Feng Shui and Lucky Bamboo

The fast-paced and materialistic world that we live in today craves balance and harmony. The ancient science of Feng Shui offers our restless souls some degree of balance amidst this chaos. And the lucky bamboo, or Dracaena sanderiana, is an important element of this science.

Feng Shui enthusiasts value the lucky bamboo for its influence on life energy, growth, vitality, and physical activity. The bamboo can thrive in any part of the house or office. It is believed to revitalize stagnant energy and enhance the positive flow of energy (or chi). If you place it where chi does circulate, it helps keep it flowing freely and permanently. Place it near a person with health problems, and its energizing qualities are believed to revitalize. Or, place it in a dark spot in the house that requires light. The lucky bamboo is believed to energize the spot.

What does the ancient science of Feng Shui teach us?

That we can live in harmony with our environment by aesthetically combining earth, water, wood, metal, and fire. The lucky bamboo is valued as a perfect representative of these five elements:

• Earth: Rock, pebble, sand, and clay are substitutes for earth. The color brown also symbolizes earth. All these may be found in the lucky bamboo container.
  
   
• Wood: The lucky bamboo with its vertical stems represents wood, as does its verdant color. Wood, in Feng Shui, represents the beginning of life. Just as spring ushers new beginnings, wood is believed to originate new life cycles.
  
   
• Water: Water is essential to life. It is always present in the lucky bamboo container. Sometimes a blue pot, also representing water, may be used.
  
   
• Fire: Red, burgundy, maroon, or pink all symbolize fire - the element that eradicates the old, and enables growth of the new. The plant container and any adornments could include one or more of the colors that symbolize fire.
  
   
• Metal: Feng Shui coins may be added to the lucky bamboo arrangement, as a symbol of material wealth. Little ornaments and figurines of metal or metallic coloring also represent metal. Gold, silver, brass, bronze, and copper colors may be used as substitutes.