As I was driving up to the west Midlands (UK) yesterday I was trying to think of something interesting to write for the blog, it is actually quite hard to do sometimes. I was revisiting an old client who has just bought an old barn in the middle of nowhere to covert into a home and business, wow, when I arrived it was breathtaking, the views were spectacular and the barn which is around 3000 square feet with two acres of land has so much potential along with hundreds of ceiling and wall beams, all in all in my eyes it was perfect and from a Feng Shui point of view also pretty good. It is a big project for both of us but I look forward to this type of work.
On every consultation I do I take many photos so I build an electronic library for when I speak to clients in the future and it also helps me when I am writing their report up, as sometimes you cannot see the woods for the trees and looking at the photos later may show up some points that I will address with the client in the report. Anyway, I was taking these photos thinking how great this place was and will be and suddenly thought of a great article for the blog…
At least once a week I will receive an email asking about the negative effects of beams as someone has read in some book or a website that if they sleep, work, eat or sit under a beam their head will fall off in the next six months, okay last bit was slightly exaggerated but not that far off.
If I had read that 25 years ago I suppose, I would have panicked also, but nowadays having thousands of clients who have hundreds of beams in their home and they live very happy, healthy and wealthy lives. If you look at the photo below that I took yesterday you will see some great examples. Think about the people you may know who have beams; all those large country homes with beams that would hold up a skyscraper, they’re really are not that bad.
The books and websites need something to fill the pages and they do tend to exaggerate problems, which in my opinion is not fair as it worries so many people. I have had people crying over the phone with worry that their child has been sleeping under a beam and they may have caused them an illness or caused them to be bullied at school or similar trauma.
Let me tell you what is good and what is not good…
If you look at photo #1 and #3 below you will see a large beam that I have marked with a red arrow, these types of beam you should avoid sleeping, working or even just sitting under, this will cause you problems and it is like sleeping under a guillotine. Photo #2 is the more common beam, these are fine to sleep under and I have hundreds of clients who sleep under these and it causes them no problems at all, just avoid big heavy low beams, it is common sense really.
I have been to so many homes where they had a Feng Shui Practitioner come along and advise the client to paint the beams the same colour as the wall which is normally a ceiling standard white colour, I don’t know about you but the attraction of beams to me is the fact that they are a dark or wood colour standing out from the ceiling, I think they look lovely and add character, if they are in a modern home they do not have the same affect for me but we all have different tastes.
It is far more important to sleep, work and sit in a good magnetic compass direction which is calculated from your personal Min Gua (life Trigram). This is one of the reasons why we produced our Feng Shui software so people can instantly calculate their best four directions, colours, elements and so much more; this is real traditional Feng Shui not the Mickey Mouse Feng Shui that is so often written about. I will be doing an article on good and bad directions very soon or if you are impatient have a look at our softwarethat calculates this and many many other valuable formulas for good Feng Shui.
Having studied Feng Shui for 27 years I find myself constantly looking at land formations and buildings and I was in a coffee shop in Bicester (UK) a few weeks ago called “Pret a manger” apparently they are a large chain, I am not sure if this was standard décor for them but this place was decked out in great big shiny stainless steel beams and large old style ventilation pipes the type that would most Feng Shui books and websites would be spitting blood over, this place was heaving though and the quality of food and coffee was pretty good too, but if they had read the Feng Shui books about this type of décor they would have had condemned this business and according to my son Daniel they are extremely successful.
Try and think of all the homes you know with beams, they normally belong to manor style homes with fairly wealthy owners, how many old English successful pubs with beams? How many successful businesses do you know with beams all over the place? If you really think about it they cannot be that bad, just think carefully where you would place your bed, chair or desk, do not let it sit right under a large heavy beam and if you are not sure hang a pair of bamboo flutes or crystal spheres to dissipate some of the negative energy, it will not be the perfect cure but it will help.
If you are the author of a book or website and you have written about beams in a negative way please do not write to me condemning me with a “who do you think you are” type attitude, I have heard it all before and will not reply unless you can convince me of a case where you can prove it has caused a problem, believe me I have been proved wrong before, I only write what I think is true based on results I have personally experienced and can account for.
The reason for this article is so you do not get too hung up on small things as the power of the mind is exceptionally powerful and if you have something in your mind that is negative you can make small things grow into very large monsters.
I am off to work in France tomorrow (8th August 2007) and need to pack my suitcase now (and also make a list of a few wines I want to buy, ohh and some olives, ohh and some cheese, ohh and some…) so bonsoir et vous parlent en quelques jours (good evening and speak to you in a few days).
Responses to “Beam me up, Scotty!”
1. Pat Says:
August 8th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
It just gets better and better Michael, i so enjoyed reading that and so reassuring. In Bermuda we have many homes like this with exposed beams and pillars.
You should put a button so we can send the link to a friend.
Pat
2. Michael Hanna Says:
August 8th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Hi Pat, Glad you liked it and thanks for letting me know. There is a link on the side of page to refer to a friend.
Kind regards
Michael
3. Janet Says:
August 10th, 2007 at 12:35 am
Hi Michael,
I was wondering what the term you used in your blog “black hat” refers to as a type of Feng Shui practitioner. Could you please explain that in more depth?
Thank you,
Janet
4. penny Says:
September 3rd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Michael, just want to say thanks for your clearing up a lot of the myths about feng shui. I started reading about feng shui about 10 years ago and got hooked! I got a bit obsessive and anxious about my house being sw2 and me being qua 4, about my garden not being perfect etc, etc….!! since reading what you have to say I am more relaxed! my house still looks like a chinese restuarant, but at least I`m relaxed!! (even though I still think I`m doing something wrong somewhere!)
Penny
5. Lenka Says:
April 4th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I was relieved to read your article on beams but I m still very stressed about it becuase I have a large dark wooden beam that runs down the centre of my bed. There is no way that we can cover the beam up as the bedroom is in a converted attic and the beam runs down the middle of the bedroom. Selling up is not an option at the moment, please tell more on what I can do. Kind Regards
6. Max Lancaster Says:
April 26th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Oh! Perfect job!
Very interesting and helpful post.
I add your interesting blog in my iGoogle page!
7. Angie Says:
June 29th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Hello Michael,
What a relief it is to read this,i am due to move into a new house & it does tick lots and lots of boxes (Feng Shui wise). I was worried, when earlier i read about the negativeness of beams… The beams are original & run in the correct way…whew!! I am very new to this, it is absolutely fascinating, and as my move follows a Marriage break up, i want to have as much hood luck & happiness as possible…lol
8. Rowena Reyes Says:
January 9th, 2009 at 6:43 am
I am much wooried about the beam over our bedroom ceiling, its a cross style and at the same time we put a chandellier on it placed over and at the middle of our bed. What are the possible cures becuase moving my bed is impossible because of a small space and re-orieting is is also impossible. Please help me Thanks
9. Leo Says:
March 1st, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I am considering moving into this place, but it has beams. Please let me know what you think. Please see lower right picture-the orange room with the beams and ceiling fan. If I move my air mattress parallel between the beams am I o.k.
Thank you
