Ellen Whitehurst's DAILY FENG SHUI TIPS FOR APRIL 2010

Again, more wisdom from Ellen to share….

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DAILY FENG SHUI TIPS FOR APRIL 2010, Part 1 (April 1 to April 15th)

Ellen Whitehurst

04/01/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  So here we are on this the first day of April often called or referred to as ‘April Fool’s Day’ or even ‘All Fool’s Day,’ a time that encourages pranks and jokes and a generally genial and playful attitude.  Some might say that this day actually supports silliness but did you know that the English word ‘silly’ actually stems from the German word ‘selig,’ which translates to the word ‘holy?’  So, then, that implies that now there’s an underlying suggestion or hint that there’s an inherent wisdom contained within that considered to be foolishness or even a spirit of holiness attached to being just plain silly.  When you think about it that way then it certainly makes sense to recall how foolish or silly certain Christian saints or Sufi dervishes or even major Shakespearean characters can seem within their hard to understand mystical moments or their maligned expressions or their whirring and whirling persuasions; a sacred presence of sorts that can’t be apprehended by the intellect or by the rational mind.  Were/are they fools then really?  Or just ‘silly’ people we couldn’t really understand?  You might want to mediate on these thoughts today as you throw the rational to the wind.  Or you can just make some windy noises by putting a whoppee cushion on the bosses chair and be content to make the rest of the office giggle galore.  The choice is up to you but either way you go, remember to tell the red-faced farty boss that I said that what you did was really something very profound and holy.  And that, my friend, is really no foolin’!          Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/02/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  Gather round ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ and call Alice, the Cat and that Mad Hatter too to come and celebrate ‘International Children’s Book Day’ with you!  See if Christopher Robin, Eeyore and Pooh are available too to bring some swell reading for me and to you!  We’ll eat some green eggs and munch on some ham and depend on Hermione, Ron Weasley and Harry for mystical, magical Alakazaam!  Because a life-long and life-altering habit of reading can best be inculcated as well as nurtured at a very early age, it’s critically important to recognize the vital energies of this special day.  It’s never too early, in fact, to begin to share the wonders of the world of the imagination as well as the one of the written word with those wee ones we love so very, very much.  Even as early as in utero, the fetus still gains benefit, blessing and boon from hearing words and thoughts put to paper and pen.  If you have a young, school-aged student living at home, be sure to take some of those same tomes and place them in the ‘Knowledge / Self-Cultivation’ area of the room that they sleep in (see www.ellenwhitehurst.com and click on the Bagua link to locate that space) and then you can be sure that the words ‘book knowledge’ will take on an far more important and positive results oriented meaning than YOU might ever have imagined!  Good grades.  Good reading habits.  Good times.  Some might even say, ‘It was the best or times…”          Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/03/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  Even though I know that we’re barely outside the atmosphere associated with nonsensical  ‘April Fool’s Day,’ I’m not horsing around when I say that today’s energies, the ones ascribed to ‘Pony Express Day,’ can be powerful, pertinent and super successfully productive too!  In fact, today’s energetic occupation allows me to share what Feng Shui has to say regards the power affillyated (oh puhleeze, I HAD to) with the equine. If you are looking to increase your popularity and/or your opportunities or to fan the flames of recognition and fame, then you better pony up and buy a small statue or even an image of a horse.  Place this piece somewhere in the ‘Fame’ area of your home and/or office (see www.ellenwhitehurst.com to locate this space.)  In this Feng Shui philosophy, the horse represents courage and speed and symbolizes endurance, loyalty and beauty.  So, then, if you feel like you’ve been taking a back seat in your career and have been sitting around waiting for one of the higher ups to saddle up and take some special notice of you, well, it’s time to pull yourself up by the boot strap and activate the energies associated with the horse.  Using this adjustment or cure promises to bring a wealth of recognition and rewards on just about every conceivable level.  Place your horse and then place your bets that soon you’ll be strutting your stuff around your own personal winner’s circle.  Don’t worry about whether a horseshoe necklace made of roses is a good look for you, it’s good luck we’re after.  And with this cure you get it right out of the gate!          Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/04/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  Amen and Allelujah, today is ‘Easter Sunday,’ a time according to the Christian calendar that celebrates the resurrection of the special soul known as Jesus the Christ.  In fact, rebirth and resurrection are but two of the energies infiltrating these early spring days with their sabbats that acknowledge and honor all life, now burgeoning with fresh and new growth.  And, as with this Easter holiday and so many others celebrated at this time of year, the presence of eggs are sometimes considered absolutely instrumental.  On a psychic, subconscious as well as a universally symbolic level, eggs represent both fertility and new life.  As such it is incumbent upon me, as a voice and messenger of the field of Feng Shui, to share a tremendously powerful adjustment and cure that uses the incredible edible egg to turn your luck around.  According to one of my treasured teachers, Grandmaster Lin Yun, this cure is called ‘Red Egg Rebirth’ and is and does exactly that; it offers rebirth.  This ritual expels bad fortunes and sick Chi and replaces them with good luck and positive energies.  All sadness says ‘so long’ while life can now begin anew.  On any day when you are alone go out and buy a carton of eggs.  Don’t let anyone see or touch them.  And, then, on any day between the hours of 11 to 1, again while completely and totally alone, boil the eggs.  Be sure to repeat the “Om Mani Padme Hung’ while watching this pot boil.  Next, in the palm of your hand, mix one teaspoon of a red spice with drops of dark rum that equal your age plus one.  Mix this with your middle finger and then roll one of the hard boiled eggs in the palm of your hand.  Put the egg on a WHITE napkin and rub both palms together until they are dry and some sort of red color.  While you are doing this you are also visualizing all negative energies, bad luck and stinky Chi leaving you.  ONLY the strong ( and good!) survives.  Now take the egg outside and crack it lightly before carefully peeling off the shell.  Be sure to keep all the shell inside a paper bag or in the white napkin.  See the egg as being higher than the height of the table you’re working on before also envisioning the shell as being an old snake skin that is now being shed.  As it sheds so goes your bad luck as well.  Now, imagine a whole new shell forming around you are you return to the Divine being you were first born to be.  According to this philosophy, at this point you are indeed reborn.  Go ahead and part of the yolk and then eat a part of the white and, if you want, you can eat the whole egg.  If not, then throw the rest of the egg off into the four cardinal directions visualizing that this meal now feeds any remaining malevolent and hungry energies still hanging around.  You can crush the shells now and throw them in these same four different directions.  Careful not to step on any of the shells as you now dance into your new life!  Christ rose from the dead, the Phoenix rose from the ashes and now you rise from hardship and worry to find a fabulous future awaits.  Happy Easter indeed!            Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/05/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  In some cultures and traditions today is known as ‘Bright Monday’ or even  ‘Renewal Monday,’ or, as in parts of Poland and even in some places in the United States, today is referred to as something called ‘Dyngus Day.’  Essentially it’s Easter Monday or, obviously, the day immediately following Easter Sunday.  Events taking place on this day often include egg rolling competitions (as we’ll see happening on the White House lawn) while other rites and rituals include dousing other people and/or their homes with holy water or some/anhy form of water that’s been blessed.  This holy water is believed to bless the house, the people who live inside it and even to bless the food soon to share a table with as well as nourish and nurture the occupants of the space. On this day you’ll be right in line with these energies if you fill any natural container with fresh/spring/distilled water and pieces of fresh orange peel. Take this citrus water out of doors and hold it up to the sun and to the sky.  Hold it there for a few seconds visualizing fresh and healthy energies entering the water, imbuing it with beautiful, brilliant and, yes, blessed vibes.  Now, entering the house from the front door, walk the perimeter of the main floor in a clockwise direction, flicking this water all around your space.  Flick it down to on the carpet and up to the ceiling and sideways on the walls as you continue making your way clockwise around the main space.  Don’t forget the corners as you clear and cleanse!  As you do this, understand that you are blessing your home with an ages-old but entirely effective chaos cleanser while washing old and unhealthy energies away and opening the way for fresh new ones to arrive.  Once back at the front door if you still have any of the orange water left take it to the kitchen sink and pour it down the drain.  