adding more wood. Adding a plant onto the toilet tank is a great cure because that plant ‘drinks’ the water which feeds the plant. Overall the plant will draw the energy upward and counteract the drain.
If you feel you need more, I would talk to a professional feng shui consultant. In Black Sect feng shui, we also use transcendental cures. At Mindful Design we only these are share one-on-one with clients, rather than in public forums. In addition to sharing these deeper transcendental cures, a professional can also prescribe a cure specific to your needs.
If hiring a consultant is a little bit out of your price range, we do have students at Mindful Design Feng Shui School who offer consultations at a reduced rate. We mentor and guide our students as they work with clients, and use these types of consultations as training opportunities.