Not having much luck in love lately?  Relationship falling apart?  Maybe it’s those upside down dried flowers you have hanging in your hallway or maybe it’s the antique full-length mirror in your bedroom …

Feng Shui (pronounced Feng Shway) is the ancient Chinese art of rearranging design elements so that they harmonise with your environment.  Several systems are used to determine what should go where to enhance the love life, but the one that applies to anyone reading this is the Pa Kua system.  In Pa Kua, the southwest corner is the love sector of your home.

First of all, get a compass and find out what exactly is in the southwest corner of your building.  Is there a bedroom there?  Good.  A toilet there?  Bad.  It means your romantic prospects are getting flushed away.  Is your southwest corner a badly lit storeroom full of clutter?  Also bad.  It means your love-life will be as messy as well.  In fact, no matter what room that corner is located in, it now becomes your job to enhance it as best as you can, by getting rid of clutter and using decor.  You are also going to re-haul the southwest corner of your bedroom to double your chances of attracting romance.

What’s in southwest corner of your bedroom?  A closet?  Bad.  A vase full of beautiful flowers?  Good.  That will greatly enhance your chances of attracting a suitable partner.

To attract a partner, Feng Shui experts recommend putting a painting of peonies or a vase of the flowers there.  You could substitute any flower for the peony (as long as it’s not prickly like a cactus), but whatever you do, make sure the flowers are fresh.  The Chinese hate dead or dried flowers and would prefer that you have those rather than any kind of decay in a spot that signifies your love life.

Also lucky for romance, is a pair of wooden ducks or a painting of two ducks (as ducks mate for life).  If you don’t like how formal these ducks look, you can always do what I did and put two rubber ducks in your southwest corner.

Mirrors on the ceiling, especially full-length ones, or mirrors on the walls in the bedroom are a big no-no, as they symbolise portals through which an interfering third party’s energy can enter … Feng Shui masters don’t like to invite voyeurism.

If you don’t like Chinese decor, you could use my favourite westernised Feng Shui tool – the Lava Lamp.  Pink glowing goo moving up and down in your romance corner is sure to send out a sensuous vibe.  Pictures or statues of loving couples or love friendly Goddesses such as Venus and Aphrodite would also help activate the love sector.  As the southwest corner is symbolised by the earth element, it is also helpful to place crystals there, with the most suitable choice being rose quartz.  If you want to go all out, you might want to also consider painting that corner or adjacent walls a bright red, also to symbolize passion.

Whatever you do, don’t go overboard … you could end up with a bedroom that looks like a Chinese brothel or, worse yet, invite somebody over who is familiar with Feng Shui who might go, “Hmm, I see ducks, flowers, crystals, red walls.  I better get out of here!  This person is just a tad too desperate for me!”

by Sam Stevens

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From blowing dandelion seeds into the air to throwing a penny into a fountain, we have all felt inspired to make a wish, to whisper our secret desires into the ears of the universe and wait for signs that we have been heard.

Some wishes come true while others remain ethereal visions that either stay with us or fade like a star in the light of morning.  Whether they come true or not, wishes are important missives, expressing our heart’s desire as well as our intention to create something new in our lives.

When we wish for something, our consciousness opens to receiving it, like a flower unfolding its petals to receive a bee.

There is something innocent and magical about making a wish, something that recalls the energy of childhood.  Wishing is not about formulating a plan and following it step by step to attain a goal, which is the realm of adulthood.  Wishing is more like a playful volley across the universe, an invitation to play.  Waiting for the response is an integral part of the process.  Wishing inspires an innocent opening to the possibility of magic as we wait to see if the invisible realm will bring our wish to life.  This opening is a beautiful gesture in and of itself, regardless of the outcome.  We place ourselves in a magical mind, and this mind is arguably as wonderful as the fulfilment of our wish itself.

In our straightforward, action-oriented society, we may tend to dismiss the power of this seemingly passive process, yet the power of a wish is well known, hence the cautionary phrase, “Be careful what you wish for.”  If you have given up wishing in favour of more adult pursuits, you might want to bring its magic back into your life.

