Feng shui (风水, literally “wind and water”), is an ancient form of art in China. The main idea of feng shui is to arrange the placement and decorations of a place into an environment that encourages fortune and health for the people living there.

Though regarded as a pseudo-science by the majority in the scientific community, this eastern practice has risen to popularity in western cultures. And feng shui for the bedroom is a top consideration for a house since a good night’s sleep is so important.

Below we give some do’s and don’ts for bringing positive effects according to feng shui principles.

• Don’t oversize your bedroom
• Be extra careful when choosing mattresses
• Don’t place the head of your bed directly under a window or ceiling beam, or in a corner, or directly in line with the door;
• Don’t place large furniture by your bed;
• Don’t put mirrors facing your bed or right at the foot of your bed;
• Don’t keep a fish tank or any big container with water in your bedroom;
• Don’t decorate your bedroom with odd decorations, especially those with human faces or animal heads;
• Don’t hang sharp or heavy objects over your bedside;
• Don’t store clutter under your bed;
• Don’t keep big plants in your bedroom and put them as far away from your bed as possible;
• Place your bed at where you can see the door and behind a solid wall;
• Choose furniture with soft lines rather than sharp edges;
• Use fabric or curtains to cover the mirror or electronics with screens;
• Keep the bathroom door closed if it’s inside your bedroom.

According to feng shui philosophy, maintaining good feng shui keeps the 气 (qì, “energy” ) flowing, and brings good fortune and happiness to the family, or at least, can massively enhance the quality of your sleep. If you wake up still feeling tired after a full eight hours, maybe it’s time to rearrange your bedroom for a better feng shui!

Photo: Pixabay

When I was a kid, there were mornings when I woke up and was eager to tell my mom about the dreams I’d had. But she would say, “Don’t tell me about your dreams until you brush your teeth, otherwise the bad dreams will come true, and the good dreams won’t.” I always sincerely believed this was an important rule as a kid until I grew to realize it was probably just a trick that my Mom played to get me up and about in the morning.

I’m still not sure if that’s a common superstition about dreams which other people hold, or whether my mom made it up. What is certain though is that it’s an ancient tradition to interpret the symbolic meaning of dreams.

Zhougong (the Duke of Zhou) is a semi-legendary figure who lived around 3,000 years ago, credited with founding much of what we know as Chinese culture. Among the works attributed to him is a book called Zhougong’s Dream Dictionary (《周公解梦》 Zhōugong jiě mèng), which gives interpretations of dreams, in particular, unusual and weird ones. This book has been passed down through generations, and is still popular and widely read nowadays.

In this book, dreams are categorized and interpreted based on the subject of the dream. Many of the dream interpretations don’t make much sense or have much of a connection to reality. We provide some here, for entertainment purposes only.

Dreaming of a snake biting you is a sign that you will get a lot of money;

Dreaming that someone is dying means the person you dreamed of will live a long and healthy life;

Dreaming of the sun or moon rising means your family will be prosperous;

Dreaming of bamboo trees growing healthily in your front yard means there will be good news;

Dreaming of walking with your wife means you will be buying a property;

Dreaming of visiting a temple means you will experience good fortune;

Dreaming of seeing a dead person coming back to life means you will be earning a lot of money;

Dreaming of someone blowing a flute or hitting a drum means there will be a celebration party soon;

Dreaming of someone killing a chicken, goose, duck, or pig is a sign of good fortune;

Dreaming of a dragon, phoenix or peacock implies good fortune.

The last one makes sense because Chinese people have always treated the dragon and the phoenix as tokens of wealth and eternity. But not all dreams are good omens, according to the book. Below are some examples.

Dreaming of your wife being pregnant means she will commit or is committing adultery;

Dreaming of picking up money means your late ancestors are short of money, and want you to burn more paper money for them.

Though dream interpretations are largely a matter of superstition, some do believe that the objects or scenes that show up in dreams have a close relationship with the dreamer’s health or mental status. So perhaps the Duke of Zhou was onto something after all.

Have you ever wondered why a black cat is seen as a sign of bad things to come? I’ve thought about it, too, but I didn’t mind it too much until my recent travels in Spain and Greece.

My first encounter with a black cat in my trip was when I visited the majestic Alhambra Palace in the city of Granada. Our tour guide, Conchita, told us some stories about the city, like that it was named after the pomegranate (the Spanish word for this fruit is granada) that was brought into the city by Muslims in the 7th century.

