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Defining the term "Bad Luck"?

      One of the favorite questions always asked by our feng shui clients is why they suffer from bad luck. When things do not follow the flow or the way the person wants it to be, it is always being described as "bad luck". But how far is it true about this bad luck definition.

First and foremost, we must understand the meaning of bad luck. For instance, a Singaporean feng shui practitioner once told us that he had experienced a spate of bad luck and did not get a good increment comparing to his working colleagues in one of his focal review a few years back. Moreover, he had feng shui'ed his home for over a year already at that time with no tangible gain. In deep frustration, he left his job and was out of job for two months. One day, he met an old buddy from his school days and this buddy of his offered him to help out as the general manager at his company. He happily took the offer and it brought him a lucrative income. A few months later, he came to know that his old company retrenched 80% of its staffs including his old colleagues who achieved their promotion during his resignation. He later realized that it was a blessing for him to have gotten a bad review previously that led him to obtain a much better career and in actual fact his luck was not so bad after all. If he had gotten himself a promotion, he would have had temporary happiness and may not have met his old friend to get a lucrative long term job till today.

The moral of the story above is that luck is something not so straight-forward. To some people, a smoothsailing year free from illnesses and debts can already be considered good luck, but others could think otherwise. The more demanding ones think that if a year is without breakthrough and big gains, it sometimes could be considered unfruitful. Therefore, the root cause of bad luck could be due to "expectation". If one has too high an expectation on something and not able to attain it, then they might think it is bad luck. In fact there are millions of people out there who always think their lives are unhappy, their dreams and desires are always not achieved. Therefore if one thinks he/she has bad luck due to expectation, they are not alone.

I guess the more important aspect we ought to consider about bad luck is whether it is "chronic" or "acute".

Lets first discuss about "chronic bad luck". Like it or not, everyone has cycles of good and bad times. In certain decades, some make it easy and big. In certain years some achieve more than the others. In certain seasons, months or even days some find themselves having better luck. Bottom line is that life is never a stagnant thing. Neither does our luck always go up and never come down. It is part of the luck cycle and Buddhist believe it is due to karma and "cause and effect". Which means, if something we had conducted in the past was wrong and had illfully impacted others, it will yield a similar bad impact on us to suffer some days later. On the other hand, fortune tellers will relate it to the "8 Characters" (Phat Chee/Ba zi) or what we call the heaven's luck. This takes into account ones personal element and how the elements of time dimension (which are the year, season, months and days) produce, control or destroy his or her personal element. If one think along that line, it does make sense also.

Therefore chronic bad luck could be due to a few reasons:
1. The karma of a person could have been very bad due to the past doings, either during the past life or their present life.

2. The "8 Characters" reading of a person showed its personal element going haywire. Actually, some people do relate to the "8 Characters" as one's heaven luck. And it is believed to be associated to the karma of a person also. Which means if ones karma was good, he or she will enjoy excellent "8 Characters".

3. The graveyard of our ancestors also play an important aspect in determining the luck of the descendants according to Classical Feng Shui Principles. This could have been something not mentioned widely but has become a fact to be considered. There have been many instances where descendants of unrestful souls suffered disasters after disasters. There have been examples of family members dying of cancer one after another, or dying of tragedy one after another. Until the feng shui of the graveyard is corrected or relocation or reburial is done, the bad omen could continue. More details would be shared about yin feng shui in the next article.

4. Staying in a house that has bad feng shui can lead to bad luck. This often is the case of prolonged chronic bad luck. If one finds their luck suddenly becomes very bad after they move into a new home, it is highly recommended that they move out as soon as possible. Another good case to bring up is the changing of feng shui cycles, for example from Period 7 to Period 8. We have seen numerous complaints from people that their luck cycle had changed since 2004 because they had continued to stay in certain types of Period 7 houses.

Next, we must also understand the causes of "acute bad luck". Acute bad luck refers to bad luck that comes in an adhoc manner, could be a short term effect, but if not overcome can become permanent. Which means if they are not being taken care of at initial stages, they could prolong to become "chronic bad luck":
1. Undoubtedly, annual chinese zodiac afflictions does play a role in affecting ones luck. For example in certain years, some zodiacs could be afflicted with backstabbing luck due to arrival of bad stars in their constellation. What you can do is to follow instructions for our zodiac recommendation.

