The Main Door in Feng Shui - 6 Important Factors to Consider.

The front or main door in Feng Shui is the most important consideration. It is not only the interface between the exterior environment and the interior of the house. There are several essential factors.

Why is the main door the most important feng shui part of your house?

Feng Shui, like all Chinese Metaphysics, is about Energy (Qi). In general, the more significant the energy, the better the benefits for the residents on the property. Naturally, the better the quality, the greater the benefit.

We use the analogy of the human body; the door is like the mouth of the person. The human mouth is the entry point for the nourishment of our bodies. We take an active role as we can select what we want to eat and drink. We can eat healthy food, enough food to survive or dine with gourmet food. We can go to where the food is and select the food. In other words, we can actively choose the nourishment that we can eat and drink.

However, the main door behaves like a mouth for energy. It is fixed to the front of the house and, therefore, has a passive role. There are three steps to get the most suitable energy through the front door.

1. To prepare the energy from the Exteriors to reach the front door.
2. The main door has to be in a suitable position to receive this incoming energy. It also has to be enticing for the energy to come in.
3. Once it is in the house, the energy has to settle, and there should be adequate methods for the energy to be distributed throughout the property.

The Purpose of the Main Door in Feng Shui.

The primary function of the main door, which is also an exterior door:

1. To allow personal entry to your home/property.
2. To provide safety and security to the people and possession inside.
3. Be durable - to protect from rain, wind, heat, sunlight and cold.
4. Provide a thermal barrier to decrease energy loss and the presence of draughts.
5. To provide a sense of style to the front of the property. The front door is the first thing that people see when they walk towards the house. This provides an identity to the owners of the property.

From the Feng Shui point of view, the main door is the most important consideration in the property. It is literally the “mouth” of the house. This is the main entry point for energy to enter.

For us humans, we eat food, and it passes through our mouths. Without any food, we will starve to death. Likewise, the Main door lets in the energy from the exterior environment. Without this energy, the house will “die”. Have you been to a property that has been unoccupied for about six months? It feels empty and has a strange feeling and smell.

These are the following factors

First Impression

• Position
• Proportion
• Design
• Maintenance
• Inwards/outward

The importance of the main door is the first impression it gives the visitor.

Position of the Door

The most comfortable front for a house is when it resembles a human face: two eyes, a nose and mouth.

People are very comfortable with this design or configuration.

The designs become uncomfortable when the door is not in the centre. The house on the left has the door at an angle to the house’s facing. The property on the right has the main door in the annexe or side. These properties in these two examples do not feel right.

The point is that the door must be in the front centre and facing forward.

Proportion:

The door has to be proportionate to the size of the building. For large properties, a large door is necessary. Whereas for smaller properties, it is a smaller door. However, the size of the human limits the door’s dimensions. 

In the UK, doors usually have a height of 1.98m (or 78 inches) with a width of 0.4m or 33 inches.

Design:

Design is the reflection of the people on the property.

These have to be in keeping with the design of the house. In the UK, there are three main types of doors that are available.

Traditional Wooden Doors, Plastic or uPVC Doors, Composite Doors

There are various designs with accompanying fittings.

Maintenance:

This reflects very much on the attitude of the residents. Do they want to look after the property they live in? They might own it, which matters even more, or they might be renting it. Even if they do not have a stake in it, it is their attitude to care.

Doors opening – outward or inwards

1. By convention in the UK, doors to residential properties open inwards. When the door opens, the visitors come into the house. The hosts have to step back.
2. However, when a porch is added to the front of the house, the door opens outwards. In this case, visitors would have to step backwards for them for the door to open.

From the Feng Shui point of view, the different ways of opening the door can make a difference. This depends very much on how the energy flows in the environment.

The Characteristics of Energy going through the Door

It essentially depends on the quality and quantity of energy

The quality of the energy depends on:

1. Compass direction
2. Time-period (20-year cycle)
3. The energy is flowing smoothly or in a turbulent manner

The quantity of energy depends on:

1. The landform – the presence of mountains and valleys. It does not matter whether the mountain is 1 metre or 1000 metres high. It is just higher. The valley is the landform that is just lower.
2. Water – flowing in drains and rivers or stationery on ponds and lakes.

The quality of energy going through the door.

1. Compass Direction:

The energy coming from the eight compass directions has different properties or qualities. This is based on the BaGua

2. The Time Period (20-year cycle)

In each 20-year period, energy coming from a particular direction is auspicious or the Predominant Energy

Therefore, in 2022, the energy flowing from the Northeast is the predominant energy. The energy from the South is getting more auspicious as it is the next predominant energy.

3. Energy flow is smooth or turbulent

The flow in “A” is smooth or stable, whereas the flow in “B” is turbulent or unstable.

In Feng Shui – “A” or smooth flow is the preferred type, and it has the properties of Sheng Qi.

“B” is the turbulent flow which has the properties of Sha Qi.

The Quantity of Energy

This depends on the physical terrain of the exteriors. There should be “mountains” and “valleys “for the energy can flow easily. You do not want to be in a property where the energy is either stagnant or absent.

The other requirement is water. The water flows in drains, streams or rivers. Also, there can be “static” water in pools, ponds and lakes. Flowing water carries energy with it.

The most important factor is - a channel for the energy to flow from the exterior environment to the property through the main door.

The Colour of the Door

In Feng Shui, there are two ways to select the colour of the main door.

1. The person’s Kua Number – based on the date of birth
2. Either the direction of the door or the location of the door in the BaGua

1. The person’s Kua Number (Personal Colour).

This is based on the Kua number of the head of the household. Each Kua number is related to an element that has a unique colour.

