Feng Shui by Honey Lim

In my Auckland Logo posting, I mentioned that Sailing ships were an excellent symbol of prosperity.  To be more accurate, I should say, that merchant ships are excellent symbols of prosperity. Merchant ships represent trade and enterprise, and trade is vital part of bringing prosperity and economic success to a nation.  

Historically, ports would welcome merchant ships bringing cargo because it meant food, supplies, luxury goods and discovery of new territory. Today, even though cargo ships don’t look nearly as glamourous as older types, they’re still vital in fueling import and export. The Chinese have used this symbolism to bring prosperity into their homes - and have done this traditionally by displaying the Chinese Junk. You don’t have to use a Chinese Junk if you’re not into the look - as long as you follow a few basic feng shui symbolism rules, it has the same meaning.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on choosing the right ship, and using them the right feng shui way:

a) Choose the right type of ship

Firstly, it’s very important to pick the right type of ship. Remember it has to be a merchant ship (e.g. Chinese Junk, Cutty Sark) and not warships or pirate ships, which have guns and canons on them. If you happen to own a model ship with canons, you can disarm the ship by removing its canons. Sailing ships for races aren’t really the right type also because they do not carry cargo.  Ships used for trawling or fishing are OK - but they don’t look that great as ornaments. I found some ships you can buy from amazon (see below):

b) Fill your ship with cargo

Your ship can’t bring you luck if it’s empty! Fill it up with cargo. Suggestions include:

• Money, gold coins, gold bars (real or fake), ingots, etc
• Jewellery, loose gemstones, crystals, semi-precious stones, faux diamonds, pearls

The more expensive the cargo, the more powerful the symbolism is. So if you can afford to put real gemstones instead of fake ones, it’s a good idea to do so. I always say in my workshops, start with affordable options, and when you get wealthier, upgrade to more expensive and sophisticated options. If you are very rich, get gold-plated ships and fill with real goldbars!

c) Position it correctly

This is the finest tip of all. Ships should not be placed in a way where it looks like it is sailing out of your door or window. It should face inwards, bringing cargo into the house. In fact, it is even more powerful if it is positioned to sail from any of your four best directions (use the Kua Formula to find out your good direction). For example, if your Sheng Chi (wealth direction) is Southwest, position it so that it appears to sail from the southwest direction. Use a compass to get this right.

You can also create a harbour of ships, by clustering a few ships together. One thing I’ve done is to place a group of merchant ships, sailing towards my family photo. This symbolises income coming to all my family members.  If you have more than 1 ship sailing towards your family, then it represents income from many sources.