2. Undesired annual flying stars or annual killing breathe (Grand Duke and 3-Killings) that arrive in important locations can also afflict someone with bad luck. For example, if the 5-Yellow arrive at the maindoor, it would bring bad luck to the family. What you can do is to follow instructions for our annual affliction remedies.

3. Another very obvious cause of bad luck is bad temper. It is believed that bad temper destructs good luck. People who lose their temper frequently, quarrel a lot and do a lot of scolding normally will lead a long period of bad luck. Next, badmouthing others could also reciprocate bad luck. Therefore, we have to be watchful of what we talk even though sometimes it could be unintentional. People who often badmouth others normally experience frequent bad luck.

4. Negative thinking could also lead to bad luck. People who are not positive in their thoughts tend to often sway away from the positive luck. That is why chinese emphasize so much on good thoughts by reflecting them in auspicious greetings, feng shui symbols, chinese calligraphy, art paintings etc. This has got to do with the power of subconscious thinking. Do you know that our right brain will register a script on what we think and is an obedient slave that will realize everything desired in it whether we like it or not. For example, if we are sceptical that something we buy will bring us good luck, then it definitely will not bring us good luck. That is why we always recommend our customers not to waste their time on feng shui if they are sceptical about it. But wait till they are mindful and ready before they practise feng shui.

5. When one has a nocturnal habit, their energy balance within their body tend to be out of equilibrium. Staying up for late nites can create "dark clouds" on ones forehead (crown chakra). It affects the radiance and glow on our face and makes us moody the next day. Therefore, it is best to sleep relatively early and wake up early to harvest good luck. Sleeping enough and taking enough rest for our bodies will stimulate good energy "chi" within ourselves.

6. Visiting "yin" places can also generate bad luck. Some people may not have the energy to go clubbing, enter casinos, visit hospitals, attend funerals and stay in buildings with surrounding environment that has bad feng shui. That is when the protective amulets play an important role. Even if we can feng shui our house to perfection, but we have to remember that external forces and the things we do outside will also impact our luck.

7. Bringing home certain objects with bad energy could also affect ones good luck. Some objects, for example raw stones taken home from the mountains, inauspicious paintings, antique items, reconditioned cars, chinese genuine coins dugged from the grave and used ornaments from the garage sale can probably trigger bad luck when they are brought home. The best remedy is that if we do not know the background and energy source of an item, try to avoid them. Therefore, be careful when getting those kinds of items. And this also is not exceptional on feng shui objects or enhancers. Remember that "dirty energy" can stick to them also depending on the source, and if they are not properly cleansed, these objects could bring harm as well. But we are not referring to some good energy objects that could trigger the ripening of karma. For example, some auspicious feng shui objects could actually trigger the ripening of certain bad karma and result in a bad event happening fast so that we can proceed with better luck ahead.

8. Unattended wear and tear in the home can also bring bad luck. Sometimes after some time, our basins, toilet bowls and drains could get clogged, thus causing problems related to disposal of bad energy "chi". The same goes for cobwebs on the ceilings. Accumulation of cobwebs creates obstacles in our endeavours especially if those cobwebs are directly above the bed. Our door knobs and locks of the maindoor when wearout can also bring unlimited loss of money to the occupants. Lastly, one may not know also that the fire and switches of the stove that are not working at tip top condition can bring bad effects to ones income and career.

After we understand what bad luck is all about and factors contributing to it, what is important is to know how to remedy and overcome it. There are a few things we could actually do immediately to arrest an acute bad luck problem. These technics can also bring us sufficient luck to be able to lead to the solutions for chronic problems. Remember one thing leads to another. If we start to gain some good luck, we will be able to see the actual cause of the bad luck. For example, those who are reading this article can claim they are starting to have good luck because now you start to be aware of it and able to address and prevent it.