The next time you see the first star of the evening, or find yourself in front of a birthday cake covered in flaming candles, give yourself the gift of the magical realm that you knew so well as a child – close your eyes, open your mind, and make your wish …

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So, you’ve bought body part lollies for the children, you’ve cooked and frozen ahead a delicious pumpkin soup, you’ve picked out your scary costume and you’re looking forward to the best party ever, but what’s Halloween really all about?

How did Halloween start?

Halloween has its roots in an ancient Celtic celebration associated with All Saints’ Day, which falls on 1 November, so the night before became known as “All Hallows’ Eve”, eventually contracting to Hallowe’en.  (Hallow is old English for ‘holy person’ or ‘saint’.)

How did we start celebrating it like we do today?

Irish migrants carried versions of the tradition to North America during Ireland’s Great Famine of the 1840s. They had established Halloween activities such as bobbing for apples, as the festival was also a celebration of the end of harvest.

How did the pumpkin head come about?

The ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their windowsill to represent the departed. These lanterns were first carved from a turnip. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the “head” of the vegetable to frighten off the embodiment of superstitions.

The jack-o’-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a farmer who tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with just a candle in a hollowed turnip. The use of pumpkins began in North America as pumpkins are more readily available and much larger, making them easier to carve than turnips.

How is it celebrated round the world?

‘Halloween’ on 31 October is celebrated predominantly in North America and the British Isles, with ‘trick or treating’, jack-o’-lanterns, fancy-dress costumes and so on. In Roman Catholic countries throughout Europe, and the Philippines and Mexico, All Saint’s Day is observed instead. On this day offerings are made, and people light candles in cemeteries in honour of the dead.

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The Aries Angel (Fire, Cardinal)

This is the do-battle angel, the one who not only fights the devil with a flaming sword, but grabs you by the scruff of your neck and yanks you out of trouble and danger.  He/She will give you a terrible time when you do the wrong thing.  The Aries Angel minces no words in telling you that you are messing up, and where you will go if you don’t knock it off.  The Aries Angel may not be tactful.  But he/she has a highly-developed sense of right and wrong, which is helpful in this often morally murky world.

The Taurus Angel (Earth, Fixed)

The Taurus Angel is stubborn.  If you want to cut a corner here or let your guard down there, Taurus Angel won’t let you.  He/She keeps after you and after you until you see the error of your ways, and get back on the straight-and-narrow.  Your Taurus Angel also has common sense and is generous about sharing it with you.  The Taurus Angel is rarely splashy or dramatic, but will stick with you through thick and thin, giving you the quiet strength in tough times and good advice each day.

The Gemini Angel (Air, Mutable)

The Gemini Angel has a light touch and a sense of humour that helps you put matters into perspective and gives you a sense of balance and proportion.  The Gemini angel is swift, witty and verbal.  When the Devil tries to lure you with a million reasons for doing what’s wrong, the Gemini Angel is right there with a million and one reasons for doing what’s right.  The Gemini Angel can be a nag, but in the nicest and funniest way possible: talking to you non-stop until you give up those devilish notions.

The Cancer Angel (Water, Cardinal)

This is the guardian angel to ask for if you need some “chicken soup for the soul,” some good old-fashioned mothering. (All male/female Cancer Angels are mothers at heart.) Your Cancer Angel comforts you, gives you good advice and a shoulder to cry on, and tells you to have faith that everything will work out all right.  Your Cancer Angel will do everything except giving you milk and cookies and tuck you in at night.  But, if they could, they would.

The Leo Angel (Fire, Fixed)

You know those pictures of what angels are supposed to look like:  Noble features, flowing mane, celestial sunlight shining all around them?  That’s a Leo Angel.  Your Leo Angel is a leader and a take-charge type.  The Leo Angel will advise you nicely at first.  Then, if you don’t do it, the Leo Angel will give you a good swift kick to set you back on the right road again. The Leo Angel is very responsible, very proud and darned if he/she is going to lose one assigned soul.