Exactly where your worries will all now go as well!  DIRTY Dyngus Magee, my eye!  This day your whole space will be clean as a whistle while calling in some super duper fortune and luck!          Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/06/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  You know, when we were kids and any of us had a fight with the other (there were four fightin’ Irish kids in my family!) my parents would literally FORCE us to apologize to each other.  And, if we refused , then they would put the offenders at the kitchen table together for however long it took for one (or however many were involved in the transgression) to say that we were sorry.  Sometimes it didn’t matter how long we were stuck at that table, all we’d do is stick our tongues out at each other (or, as we got older, use more, ahem, defining gestures) but it would be a cold day in you know where before we’d say “sorry.”  So, my mother, genius that she was (and also needing the kitchen table back) came up with this solution:  she told us that we didn’t actually have to literally apologize as long as we said “sorry Charlie” while sitting at that table.  As we’ve grown older and are now adults, and even though my parents have since long passed, we still say “sorry Charlie” to one another if we think that we’ve hurt each other’s feelings.  So, when I saw that today was called ‘Sorry Charlie’ day, I immediately thought of another time I used this same excuse for an apology.  Once upon a decade or so ago I was sitting in seminar with one of my master teachers and he was telling of a way to enlist the Universe to help anyone find forgiveness.  I labeled the top of my notes for this cure the ‘Sorry Charlie Cure!’  And it goes like this:  if you are having troubles with someone but either you or they can’t seem to work up an apology then take and write their name in green ink on a piece of white paper.  Fold that paper in quarters and place it inside a glass jar that has a lid.  Cover the paper with honey (yes, honey..the sticky and sweet kind!) and then tightly seal the jar shut.  On top of the lid place a small white candle and, then, every day for nine days straight, light the candle.  You don’t need to watch the candle burn all the way down but you do need to create an intention of peace between you and whoever’s name is written on that paper.  On the ninth day allow the candle to burn out completely before taking that jar and either burying it or putting it in a brown paper bag and throwing it in a garbage that is outside your living space.  Forgiveness is one of the most important gifts we can give someone else.  And is almost the most important one we can give ourselves.  Try this cure.  It’s saaaweeet!     Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/07/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  I was so torn between which energy to celebrate today?  There’s the one that says that today is called the ‘National Day of Hope’ and then there’s the one that pegs today as ‘World Health Day.’  And, then, I thought about how the two actually can play off as well as play into one another.  After all, when one of us spends time, energy and intention into making ourselves as healthy as we can be, we then aid the ripple effect that carries that same energy out into the big wide world.  And, well, what’s more HOPE-full than that?  Seriously, what’s more hopeful than performing some proactive cure or adjustment for our own spaces with the HOPE or intention that by doing so we are helping to heal the world?  So, today, let’s each one of us recognize that the center or middle of the main floor of our living spaces represents the area where HEALTH of every aspect (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) is located and then let’s do something special to trigger or activate, well, healthy energies there.  Place a vase of fresh cut flowers in the center of your space this day and then remember the ripple effect!  Hopes for a healthy world will now bloom and grow right inside your own sacred space.  I’m so truly honored to know you!  Thanks for that!         Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/08/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  It’s ‘Buddha Day’ today!  And, well, no matter your religious persuasion or spiritual affiliation, there is a cure in Feng Shui that uses an image of the Buddha in order to bring Health, Happiness and whole lot of Prosperity (The Three Great Blessings in Feng Shui!) right to your door.  This cure says that you can position a small statue of the Buddha anywhere immediately inside the front door and face it so that it’s looking at the door itself, ostensibly welcoming all the visitors (including opportunity!) to your home.  This same adjustment codicils that the Buddha statue should be faced on a slant or should be placed catty-corner to the front door.  We have a beautiful Buddha statue that sits on a console table in the foyer of my own home.  We keep money under him (to bring more of same into the house) and rub his big belly for luck whenever we think of it.  He’s become a member of our family.  