Complete with hand gestures and sound effects from her headset, Conchita was in full force explaining the history of the Alhambra Palace. Then right on cue came a black cat, which stole Conchita’s shining moment. “Oh, there’s a black cat.” And that’s how the royal history ended abruptly.

The Alhambra. It’s truly grand and there’s so much to see in this World Heritage Site.

Then the conversation switched to Conchita’s experience with black cats. She said that in their culture, it’s believed that black cats are harbingers of bad luck, but she tries to circumvent that by believing otherwise. And true to her word, it seemed that the trespassing black cat made our guide more zealous in revealing more of the history of the palace, making our trip truly pleasant and enjoyable.

A week after, I went to Athens and one of the things I wanted to do was to see the sunset from the top of Lycabettus Hill, the highest peak in the city. There, you’ll get a grand view of the Acropolis and the whole of Athens and its port, Piraeus. But because I saw a black cat the day before hiking up the hill, I thought something bad would happen. And yes, something (not too) bad did happen.

I spent most of my day in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, where I saw the famed Golden Mask of Agamemnon and other important finds in ancient Greek history. After that, I was lost and didn’t know what to do, so I just rejigged my plans and decided to hike up the hill (around 2pm). It was sunny at the bottom of the hill but in around four hours of combined walking and hiking, the sky turned gray and the rain bands of an incoming storm blocked the otherwise fiery Athens sunset. Then it rained so hard that it soaked the tourists on the hill. Did I mention we were wearing summer outfits?

A panoramic view of west Athens. The Acropolis (slightly left of the metal pole on the right side) is covered with a huge cloud from an incoming rainstorm.

As the rainstorm was dissipating, I started my descent but to my surprise, a beautiful orange-violet sky appeared! That exasperated me to the point that I frowned on the way back to my hotel. Then that face of mine might have attracted so much bad luck that another black cat graciously walked in front of me, warning that another untoward thing would happen.

On the day that I was to travel to Rome from Athens, I lost my power banks and some grooming stuff at a subway stop. But here’s the deal: I saw the thief – a young-looking, semi-bearded man. What happened was he accidentally dropped my hair wax, which was placed together with my power banks in the front pouch of my bag. I didn’t panic but instead stopped and looked at my bag. I got relieved that the thief didn’t steal my laptop, tablet, or even my precious passport wallet, because I placed two big cans of Lay’s (which were full of grapes) on top of them.

When I told this story to my friends, they asked me why didn’t I report the thief to the guards. I told them I might run late for my flight, and the hassle wasn’t worth the lost items (good thing there’s Miniso!)

Anyway, going back to the curse of the black cat – so why then these felines are considered unlucky? There are so many myths associating these animals with natural phenomena, witchcraft, evil omens, and even Satan (because one pope in the Middle Ages hated cats so much)!

Meow! Though black cats sometimes look sinister, I’m sure they’re innocent of any bad (or good) things happening to someone.

On one of my trips in Greece, our guide, who was so knowledgeable about Greek mythology, explained that the reason why myths (and to some extent, urban legends) exist is that people want to satisfy their need to understand what’s happening around them. For example, we know that in ancient times, deities and gods of whatsoever-thing-your-senses-can-perceive flourished because our ancestors didn’t know why these things existed in the first place. They wanted something to explain a natural phenomenon. In essence, they built an arbitrary system of explanations and passed them on as beautifully crafted stories or poems. But as our ancestors came to understand natural phenomenon through logic and science, these myths were disproved and became considered as classic stories meant to scare people, or even for bedtime. Some of these have survived their times, and continue to fascinate many people.

Going back to the black cat experiences, I forgot to mention that I didn’t let the sneaky felines win. Good thing I had an extra power bank and power cord, which helped me for the remainder of my Rome trip. And in the other incident – the rainstorm in Athens – I went to the top of Lycabettus Hill the following day – but that time, I was more prepared. And look at how beautiful Athens was at sunset!

Athens at sunset. On the center-left side is the Acropolis…

…and the Acropolis, fully illuminated. I wish I had a more powerful camera because the night cityscape in Athens is just awesome!

Photos: Andy Penafuerte III; Desinger-Obst, Walkerssk, via Pixabay