The following quick secret recipe of our own will help one recover from a bad luck period, regain good luck and overcome if there is still any bad luck coming along the way. Anyone irrespective of religion can try the recipe because they are all not religion bounded:
1. Saltwater Bath - Salt is mother nature's most powerful antiseptic. Salt kills bacteria, germs, heals septic wounds, battle skin diseases and remove dirty energy. That is why salt is being widely used in many cleansing rituals and fighting of the evil. One can either go for a bath at the beach with natural sea water to get rid of bad energy or prepare the water themselves at home with "raw salt". It is easy to prepare the saltwater bath. Just stir natural rock salt in a pail of hot water and stir it to a saturated level. When it is ready, take a bath with the water and make sure it wets our head all the way to our toe. When bathing, close your eyes and imagine a spot of bright light at our forehead and slowly suppressing all the dark energy downwords through the meridiens of our chakras as we bathe. This bathing ritual is best accompanied with the powerful Energy Water Bath.

2. Powerful Energy Water Bath - Preparation of the "energy water" is very key in this kind of bath. The main ingredient for energy water is fresh flowers. Fresh flowers are excellent to cleanse away bad energy and bring you new fortune. Why? It is because a plant's energy is all concentrated in the flower. A flower plant persistently absorbs water and earth energy from the ground through its roots, and absorbs heaven energy from the sky through its leaves with the main purpose to produce flowers as its end result. When the flower blossoms, it is also exposed to attract only the good energy from the environment. Prepare a minimum of 7 types of colorful fresh flowers. Actually if one can find more colors, the better. Also the flowers must be as fresh as possible. They can be of any color except white. The main purpose is to cleanse all our seven chakras. Remember that you only need the flowers, please remove the stems and branches. Place them floating on a pail of clean fresh water. Place inside the pail also the 5 Element Crystals. Crystal has piezoelectric energy and becomes the catalyst to kick off energy vibes in the water. If it is summer, one can expose the pail to the sun for at least one hour. But if there is no sunlight, the crystals with flowers are already sufficient. In fact, on normal occasion bathing with crystal-energized water on a daily basis can bring good luck. Bathe with the water together with the flowers from head to toe. When you bathe, start to concentrate a patch of light in your forehead. And this light spreads brightly all over your other parts of the head. But remember not to scoop the crystals out while bathing because they can be reused again the next time and if they fall on the ground they could easily break due to their brittleness. But as for the flowers, they have to be scooped together with water and have them flow along your body. Once they are used, they carry with them your bad energy. Therefore, please do not step with your feet on the flower remnant after the bath. Pick them up with gloves and dispose them properly wrapped in paper bag. Imagine throwing away your bad luck when you dispose the flowers. You can continue with your shower from the tap to finish your bath. Exercise the ritual either every day or at alternate weeks till you feel that you luck has turned better.

5 Element Natural Crystal Spheres

3. Improve the flow of energy - Next important thing to do is to ensure you unblock the flow of energy in your home and bedroom. A home with its energy "chi" blocked can block your life. You should declutter, spring clean, remove cobwebs and reorganize your furniture and stuffs. Try to clean up your house, throw away all unwanted things, move your furniture pieces and repaint your place. Then reenergize the house by burning sandalwood incense, getting a new water fountain or using the singing bowl to do space clearing. One could also sprinkle clean water in their surrounding with leaves of the pamelo. This is a favorite ritual of the chinese. Also ensure that you open up all your windows so that the sun shines in. Play music if you like because sound is a source of energy. At dusk, try to shut all your windows before it goes too late. Remember to unclog your drains, basins and toilet bowl. Fix door knobs, broken locks, worn out switches and fire mouth of the stove.

4. Tap the Fire Energy - Lite up your home with candles and bright lightings. The fire energy produced will diffuse away bad energy. Turn on your lights every where in the home so that there is no area left dark. It will be very "yin" if it is dark. Continue to turn on the lights as long as you could afford for the whole living place as long as you could on daily basis. Keep your surrounding as bright as possible. Staying in the dark creates negativity, sadness and bring negative influences. In Hong Kong, to get rid of bad luck, one would walk over a burning incense papers. Incense papers of gold will be burnt in a metal tray or bowl, and the person who wants to get rid of bad luck will have to walk over it.

