Surely they can’t be that important in Feng Shui, the entrance door, hall, and porch?

Michael Hanna

Feng shui is not just about placing crystals, mirrors, red tassels and making your home or office look like a Chinese restaurant (unless you are a Chinese restaurant). It would help if you concentrated on the Feng Shui essentials often overlooked by the most qualified Feng Shui masters, myself included.

I cannot stress this enough, but the main entrance door is the most crucial area of a home or office; it is where the majority of the qi (ch’i) enters the building, and the quality of the qi is dependent on the quality of the door area, hall, and driveway.

Treat this area the same as you would with your own mouth as in Chinese and even western medicine; the mouth is considered the gateway to the qi (oxygen and energy) that enters your body, and you can imagine if you didn’t brush your teeth even for a few days, the effect this would start to have on your health and also your love life 😊. In Chinese medicine, you can diagnose so much by looking into the mouth and looking at the teeth (door), gums (paintwork and cleanliness), and tongue (colours, appearance and door furniture).

A health practitioner can tell so much by looking into your mouth, and in every home or business I have looked at over the last 40 odd years, my initial assessment is based on the main entrance, and then I will look at the compass directions and natal charts.

Qi (energy) enters the building through the doors and windows in your home or office. However, the main entrance door of your home or office is where a significant amount of Qi enters. Therefore the main entrance door plays an essential role in determining the quality of the Qi that penetrates and permeates the home or office.

The location of your main entrance door within the house is essential. In an ideal world, it would be located on the front-facing wall and symmetrically placed with a handsome solid door made of wood, glass or plastic with glass if you prefer (not too much, though), with male and female Fu Dogs on either side and maybe some pillars to the side, but let’s get back to the real world, and many homes will not look like this.

Many homes will have two main doors; one at the front/side and maybe one at the rear; the most used one would be the door that all your post/mail comes through and all your guests enter and leave through, and the other, which could be a garage, kitchen or side door. This is sometimes the favoured door chosen by the occupants due to the convenience of its position.

How seriously do I take all this Feng Shui information I give out?

Over the last 40 years, I have taught hundreds of Feng Shui Practitioners and students from every corner of the world, and there are times when I do not always practice what I preach, but believe me, when it comes to doorways, halls, driveways at my home and business these will always be kept faultless.

The doormats will be washed or replaced as soon as they get too dirty or worn; doors, frame, paintwork and the area around the door in and outside are cleaned weekly, door furniture polished, hinges oiled when needed, and glass cleaned every week.

The problem with Feng Shui these days is that it has been glamorised with thousands of books and websites portraying it as a quick fix to all your problems by placing a Kwan Yin statue, Mandarin Ducks or a three-legged Toad God by your main entrance, your dream date knocks on the door with a case full of money along with a miracle cure for eternal youth.

I am sorry to burst your bubble, but if you think you can place a three-legged Toad on top of all the dust in your hallway by the main door that you have not cleaned in a few months or even years, do not expect a lottery win; the energy of these symbolic cures and enhancers work with the environment they are placed in; so a nice clean area will synchronise better.

It is no different to your body. If you smoked 60 cigarettes a day, drank three bottles of wine daily, and eat junk food all the time, do you really think that taking a multivitamin pill every day will offset all the harm these products will be doing to your body?

Please do not think I am standing on my high white Horse and making out I am whiter than white, I love a glass of good wine with a burger, and because of my travels consulting and teaching around the world, I sometimes eat junk food, but it is all done in balance and moderation.

Strict Feng Shui rules to follow when it comes to main entrance doors:

• Make sure the size of the door is in proportion to the size of the property.

If your front door is too big, opportunities may slip by, and if it is too small, it can cause conflict within the home, or a business will never grow. If you feel your door is too big or small and you cannot change it, hang a faceted crystal sphere on the inside of the door; this will help collect and dissipate the energy.

• Spend as much as you can on an excellent quality door.

One thing my dad taught me was to spend as much on the best mattress and a good pair of shoes as you can afford because if you are not in or on one you are in or on the other. From a Feng Shui aspect, the same applies, buy the best quality door you can afford and make the entrance as grand as possible but not over the top.

Some Feng Shui masters will say to use a solid front door rather than a glass-panelled one. If you have a glass door, do not worry, and I personally prefer a partially glazed door as I favour natural light qi, so please do not concern yourself if you have a glazed door, although you should really avoid glazed panelled doors like the one shown below as they represent cutting energy although having a door like this at the rear or a garage door is absolutely fine.

The photo below was taken by myself a while ago in London and gave an excellent example of how you should NOT keep your doorway; notice the shape of the caged type door and the wheelie bin beside the door and also right below a window; there is no Feng Shui cure for this, just cover the wheelie bin or move it.