The Virgo Angel (Earth, Mutable)

The Virgo Angel, male or female, looks like the Virgo symbol:  Wholesome and fresh-faced.  The Virgo Angel is very efficient and reminds you to do all those daily little things so that you won’t fall into sloppy habits that render you vulnerable to devilish sneak attacks.  However, the Virgo Angel is a list-maker and note-taker.  You can’t get away with a thing or talk your way out of your flaws until you fix them.  Virgo Angel won’t let you sleep until you do.

The Libra Angel (Air, Cardinal)

That’s one good-looking angel you’ve got there.  Of course they’re all good-looking.  But the Libra Angel has that special glow that comes from having a heart that sincerely loves everyone.  The Libra Angel is eminently fair-minded and has a gentle but firm way of telling you what’s right from what’s wrong.  Angel is a gentle soul that treats you and others in a diplomatic way that gets the desired results without making a bad situation worse.  The Libra Angel is the exemplar of the word “grace” in all its senses.

The Scorpio Angel (Water, Fixed)

The Avenging Angel is more like it for this sign.  Step out of line and this angel gets you right back onto it with a flaming sword.  The Scorpio Angel gives you no rest until you repent the evil of your ways.  The Scorpio Angel is no fun.  But then again, neither is that certain place with no air conditioning and no exists.  The Scorpio Angel’s mission is to save you from that place, from yourself, and from your weaknesses and temptations.  And Scorpio takes that mission very, very seriously.

The Sagittarius Angel (Fire, Mutable)

If your idea of a guardian angel is a spirit that walks beside you everywhere and keeps you out of harm’s way, then you’re thinking of a Sagittarius Angel.  Sagittarius is the sign of both travel and companionship.  The Sagittarius Angel is a great pal who gives you lots of space to follow your own lights, intervening only when you’re in trouble or danger, or when your own judgment is so egregiously bad that you need to be straightened out, fast.

The Capricorn Angel (Earth, Cardinal)

You’ve got the Taskmaster Angel, the Drill Sergeant of the Hereafter.  No excuses, no rationalizations, no justifications, no gray areas, no either/ors, no if-ands-or-buts.  No stalling, no asterisks, no exemptions, no just-one-time, no just-one-more-time either.  Just do it.  Grow Up.  Get Over it.  Get used to it.  Deal with it.  The Capricorn Angel is tough on your conscience and cuts you no slack, and doesn’t have a sense of humour about some things.  All of which is a big pain now, but which saves you from bigger pain later.

The Aquarius Angel (Air, Fixed)

Remember Clarence from It’s A Wonderful Life?  Clarence is probably an Aquarius Angel, doing things in an unusual way, but so well meaning that somehow everything works out in the end.  If any angel can understand human flaws, failings and foibles, its the Aquarius Angel.  This angel will pull rank on you only if you really push the envelope.  Otherwise, Aquarius Angel prefers the explanatory Socratic method of showing you the error of your ways kindly.

The Pisces Angel (Water, Mutable)

The Pisces Angel is such a sweet and sympathetic soul that he/she probably weeps when you do wrong.  In the long run, that may be harder on your conscience than all the lectures and hellfire-and-damnation sermons in the world, and you’ll be good for all the right reasons.  The Pisces Angel is the one who urges you to be patient, to be generous, to give people the benefit of the doubt, to do unto others as you would have others do unto you.  That’s exactly how the Pisces Angel behaves, leading by example.  Follow that example.  You can’t miss.

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I just couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that my local post office was selling Christmas cards at the end of August already!  It’s true, though, that time of year will once again be upon us before we know it and we’ll be rushing around the shops trying to find that something special for someone special.

Well, this year, why not avoid those thousands of people down at the mall and do a bit of in-home shopping with Mystical Parties?  Our wonderful team of party plan consultants are always busy between now and Christmas, so we recommend booking your party NOW to avoid disappointment!

Let’s party (plan) on!

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