Incense papers

5. Display the "Luck Enhancing Fan" and the "Obstacles Overcoming Ornament" to promote changeover of luck. One can make use of these two special enhancers to obtain new waves of luck by simply making wishes with them or displaying them at home and at the office. The luck enhancing fan creates tranformation in luck from bad to good. It is hard to not associate luck with the lucky fan if one would have been to ancient temples to pray for good luck. They are found at the prayer altar and one would normally bring home the temple fans made from straw to transform their luck. Next is to bring home the "Obstacles Overcoming Ornament" combining the magpie to bring happiness, a scepter to ensure smoothness in undertakings and the elephant in a protective gesture to stamp on any troubles. The elephant is believed to overcome all kinds of obstacles, hindrances and blockages in life by the Indians, Thais and Chinese. If one ever visit Thailand or Cambodia, by all means take the opportunity to ride on a real elephant to symbolize "all obstacles overcome".

Luck Enhancing Fan and Obstacles Overcoming Ornament

6. Carrying Protective Charms and Lucky Amulets - Many people had narrow escape in accidents and next thing is they found that their protective amulet went missing or broken into half. Every ethnic group does have some kind of lucky charm or amulets passed down by their ancestors. Lucky charms have existed a long time and carried by people for many centuries, therefore we cannot deny their power and effectiveness. Mostly are associated to the make and symbolic meanings. For example natural crystals and gemtones possess many wonderful powers that have been proven in science. The same goes for special shapes and symbols. Therefore, when luck is not good, it is best to carry along some lucky charms from a reliable source to regain the luck quickly. We personally would recommend the Jade Camel Amulet because of its good symbolic meaning and make. Jade Camel has strong affinity to help people out of troubled times.

Jade Camel Amulet

7. Instilling good practices of contributing to charity would also help in a way. Doing charity is a method of repaying for bad deeds or old karma in the past. Charity can be in the form of doing social work, visiting old folks home to make old people happy, feeding the orphans and contributing money to hospitals etc. Other than those, the chinese believe that releasing of imprisoned birds from the cage and releasing fishes to the stream contributes to a life free of obstacles as well. But remember, when doing good deeds, never think that you want something in return. It must be from a genuinely generous heart. We have in fact written an article some time ago on a topic that could help mankind, entitled "Say NO to Suicide". Many of our followers had actually emailed the article around hoping to help possible suicidal souls around us, whom we may not noticed. Who knows, a few lives could have been saved! That is a simple example of charity but a very meaningful one. So, please send out the message to someone you care and save some lives.

Elephant rides can help turn over ones luck. It signifies victory!

8. Travelling out of the country is a good method to get away from insistant bad luck. The best is if one can cross a sea or an ocean to another faraway country where there is a time difference between the two countries. This is because when one moves away, the surrounding energy from the environment changes drastically. Sometimes there could be problems in the existing house where one possibly be not aware of. Besides that, going forward and backward of time between two countries also could alter one's luck.

Maybe the next thing we ask ourselves is how good luck is defined. And how do we confirm that we have transformed our luck into good luck? Well, good luck can mean a lot of things. It need not necessary be something extravagant like turning into a millionaire overnite.

Good luck means one had finally defeated every obstacle and is leading to a path that is carefree, happy and out of trouble. It is one when see the joy of being untroubled and free from worries. There will be new found cheerfulness, joy and true happiness when one is experiencing good luck. One could become more reputable where people naturally get drawn to him or her. Or ones health had been strengthen with less sufferings. And when there is a sudden career opportunity coming the way, it could also be considered as good luck. Those are just a few good examples. It is impossible to describe in one sentence what good luck is because every case is different where different people need different things in life. Most importantly, we have to proactively remove the blockages and obstacles before they become permanent.

Last but not least, we want to hilight that people always think luck is only associated to feng shui. It is true to some extent, but there are many other factors as well. The secrets of overcoming bad luck in this article is foreseen to raise a lot of controversy among some parties. They might claim that this is not feng shui . But the truth is that luck is not controlled by feng shui only. There are many things contributing to it, as proven. Therefore, be it real feng shui or not, the secret steps we shared in this article is meant to be in good motive and not to spark any debate. Good luck!