The importance and the value of true Knowledge and Wisdom cannot be overstated. One can easily loose ones wealth, health, fame or loved ones; but as long as your brain works you will always keep your knowledge, including all the lessons and skills you’ve learned so far. This powerful treasure will always be yours. Learn as much as you can and never stop expanding your horizon! 

This was certainly always a good advice, but I think it’s even more important in our times, where knowledge and information are easy accessible for many of us and on the other hand we’re faced more and more with fake news, manipulations and autocratic structures limiting the freedom of expression. The more one knows, the wiser one is and the more one is the master of one’s own life. In this sense, it literally makes sense to deal with this Bagua life area.

The bagua for knowledge and wisdom is located in the North-East, or in the front left area of your house. Here prevails the trigram Gen, which can be translated with sincerity. Its energy is still, quiet and immobile, associated with the element earth and a mountain. This bagua does not represent an airy or volatile knowledge, but stands for a real, lived, practical, sturdy and profound knowledge: wisdom. 

All aspects of life, which deal with learning, education, intelligence, knowledge, studies and our seeking for information of any kind are influenced by this bagua. The energy of this earth quadrant conjoins the previous water with the following wood and symbolizes the part of us which never ceases to evolve, to grow and to expand. Here we also apply ourselves to self-cultivation and personal development.

Attention: First care about the basic energy and structure of your Bagua zones. The qi must flow freely before you can start planing measures for individual life areas. Install one Feng Shui vehicle or symbol after the other and give it some time to unfold its impact before going on to the next stage.

What do you think?

Many people regard knowledge and wisdom as a result of ‘collected information’. In my opinion that’s too simple and pretty far from truth. Informations are ‘facts only’, they are worthless if you do not understand them or do not know how to use, apply, integrate or combined them. Informations are the basic bricks you need to build up knowledge. Knowledge combined with creativity and/or experience can lead to wisdom.

Anyhow, this Bagua zone is related to all steps and levels of knowledge. The energy of this life area doesn’t judge or make any differences. Regardless the complexity of subject matters this energy wants to learn, evolve and realize, and you can do this too!

IT's
all
about
Earth
—

Easy Earth Element Decorating Tips:

Traditionally this area is associated with the colors blue, green and black, typical water and wood colors. I tend to use this colors in a supportive way and to focus on earthy tones instead, such as yellow, ocher, beige and brown and natural shades combined with square shapes. 

You can also combine earth, water and wood elements by the selection of shapes and materials. Although I wouldn’t overdo the wood energy – intensive “cultivation” may leach out the soil.

Of course, we need all 5 elements for our well being — in different proportions for different spaces and different people — but living in a material world the earth element is kind of basic and fundamental, no surprise: three of nine Bagua areas are associated with this element! A strong Earth element in your space will bring you back to your own center, calm and reassure you, as well as provide stable support for all of your endeavors. Learn more about the other two earth life areas by reading my Wholeness and Spirituality and Love and Relationships articles.

As a representative for the Bagua n° 8 I chose the elephant. In the Western world someone with “a memory like an elephant” has good memory and a lot of knowledge. Supposedly, this phrase is based on the observation that elephants never forget (even after many years) a person that caused harm to them. Also in Asia the gray giants are considered as clever, wise and patient beings. No other animal is attributed with higher morality and wisdom. Peace-loving, gentle and compassionate, yet forceful, decisive and determined: like a mountain. In the Bagua for knowledge and wisdom this symbol can boost your cognitive faculty and ability to concentrate. 

Some More Tips, Charms And Ideas:

Often enough small things can make great impact. What ever you associate with knowledge and wisdom, place it here to support this area. 

You can use a globe for example, a photograph of a mountain you love. Place some crystals or other stones (philosopher’s stone).

How about a picture or busts of savants here? Ideally made out of clay or porcelain.

This area of your apartment is particularly well-suited as a study room, an office, or a library. If you don’t have enough space for a meditation room in the center of your apartment – the bagua n° 8 is a good alternative.

You could also hang some motivational quotes from wise people (or personal affirmations about your success in gaining knowledge or self-improvement). Or how about a poster with the periodic table?

Use a lot of bright light to see things clear!