And we’re not Buddhist.  One last too: there is a caution in Feng Shui when using statues of deities and icons is concerned and it says that these representatives or symbols of sacred energies must never be placed directly on the floor but should always be positioned some place that is considered ‘higher up.’  I think we can see the implication there eh?  Either way, have a Buddha bless your home and watch as those blessings translate into actual rewarding experiences!     Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/09/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  There are some days when I love writing these tips so much that I actually cry because I feel so honored and so humbled.  THIS is one of those days.  See, when my son was born he was, well, the best way I can say it is, he was unhappy to be here on this planet.  He cried and cried.  Constantly.  He was born four weeks early at 8 pounds, 11 ounces but after three weeks of my trying to breast feed him and him dropping to a small 4 and a half pounds inside that same timeframe, it was time.  Yes, it was time for me to get more aggressive about finding out what was bothering him. I was told, time after different pediatrician time, that he was ‘colicky.’  He wasn’t “just” colicky and I wasn’t jsut “crazy.”  Oh yes, I had doctor after doctor tell me that I had post-partum depression and that my son was “merely” experiencing colic and that this would all end by the time he was nine months old.  I am convinced, and remain so to this day, that I had I not found the pediatric group I ended up with, that my son would not have survived those first few months.  It turned out that he had as bad a case of acid reflux that those docs had ever seen in a newborn and, upon doing some invasive x-rays and tests, we also found out that he had second degree burns and blisters all up and down his little throat from all the acid refluxing.  No wonder he couldn’t eat.  Well, eventually that food factor was successfully addressed and as most of you know he’s a healthy teenager who also manages to be the light of my life.  But, I can say that one of the techniques that helped all of us pull through those early days was a form of baby massage that I used on him.  And, since today is ‘Baby Massage Day,’ you just know that I’m going to share right?  Three drops of lavender essential oil mixed with three drops of chamomile essential oil and then both blended into ten tablespoons of grapeseed oil.  Massage this calming, relaxing, immune system boosting oil on the bottom of baby’s feet while he is laying tummy down on your lap.  Or you can do same with baby on the flat floor.  Now, here’s the secret Ayurvedic key; massage the bottom of baby’s feet from heel to toe as opposed to other way around.  Just stroke the oil UP the bottom of the feet to elicit the relaxation response this healing ritual promises.  I swear by this massage.  And, well, knowing how much I swear, that’s saying more than you can ever, ever know!   Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/10/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  ‘Brothers and Sisters,’ it ain’t just a Sunday night show on ABC!  In fact it’s the energy heralded and celebrated today, ‘National Sibling Day’!  If you have been reading these tips for any amount of time you already know that both of my brothers and my sister, Susan, mean the absolute world to me.  They are my family but they are also my very best friends.  However, thinking back to days gone by, I can certainly recall times when blood wasn’t thicker than water, but did, in fact, flow freely after one of our family free for alls.  Yes, back in the day, there were times where rivalry ruled and the four of us would go at it with each other like we were competing for a WWF belt.  Right before my father would threaten the four of us heathens with his appropriately threatening leather one.  It was my mother, however, who was always the voice of reason during those testy times, which makes sense since most of the time we were all only vying for her undivided attention anyway.  I find it somewhat funny and even more ironic now though that even though my son is an only child, whenever his very close friends come to call, they seem to inevitably start some tussle that brings me back to the future, since I, too, usually have to break them up.. But calm can only occurs after one of them breaks out a sob story aimed at garnering my sympathy, and, yes, my full attention too.  And all but one of them doesn’t even belong to me!  Sibling rivalry is as old as Cain and Abel and can bring anxiety into anyone’s Garden of Eden. Feng Shui says that you can take some action steps to prevent or even annihilate the energies associated with this single state simply by placing a smooth and rounded crystal under the beds of all the kids who routinely sleep at home. One crystal per child should be placed on the floor at the foot of the bed on the same side of the bed the child sleeps on.  Leave this “cure” in place for at least 27 days or even as long as the kids find their own sweet dreams under your roof.  