Light Candles In Any Room For Improved Feng Shui

Although it can seem a little intimidating at first, fire is a crucial element to having balanced feng shui in a home. Fire is primarily a masculine element that is responsible for your home's energy, passion, insight, and action. Besides woodburning stoves and fireplaces, candles are one of the best and most accessible sources of fire energy for your home. The fire element is strongly associated with the southern direction, but does that mean you can't place candles in other rooms? What if you want to enjoy a candlelit evening in your northern kitchen or create a spa-like vibe in your southeastern bathroom? 

Candles are a powerful tool in feng shui that you can use to your advantage, but some feng shui enthusiasts are understandably timid around fire. After all, fire has a lot of potential to bring destructive and chaotic energy if it's placed incorrectly. For this reason, it's important to choose your candles and their location very carefully. Here's our advice for sparking the right feng shui fire energy anywhere in your home. 

Next time you browse down the candle aisle, make sure you pay close attention to the candles you choose. Although all candles represent the fire element in feng shui, certain colors, scents, and materials are better than others for promoting positive energy. 

The best candle wax colors in feng shui are red, orange, and white. Red symbolizes fire in its strongest form and represents your household reputation, fame, and power. Red can also be used to ward off evil and negative spirits, making it a very powerful candle color to use in feng shui. Orange candles bring wisdom, peace, positivity, and knowledge, while white candles represent joy, spiritual cleansing, and heavenly thoughts. You can also create a space with multiple candle colors depending on your intention. For example, red and pink candles (fame and love) may bring you romantic luck. 

As with many other aspects of feng shui, natural materials are the best, so opt for 100% soy wax or beeswax candles. These generate more pure energy and are better for your health than toxic paraffin wax. In feng shui, you'll want to think naturally when it comes to candle scents too. Avoid sickly sweet options and choose subtle candle scents that complement the room, such as lavender in the bedroom or fresh cotton in the bathroom. Other calming, simple feng shui scents include bamboo, aloe, vanilla, sandalwood, coconut, or citrus. 

Most of feng shui focuses on element placement, and candles are no exception to this. According to the bagua map, specific rooms and directions are associated with fire, but that doesn't mean you can't have candles throughout your home. The southern direction is the strongest area for fire, so lighting a red candle here is thought to promote fortune, fame, and recognition, and could even bring about a job promotion, a raise, or academic praise.

In addition, the south, southwest, and northeast are also key directions to incorporate fire. A red candle in the southwest room will help you grow your social life, initiate friendships, and impress new people you meet. If you're learning something new or taking on a new challenge, place an orange or red candle in the northeast room to boost knowledge, wisdom, and skills. 

Of course, there is also a technique for placing candles within individual rooms, depending on your desired effects. Wherever you put your candle, make sure it isn't crowded or stuffed into a corner. You want the purifying energy of the fire to circulate freely in the room, so a central setting like a coffee table, TV stand, or kitchen island is ideal.