Feng Shui Numerology

Feng Shui Numerology

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese philosophy that concerns our spiritual connections to the material world. It discusses the interaction between us and objects, describing the ways in which energy (chi) flows between us and physical objects, such as our homes. It defines methods and techniques of evoking specific types of spiritual energy in interior design. Homes or interior or exterior spaces designed with Feng Shui can be tuned to evoke certain spiritual characteristics, e.g. through the use of color, minimalism, positioning, etc. 

Feng Shui has become a bit of an interior design buzzword and is now frequently used in the West to describe harmonious designs for the home, garden and other buildings. Indeed, Feng Shui has always applied primarily to the construction of buildings and is still used today to guide the designs of spiritually significant buildings in China and across Asia. 

The Connection Between Feng Shui and Numerology

Feng Shui uses a grid called the Lo Shu Square. This is a square where each column and row always adds up to 15. Each number here corresponds to a certain element. The Long Shu Square is a symbol of mathematical harmony and equality, the number 5, the definitive Earth element, forms a centre point around which the other numbers are orientated. These also have their harmonies and contrasts, e.g. 1 is the opposite of 9, as the Water and Fire elements. 

4 – Wood	9 – Fire	2 – Earth
3 – Wood	5 – Earth	7 – Metal
8 – Earth	1 – Water	6 – Metal

This has a connection with the Feng Shui Bagua Map. Both the numbers and colors correspond. 

Wealth/Prosperity	Reputation/Fame	Marriage/Relationships
Family/Beginnings	Health	Children/Joy/Future
Knowledge/Reflection	Career/Journey	Travel/Friends

The full breakdown of numbers and their meanings is as so: 

Number 1 – Kan Area of the Bagua Map – Water

Water is both moving and still, it instills intuition, flow, and dynamism. Water actually correlates to the color black, reflecting upon its depth. Black is a sophisticated and strong color that mirrors the qualities of water more than you might consider at first. It relates to careers and aspirations. 

Number 2 – Kun Area of the Bagua Map – Yin Earth

This Earth elemental number correlates with a pinkish hue. It symbolizes femininity, nurture, self-esteem, and courage. Pink and skin tones are nourishing, sensitive, and uplifting. It relates to partnerships and relationships including marriage.

Number 3 – Zhen Area of the Bagua Map – Yang Wood

3 is associated with the green Wood element. It signifies construction and projects. Green, as the color of floral and pastoral nature trees, has a strong association with rejuvenation but also with origins. It relates to family.

Number 4 – Xun Area of the Bagua Map – Yin Wood

Symbolized by the color purple, this area of the Bagua Map represents abundance, prosperity and stability. Purple has long been associated with wealth, dating back thousands of years to the Roman Empire where purple was the color of regality. It relates to wealth. 

Number 5 – Tai Qi Area of the Bagua Map – Earth

Number 5  is the center of the Bagua map and represents health and vitality. This would be the center of a home or building designed with Feng Shui. It signifies balance, unity, and stability. Yellow is the color symbolized by this area – it represents a warm glowing interior, light, and the glow of the Sun. 

Number 6 – Qian Area of the Bagua Map – Yang Metal

As a metal element, 6 is strong and represents leadership and fortitude. It relates to the people in our lives whom we support and who support us. It also represents travel and our generosity or philanthropic urges/humanism. It is symbolized by a soft grey tone. 

Number 7 – Dui Area of the Bagua Map – Yin Metal

Symbolized by the color white, this area of the Bagua map represents serenity, purity and innocence. It relates to children and solving puzzles. It is supposed to be the most relaxing area of the Bagua Map. 

Number 8 – Gen Area of the Bagua Map – Yang Earth

Relating to internal thought processes and knowledge, this area relates to thinking. Symbolized by the color blue, this Earth element is serene and meditative. It represents a quiet and reflective corner of individualism. 

Number 9 – Li Area of the Bagua Map – Fire 

As the fire element and symbolized by the color red, this top section of the Bagua Map symbolizes influence and ambition. It represents drive and passion, as well as fame. This element is positioned the exact opposite of the water element to which it both relates and contrasts. 

Using Feng Shui Numerology

Feng Shui numerology also takes another form. In Chinese, numbers are also viewed with their relation to homophonic words. The most prolific example here is the number 4.

Whilst the number 4 has its relation to the Xun area of the Bagua Map, symbolizing wealth, in Cantonese, it sounds remarkably similar to the word for ‘death’!

As a result, 4 is generally omitted from house numbers, elevator buttons, etc. You will often find elevators marking 4 as 3A, so 14 is 13A, 24 is 23A, etc. 4 is essentially strongly linked to death in Chinese culture. However, that is not to say the number has its own spiritual meaning in other contexts. 4 is indeed also held as a sacred number amongst Chinese folklore, but it’s homophonic similarity to ‘death’ makes it rather unlucky in popular modern Chinese culture. 

Other homophones are 1, which is pronounced very similarly to ‘honor’, also meaning ‘winning’. It is considered a lucky number. 8 is another number with high symbolic value, sounding similar to ‘prosperity’. In casinos, the number 8 is found everywhere in China. 

In Feng Shui, e.g. when dealing with the number 4 inside a house, a Feng Shui master may device to ‘cure’ it by drawing a red line around the number in order to contain its unlucky symbolisms. 

Feng Shui and Your Home or Business

Feng Shui here is primarily useful when you choose useful numbers that you might use. For example, you may want to choose a house with a Feng Shui number. In the case of a double, triple, or even quad digit number, you can reduce it down to a single figure. 

For example, 1305 would be transformed into 1 + 3 + 0 + 5 = 9. 

In the case of a double digit answer: 8 + 2 + 4 = 14 

1 + 4 = 5

A number 9 here might hint that you should endorse and encourage the fire element and color red within your home. On the other hand, it might hint that this is lacking from your home.

Number 8, as mentioned, is strongly representative of prosperity and businesses will often select 8s in China because of this, e.g. in the business name or logo. 

Feng Shui and Balance

Feng Shui numerology is primarily about balance. The Bagua Map helps bring balance to the home, as it should contain relatively equal amounts of these elements. These should be balanced around a central earthly core. 

This extends to both color theory and numerology. You might associate numbers in your numerology chart with the elements of the Bagua Chart to try and work out what elements you are stronger or weaker in. Working on creating spaces for these elements at home using Feng Shui can aid you with a Karmic Lesson or Karmic debt.