Look, it might not make everyday a holiday but it certainly will go a long way towards making sibling relationships more loving while also kicking ribald rivalries in the, um, buttocks….yeah, that’s what I meant to say, buttocks!  At least rivalry  will, for a while anyone, be the only thing getting kicked around!  And so it is!      Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/11/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  Legend has it that the month of April was actually named after the Roman Goddess of Love known as Aprilis.  Still other lore maintain that this month was actually named after Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty.  No matter what, or, really, whom, it’s obvious that love is in the air as April unfolds.  Now,  if you have a raging case of spring fever and want to get someone else all hot and bothered as well why not take a page out of both of those loving Goddess’s books and bring the heat, specifically with a couple of candles.  See, in ancient Roman AND in ancient Greece, it was standard operating procedure to light a fire in order to try and garner the attention and, hence, the big blessings of the gods.  And the goddesses too.   Who are we to argue then with some standard attention getting procedures that have stood the test of time? Go ahead and bring the heat by taking two pink candles and putting them in white ceramic candleholders.  Of course, you can always substitute cut glass or crystal in their place as well.  Next, position these flaming love attractors in the ‘Relationship and Romance’ area of your bedroom and remember to light them once a day for at least 27 consecutive days.  The pink candles do not need to burn all the way down to the core once lit, but, they do need for the wick to actually engage the wax for a minute or two before being blown away.  The same thing you will be when you see how quickly this cure calls in a hot new love!  This Feng Shui gold standard promises to light a path for the perfect partner to follow.  All other roads might lead to Rome, or even to Greece, but this one my friends leads directly to your bedroom!  Owww!         Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/12/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  Well, if there were ever fit for the energies blowing all around Feng Shui, it would the ones surrounding today, ‘Big Wind Day.’  See, the words ‘Feng’ and ‘Shui’ themselves mean ‘wind’ and ‘water’ with the wind part of that equation representing equal parts actual breezy and blowing wind, the kind that gusts outside while also representing the one you breathe in, the sacred breath.  Years and years ago, when Feng Shui was considered a topographical science, the overriding landscape related concern for primitive man was locating the source of his wind and then discerning whether or not he could live in balance and harmony on the land with the prevailing winds around him.  Think tornado and you get what I mean.  However, years and years later, the concern has turned to the wind as representative of our breath, that which animates us and that which gives us life itself.  And that’s where we’re going to stay today.  So, the next time you feel as if the wind has been knocked out of your own personal sails stop and try this restorative and revivifying breathing technique:  Stand with your two feet planted firmly on the floor about hip’s width apart.  Now slowly inhale, breathing in a big breath of golden light that first fills your belly and then travels out to illuminate the rest of the inside of your body.  See your entire interior filled with bright light.  Then, open your mouth, relax the back of your throat and exhale saying a loud “ahhhhhhh.”  And, well, um, I couldn’t have said it better myself.  Ahhhhhhhhmen!        Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/13/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  Have you ever wondered why author Frank L. Baum had Dorothy and the gang trying to find heart, brains and courage in a city made of emeralds?  Well, you’re not alone.  I used to think about that all the time.  Why not Diamond City?  Or Ruby Junction?  Why did he choose to have his heroine and her trio of trepidatious cohorts looking so laboriously for the elusive Emerald City?  Then, one day as I was looking up the properties of this green gemstone associated with April, I found the answer.  See, it’s believed that this precious gem brings intuition, illumination, enlightenment, foresight and wisdom to whoever has one in their possession.  Like, say, oh, maybe a Wizard hiding behind a certain curtain maybe?  In fact and apparently there is a traditional saying that says: “He who possesses it (an emerald, of course) shall enjoy the special protections of God.”  Even the color itself symbolizes the mystical forces of life and growth, healing and wholeness.  And Nature.   Of the Mothering kind.  Emeralds also represent fidelity and goodness and are known to not only strengthen the physical body but to soothe the sometimes savage emotional one as well.  Said to be most akin to spring and one of the symbolic gemstones of this season, emerald is most definitely closely identified and associated with April!  So, then, if you are looking for flexibility of attitude, a healthy state of body and mind and a nice little complement to your shiny ruby slippers, there’s no jewel like emerald, there’s no jewel like emerald.  Now, if only you could find one right in your own backyard!   Daily Feng Shui Tips