Things To Avoid:

Avoid clutter – well this isn’t suitable anywhere, but in this area clutter stands for confusion, mental overload and any kind of concentration disorder. Clean up! (Also check for: leaks, broken items, or unfinished projects.)

Get rid of objects that make you feel bad about yourself or have a negative personal meaning to you.

Popular Symbols For This Area:

It’s always good to find personal, symbolic pictures or objects to decorate and boost a specific life area. Your own, positive relation to the piece/symbol can be very helpful! On the other hand, you have to keep in mind, that the cycle of the five phases retains its validity and that also personal symbols have to support the basic concept of the area. 

Browsing the web you will literally find tons of Feng Shui charms and symbols for your purpose, in any size, style and quality. The following examples from my catalogue do fit well to the knowledge and wisdom area as well.

Endless Knot

The endless knot is a common symbol all around the world – Usually it is stylized as a looping knot with no beginning and no end, also known under the names of good luck knot, Chinese knot, knot of infinity or Celtic knot. Whatever it is called, it symbolizes perfection, wisdom, love, unity, connection and harmony. In Buddhism the endless knot is one of the eight auspicious signs (Astamangala) and called Shrivatsa; representing (among other) the union of wisdom and compassion in enlightenment.

Ibis

Marsh birds, like the Ibis, are often renowned as mystical and mysterious creatures, because they nest in concealed, inaccessible reed thicket and rise well over the marsh with their stalk legs there. The nest in the swamp is a metaphoric symbol for the beginning of the world. It is therefore hardly surprising that in Egyptian mythology an Ibis was laying the cosmic egg on the primary hill.

The ibis is generally regarded as a symbol for the soul and for fertility. It plays an important role in Egyptian cosmology. In this context, and because of its curved, crescent-shaped beak, the Ibis represents the moon and was dedicated to the moon god Thoth, who is also considered a God of knowledge, language, writing, mathematics, time, magic and of the sacred mysteries. 

The idiosyncratic bird is also regarded as striving and persevering. This combination (fertility, knowledge and determination) makes the Ibis an ideal symbol for every kind of new beginnings and self-renewal.

I Ching Chart

The I Ching, also known as the Book of Changes, is an ancient divination text and the oldest of the Chinese classics. The book of wisdom, and its 64 hexagrams, has served for thousands of years as a philosophical taxonomy of the universe, a guide to an ethical life, a manual for rulers, a great source of knowledge and wisdom and paralleled with other Taoist traditions such as Feng Shui and Wu Xing (yin and yang).

Crane

The crane is one of the most popular symbols for longevity in China. According to legend this proud bird lives up to 600 years! Even beyond the grave, the crane remains well-disposed towards human beings. It guides, as they say, the soul to paradise. The crane is also regarded as a symbol for wisdom, renewal and luck, in particular cranes with a red head. Furthermore it is as a symbol for a big career and excellent reputation. In old China the crane symbolized an senior administration official.

Calligraphy (Mountain)

Asian calligraphy and Asian painting are closely related: they are accomplished using similar tools and techniques, and have a long history of shared artistry. Following this tradition you will find no big difference in the use and appreciation of ‘written’ and ‘painted’ art. This is especially true in Feng Shui: Chinese characters (and Japanese Kanjis) are so called logograms, derived from illustrative pictograms. A symbol if you want – and so is the figurative painting.

To cut a long story short, whatever symbol you’d like to use in Feng Shui, why not try a calligraphy instead of a ‘real depiction’? 

In some cases a calligraphy may even work better, because it’s more abstract, more general. The written word/character is not depicting Mount Fuji or the Matterhorn, with all their specific meanings and symbolisms; it says ‘mountain’ and communicates the general idea (the essence) of that word.

Note! Using suitable Feng Shui charms and symbols can harmonize and strengthen Bagua life areas, but can’t replace a energetic Feng Shui consultant, of course. For more complex and individual solutions it’s always worth to invest in a pro!

Curious about other Bagua life areas?

> Career and Life Journey (1)
> Love and Relationships (2)
> Health and Family (3)
> Wealth and Prosperity (4)
> Wholeness and Spirituality (5)
> Helpful Friends and Travel (6)
> Creativity and Children (7)
> Fame and Recognition (9)