Your Kua number can be obtained here:

To summarise

For example:

Male born in the year March 1970.

Kua number is kua 4

The element is Yang Wood.

The suggested colour is Dark Green

2. The compass direction of the door or the location of the door in the BaGua

This is based on the BaGua.

The BaGua is an Energy map with eight sectors. Each sector has a compass direction and an element.

The direction of the Door – is made from a compass measurement near the property.

Facing Direction of Door = South

Element is Fire

Suggested colour – Red

Door is located in the South West Sector – based on the BaGua

Element is Yang Earth

Suggested Colour – Dark Yellow or Orche.

The Exterior to the Main Door

The main door, from the Feng Shui perspective, is the most important part of the house. This is the entry point for the people, goods but very importantly, energy.

What are the factors:

Arm Chair Configuration

An open space in front of the main door is good. Preferably with a path and with nature – plants, grass and trees.

1. The ideal configuration for the house is the armchair configuration. The front of the property faces an open area, whereas the back of the house is “supported” by a “hill” or structure. This configuration is very much like a person sitting on a chair. Support at the back and a clear view in the front.

Caption: The armchair configuration

2. Likewise, the main door should face an open area (forecourt or Ming Tang) where the energy can settle before entry to the property. This is known as the Bright Hall Effect
3. It would be better if this space were open like a garden and a footpath leading to the door.

The best available energy (sheng chi) comes when there is a big open space with nature – plants, grass and trees. The energy is calm and the movement is gentle.

Narrow Alleyways

Sha Chi or Poison Arrows.

Sha Chi is caused when energy passes structures like telephone poles, post boxes, wind turbines, Ferris wheel or any obstacles that impede the smooth flow of energy. After the energy passes through the “obstacle”, the energy flow is no longer smooth – it is turbulent.

1 – Smooth or Laminar flow (beneficial energy)  2 - Turbulent flow  (Sha chi energy is no longer beneficial.)

Examples of objects that cause sha chi

Caption: Examples of objects that emanate Sha Chi. These include lamp posts, electricity posts,a lighthouse, building corners. In London, there are examples – The London Eye to the Shell Building, The Shard to the immediate neighbourhood of South Bank on the River Thames.

Roads and Rivers

Energy moves along roads and rivers. They transport energy.

When the road traffic and the river flow are slow and steady, beneficial energy (sheng chi) flows are beneficial to the residents of the property.

When the road traffic and the river flow are fast, the energy is fast and furious – it becomes sha chi.

The Interiors and the Main Door

The Main Door is the barrier between the exteriors and the hallway or the reception room.

This room should be neat and tidy. The outdoor coats and shoes/slippers are to be kept neatly or away in another space.

If the hallway is small, a mirror can be hung to brighten up the place by reflecting the outside light into the house. The mirror can also be used to check your appearance before you leave the house.

Some observations when you are coming into the house:

1. Energy will not be retained in the property when:

• You see yourself in the mirror. If you can see yourself in the mirror when you come it, the mirror is also reflecting the incoming energy out as quickly. When no Energy is not coming into your house, your house will be deprived of energy.
• When you come into the house, you see two doors in a line and the rear garden. Try to keep the middle door shut. The energy rushes out of the property when the front door is opened.
• When you come into the house and you see a window directly in front of you, energy is going out of your house as fast as it is coming in. It would be a good idea to draw the curtains to this window to stop the leakage of energy from the property.

2. Money will flow out needlessly.

When you look in:

• you see the toilet in front of you
• you can see the kitchen, particularly the stove or the cooker
• the staircase is in front of you.

In the first 2 cases, the remedies are obvious. However, the position of the staircase is the problem – see image.

Caption – the staircase leads to the door. This is the ideal opportunity for the energy to escape from the building.

Main Door and the Garage Door.

Do you use the main door if you already have a garage door?

In the left image, it is an example of a house in the UK. The garage is at the side. The residents would drive the car into the garage and then come into the house through the main door.

This is common practice with the entry from the main door. The hallway or the reception room is an important place where the energy comes in and settles. Then gets distributed to the various parts of the property.

The image on the right is a modern house in the USA. You can see the garage doors. There are 2 garage doors with space for three cars. The garage doors are central to the house showing the prominence. This is the “entrance”, whereas the main door is peripheral by being at the side.

Energy can go through the garage but is the garage neat and tidy or cluttered? Clutter hampers the flow of energy.

Secondly, are the doors from the garage going to the kitchen or a utility room or to the hallway (Reception Room). The kitchen and utility room are where energy is drained from the house. The hallway is where the energy is the hub where the energy is distributed to various parts of the house.

Why is the Main door the most important part of the house for feng shui?

The only place where there is new energy is in the external environments – in the open-air – parks, forests, the seaside, by the river with the flowing water.

The aim is to get as much of this new energy in the external environment into the property. The main way this energy gets into the property is through the main door.

The main door is the gateway for new energy to come into the property.

New energy is not generated within the property.

The greater the energy coming into the property and it is retained, the better the outcome for the residents in the property.

In Conclusion:

The Main Door is the most important consideration of the house. IT is the entrance of not only the person but the energy to the property.

The house is meant to provide shelter for the person. The energy coming into the property makes a house a home. It brings life to the property.

1. How does the door bring energy to the house?

The door has to be in the appropriate position to receive the energy

• Position
• Direction
• Colour
• Door dimensions

2. The Exterior – to prepare the energy to go into the house

• Space for the Energy to Settle
• Funnelling to focus energy to the door
• Direction of Entry

3. Interiors – to distribute the energy within the house

• Space for energy to settle and distribute
• Ensure that energy is received and not rejected

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