Your landscape designer creates a wonderful looking hardscape for your front or back yard.  Your interior designer suggests a certain tile for your bathroom or kitchen remodel.  What are the considerations: color, texture, style, price? There are both esthetic and cost-conscious decisions to make.

From an entirely different perspective, any type of stone is considered the “earth element” in Chinese metaphysics.  In the practice of feng shui, the location of a piece of stone can affect the health of the occupants. In other instances, the placement of earth, inside or outside may also influence an occupant’s financial success.

Placing large stones, boulders, and elevated mounds of earth in a landscape design represents a “virtual mountain.”  The mountain energy is always associated with health and human harmony.  In classical feng shui theory, some houses need to have a large display of earthen objects on the front side of the property in order to fortify the health and well being of the occupants who dwell inside.  Other house types benefit from having large stones behind the house.  Each property is truly unique and should be assessed by an expert.

Feng shui is partly based on the premise that your immediate exterior surroundings can affect the energies inside the house or building.  The earth element, strategically placed outside of a house can also manipulate the flow of “chi” (air currents) around the property.  For some people, this makes a huge impact on their ability to make or save money.

When earth is used as a remedy inside a house, it is often represented with stone statuary, ceramic pottery or artwork, natural stones and crystals.  In Chinese Five Element Theory, the Earth element makes Metal stronger.  The teeth, mouth, jaw, chest, head, and lungs all have an association with the metal element.  If someone was sleeping in a room that indicated a health problem in one of these areas, it is likely that the health issue would improve if a generous amount of the earth element were added to the room.

While any stone may be considered “earth,” each type of stone has its own unique healing aspects, according to gemology.

Marble: can assist in meditation and total recall of dreams. It can be used in the treatment of bone marrow disorders, for viral and bacterial infections.

Citrine: is called the Merchant’s stone because it helps attract money luck.

Sodalite: helps people think more rationally and logically. It has also been used in the treatment of gland metabolism, digestive disorders, and deficiencies in calcium.

The ever-popular rose quartz is used to build self-esteem, self-love and attract love from others.

There are hundreds of types of stones.  They can be worn as jewelry, added as décor to a home, and literally incorporated into the building materials and natural landscape. Throughout history, there have been certain stones valued more than others.  Likely, they were used in certain contexts that was also deemed necessary or helpful during those times.

Stones have also been used as talismans, and the breastplates of soldiers or the crowns of kings were adorned with stones deemed powerful in protection and expansion.

Each culture has their favorites stones and in Chinese culture the jade stone is one highly regarded.

Author: Kartar Diamond

Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®

From the Health and Personal Matters Blog Series