Believing in luck is believing that life is a series of opportunities that aren’t necessarily there for the reasons you think they are… like if you missed a flight and messed up an important schedule, on one hand you might say it was bad luck, but maybe it happened for another reason. Perhaps missing the plane was good for you; perhaps on the next flight you might encounter someone who changes your life for the better.
Believing in luck frees you from worrying about things you cannot control, and opens your mind to vast cosmic forces we cannot always understand immediately…
PLANT A LOTUS IMPROVE YOUR LIFE
Autumn is the time of the Lotus in many parts of China and Japan. This is the season when across the two countries, in mountain lakes and domestic urns, across ponds and rice fields, in parks and country side, the massive buds of the lotus flower bloom in profusion, often at sunrise like dawn’s awakening to instantly remind us that in nature, perfection, beauty and purity can arise even from muddy waters.
In Japan, viewing lotuses in full bloom during the months of Fall has become a popular pastime. Across China, it is an increasingly popular spectator activity as families go to parks and public gardens where ponds of lotus blooms remind everyone of this sacred flower.
The lotus is the world’s most famous flower strongly associated with good feng shui. Its presence brings out the softer virtues of mankind, creating an ambience of harmony and gentle good energies in homes that display and plant it; so it should not come as a surprise to know that Lillian Too’s garden boasts two plants of Nelumbo Nucifera to give the lotus its botanical name. One in pink and another in white.
“Lotus plants are easy to grow,” she tells FSW. “All that is needed is a medium-sized urn or tub filled two-thirds with soil, one third with water. Better yet is to let the lotus sit inside a small shallow fish pond.”
“It is just as easy to encourage the lotus to bloom – just feed the plant with a suitable fertilizer and it will happily send you the most exquisite blooms. I use fertilizer for water plants that come from Thailand – they are the best!”
DELICIOUS LOTUS
The lotus is also a source of some delicious foodstuffs. From its seeds to its roots, served as snacks or desserts, soups or mixed vegetables, the lotus is popular across Asia. As it stands for long life and purity, it is definitely good feng shui to eat it and to plant it.
FENG SHUI LOTUS
It is an excellent idea to hang a painting of a lotus in the living area of the home; but never the bedroom. The lotus signifies water, an element not recommended inside a bedroom. But when hung prominently in the living areas of the home, the lotus brings great resilience to the family so that despite hard times in one’s life, the family with the lotus presence is always able to thrive. Engendering feelings of firmness and determination, it helps families stay resilient during the down times of their lives.
SACRED LOTUS
The lotus is also a sacred flower providing Hinduism and Buddhism with a powerful symbol of purity. Buddhist deities for instance are almost always described as sitting on the lotus seat; and Hindu Goddesses are often depicted holding the stem of a lotus flower. The lotus thus has proliferated in some of the greatest religious artworks of all time.
GO FOR A WALK CHANGE YOUR LUCK
The next time you get hit by the blues because everything is going wrong in your life, go for a walk. When nothing is going right for you, symbolically shrug your shoulders and take a walk. Do so with the intention of snapping out of your negative state of mind.
INDEED AS SHAKESPEARE ONCE VOICED IN ONE OF HIS CLASSICAL BEST SELLERS, “BATTLES COME NOT IN ONES AND TWOS, BUT IN BATTALIONS.”
Yes, this is also what happens when you get hit by bad feng shui and worse, bad luck often comes with merely the change of day, month or year. There is a time dimension to your periods of good luck and bad luck and Master Practitioners these days all know that updating one’s feng shui and being acutely aware of changes in chi condition are vital to ensure a continuous flow of good vibrations.
Lesser known are the Taoist rituals which the ancient Masters recommend for transforming bad luck, and for putting an end to a series of negative events or outcomes; i.e. to stop a losing streak, put a break on losses and change an ongoing flow of bad news. The ritual for changing bad luck into good or neutral luck has to do with a very popular pastime with many Taoist masters – it is simply to go for a walk.
Choose a bright clear day, with few clouds. Wear comfortable shoes, take a stick with you (and a dog if you so wish) and start out between the hours of 7 am to 9 am. This is the Hour of the Dragon and going on a feng shui walk means you are “walking the dragon”.