04/14/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  As soon as I saw that today was called ‘Ex Spouse Day,’ I immediately thought of reaching out to the guru of all things “ex’ as well as my own ‘ex’ Editor In Chief at Redbook magazine, Stacy Morrison. See, I thought of Stacy because she is also the author of the divorce bible, ‘Falling Apart in One Piece: One Optimist’s Journey Through the Hell of Divorce.’  Sure said a mouthful there eh?  And here’s what else Stacy had to share about bringing about balance and peace with the ‘ex’:  “Harness the power of silence. When dealing with an ex-spouse, it’s so tempting and tantalizing to find ways to remind them that they’re wrong: to huff at their every inconvenient request, to flaunt your hotness (you are a catch and boy oh boy are they missing out), to criticize their parenting, to pick over their actions and words and always be on the lookout for ways to cut them down and make them feel small.  But don’t. It’s a small game with small rewards. And it will, ultimately, make you a person who thinks small thoughts and claims small victories as all you need in life. You want BIG victories! You are a BIG person, with a big life waiting for you (or maybe you’re already living it. And if you are, all the more reason to pass small, empty victories by).  So whatever digs may be thrown you way, whatever longing you may still have to make them Wrong (with a capital W!) while making you Right, whatever disagreements you face in your ex life, just go inside yourself and… Breathe. And be quiet. And be strong. And be the you who belongs to you.”  And now a few words about breathing big from me: while you’re breathing all that bigness in, don’t forget to recognize and then invite your big Spirit in side as well.  You can do that simply by breathing in through the nose, all the way down into your belly and, then, in the EX-hale hit your heart hard.  As soon as you hit your heart, EX-claim the sound ‘HA’ out loud.  This will shake up and then shake off any negativity stuck to this same ‘ex’ agenda while allowing you to move more easily into the big life that Stacy and I both believe belongs to you!  Breathe deeply.  Hit the heart hard.  Then release and shout “HA!”  Sounds just about right to me!        Daily Feng Shui Tips
   

04/15/2010      Daily Feng Shui Tips  Okay, so, it might be Tax Day and you might need to know just how to find some spare coin in order to pay the man, and, well, you can do that by coming to www.ellenwhitehurst.com and getting that exact advice.  But, for me, for today, there’s another type of release happening!  No, not the one where the government relieves you of your hard earned cashola, but, rather the long awaited release of some secret tips on how to be the best mother ever!  See, one of my favorite friends in the whole wide world, as well as a gracious and great radio colleague, Lisa Wexler, is releasing her first book today co-authored with her mom, Gloria and her sister (Real Housewife of New York City) Jill Zarin.  The book is called, appropriately enough, ‘Secrets Of A Jewish Mother’ and so in honor of that event and as not to tax you any further, I thought I’d share some brand new mothering secrets (non-denominational) that have to do with breastfeeding as well.  No, no, not the government sucking you dry this time, but, rather, your wee one doing same.  See, the ancient Hebrew writings of the Talmud strongly suggest that any woman who is beginning to nurse her baby should start on the left side, as this is, (again according to the Talmud,) the ‘side of all understanding.’  Further supporting this notion are the findings from Psychologist Salk who found that almost all mothers instinctually start feeding their babies on the left side.  The speculation than follows that perhaps holding a baby on the left side frees up the child’s left ear to listen to the mother’s voice thereby suspecting that those same sounds go to right side of baby’s brain; the side that engenders tender emotions and easy tones.  Other advice suggests that beginning breastfeeding on the left allows itty bitty to feast while listening to the melodies made by mom’s heart!  Letting little one march to the beat of his own drummer pretty early on!  So, whether it’s right to start on the left might remain a secret of any good (Jewish?) mother, but, it sure sounds swell enoughl to me.  And, hey, it can’t hurt right?  Nope, no crying over this spilt milk!  You can save those tears for the taxman when he cometh! For today, to the left, to the left might just be the right way to feed this baby, the one who calls you ‘Mother.’           Daily Feng Shui Tips

More to come in a day or so….but did you know that Ellen has a shop on her website?