• Size is important

Ideally, the main entrance door should be larger than the back door encouraging Qi to enter through this aspect. If you have a larger rear door, hang a crystal-faceted sphere here.

• You wheelie should move that bin.

Over the last 40 years, I have visited thousands of properties worldwide, and nowadays, many of the homes I see keep their waste bins right beside the main door (see picture above) most because they have no choice. If you do have a choice, try and store it as far away from your door as possible. In that case, if you think of it sensibly, it is apparent that if you leave a smelly, dirty bin beside your door or window, the smell alone is not good, so you can imagine the quality of the qi energy is like.

Like many people, you probably don’t have the option to move it but make sure the bin is cleaned and disinfected every few weeks and kept inside a bin storage unit similar to this one; as I have shown below, they are a worthwhile investment and look so much better. A Chinese belief is if you have your wealth area where you have a bin, it will bring in stinky money (a Chinese saying for money that has been gained unlawfully or dishonestly), and if you have your relationship area where you have your bin, it will bring… you get the picture!

• The door should open inwards in most cases

A front door should open inwards to allow beneficial Qi to enter. There is no cure for this one; it must open inwards, and with the last home we bought, this was one of the first jobs we did.

• Your door and entrance must be spick and span

It is vital that the door opens effortlessly without obstacles. Broken door furniture must be replaced. Hinges should be oiled regularly. The door must be well maintained and clean. Brass, stainless steel etc, door furniture should be gleaming, and paintwork or varnish should be in perfect condition.

• Light up your life

Make certain that your house name or number is clearly visible by day and night in order to maintain harmonious relationships with callers, and the qi finds your path. It is also important to light your entrance area; we use a light sensor that comes on every day at dusk and dawn and has done for 40-odd years.

• Check for any poison arrows sha chi

The most vital thing to do is to make very certain that the door is not being hit by anything sharp or angled. This is what is considered ‘exterior poison arrows (sha chi)’. These structures can transform quality energy into a bad one, and you would not want this transformation at your front door. If you feel you have poison arrows directed at your home, place a Ba Gua mirror above the door.

• Ring my bell

Make sure the front doorbell is easily found by callers and works at all times. It should also have a nice ringing tone to it, although many homes I see nowadays have camera doorbells which are fine. I have stood waiting outside many front doors and had to use my mobile phone to call in as the doorbell was not working.

• Clear that clutter

All very well, having the perfect door, porch and entrance, but you must keep the entrance hall area as clutter-free as possible inside and out, and shoes, boots and umbrellas etc must never be placed here. I know it is easy for me to say this, and I also appreciate it is convenient to place them here, but it makes such a difference.

Shoes and boots etc. come into contact with the outside surface (animal poo and wee to name a few); in Chinese and Asian culture, as you may know, shoes are considered the filthiest item we wear, and of course, if placed by the main entrance door this will affect and taint the energy (Qi) entering the home and if you do use a mat inside or out the best mats to use are the thin rubber backed ones with a thin cloth surface that capture dirt and can be machine washed; we get ours from Costco although most shops sell them I would think.

To help you make a change, close your eyes and think of your main entrance door; you open the door, the air (qi) enters, and the first thing it touches is the smelly shoes with dog poo all over them or the door mat that has months if not years of people wiping their filthy shoes over them. Now the qi has mingled with all the crap it then permeates throughout the whole home. Now open your eyes and get down to the shops and change that door mat and buy a shoebox.

By the way, NEVER EVER use a coconut mat (inside or out) similar to the one in the photo here, these are evil, and you can never clean them and will harbour sha dead chi forever and even worse if placed outside.

• Check the annual afflictions

Check to see what annual afflictions are at the door for the year; if you have a #3 star and you have a broken door with a squeaky hinge, it could cause arguments in the home or a legal problem; if you had a #8 star in 2023 by your door and the disrepair was so bad your finances will be very poor in that year. Always place your annual Feng Shui cures and enhancers throughout the home, especially by your main entrance door.

• Make it a weekly ritual

The most valuable tip I can give you is one that I use at my home and in business. Every week when I am at home (Josephine does it when I am not there), I will spend around 20-40 minutes washing the door, frame and doorstep, removing cobwebs and leaves from around the door and porch, removing any weeds from the block paving from the pathway to our door, polish door furniture and check if the doormat needs washing or replacing. However, these days we buy our from Costco and replace them twice a year.

I have nothing to sell you, no quick fixes, and I do not want you to contact me to employ me to do a Feng Shui consultation at your home or business as I have not taken on new clients for many years as I want to make sure I can look after my existing ones. I share this valuable information with you as they are all traditional and authentic Feng Shui tips and advice that will get you results.

Enjoy!

Michael