Choose undulating terrain to walk as it benefits to go uphill as a start and then downhill later. This signifies your victory over difficult times so a slight gradient is preferred. Good to walk for two hours and during that time, try to turn a corner. Do this at least three times; each time consciously making yourself aware of the fact that you have “turned the corner of your bad luck”.
Turning the corner three times is said to ensure that your troubles will come to an end, and that the worst is over for you. So when walking, always make sure you turn the corner. This is what Lillian Too does every morning. She says, “This ensures that the end result of whatever bad luck may have hit me yesterday is now completely and totally behind me.”
Turning corners on your morning walk symbolically suggest that new opportunities are just round the corner, and doing this three times is a mental guarantee that times are sure to improve.
The Taoists also believe that should bad times be really severe, then it is beneficial to perform the “crossing the bridge ritual”. This is a powerful way of overturning reversals of fortune. Find a bridge whose size (and the river it spans) is comparable to what you consider is the size of your problem. Then resolutely walk across the bridge without looking back. Sprinkle rice and flowers to make offerings to the “local protector guardians” at the bridge as you cross. It is an extremely good idea to get these localized spirits on your side. They can make life comfortable and safe for you at such little cost!
Hopefully you have arranged for someone to pick you up and drive home without looking back. Try not to use the same bridge to return home. This is a powerful ritual effective for regaining whatever you may have lost in terms of position, power, good name and income.
OLD WIVES TALE BEING LUCKY ALL YOUR LIFE
There is an old Hindu belief which says that if your date of birth can be added up and then divided by the number 9 (the most complete number, which also spells future prosperity luck) then by golly, you will be lucky throughout your life!
An example: If your date of birth is 18th June 1956, these numbers add up to 45. This number can be divided by 9 to give 5, so five times 9 is 45, and 4+5 also equals 9. So all your life you will be lucky and the number 9 also brings you personal great good fortune.
PERFECT NUMBER THIRD TIME LUCKY
Is the number 3 a good luck charm in itself? As in third time lucky after two earlier unsuccessful tries. Truism and wishful thinking rolled into one. Numbers 7 and 9 have deep mystical significance, but the number 3 is highly regarded in many cultural systems as having mysterious magical powers. Surely why so many lucky rituals in so many cultures must be repeated three times.
Protective mantras are chanted three times. Spells and incantations are repeated three times. Gamblers walk three times round their chair in an anti-clockwise direction to break a losing streak. The Chinese believe the third day of a new moon is a lucky day! And 6th century Greek mathematician Pythagoras regarded three as the perfect number. Following that the triangle with three sides and three points is the most stable of all forms and is regarded as a very powerful magic symbol that can repel the power of the devil! In fact, two triangles inverted to form the six pointed star has always been a powerful symbol! Remember the Da Vinci code?
It is unlucky to walk under a ladder because doing so means you are breaking the sacred triangle of the ladder and wall. Christians revere three as the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the moon which symbolizes so many things esoteric has three phases, the waxing, waning and full moon, each a associated with a plethora of luck meanings.
There is the trinity of life, the beginning, the middle and the end; and the family unit comprise the father, the mother and the child; the human body has the mind, body and spirit; there’s past present and future. Then there’s the three cheers. Is there something then about the number 3? However, in flying star interpretation, the number 3 is regarded as a quarrelsome number that can create havoc!
POCKETFUL OF LUCKY MONEY
Here are bits and pieces of good fortune beliefs to make your day…
Did you know that…
- If you put a mark on Dollar Note, Then Spend It And It Ever Comes Back To You, it means that You Are Sure To Get Very, Very Rich!
- If a coin minted in a leap year comes to you, it is said to bring luck in financial matters, so it should always be kept as a lucky charm.
- If you come across money you put away and then forgot, it means someone will bring you an amazing opportunity which will bring you lots of money!
- You should never go out without some money in your pocket. In fact if you have clothes with pockets (as all men do, as they always have pockets in their pants) then always have at least a coin inside, as this is seed money that attracts money. The coin will cause your money luck to grow!
- It is excellent good luck and an Omen Of Prosperity to keep money that is given to you by a rich man or woman, especially when it is taken from his/her pocket or wallet. Keep this money as good luck seed money! In fact, money from a wealthy person’s pocket given to you spontaneously is the best omen possible… it means your financial situation is going to change dramatically!
