Many people have been asking me about the Feng Shui “money bags” e-mail they have received, wondering whether this really is Feng Shui and if they need to forward the e-mail in order to increase their wealth. The money bags chain e-mail says that “July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays, and this happens only once every 823 years and that this is Chinese Feng Shui.” The e-mail urges that if you forward the e-mail to your friends, money will arrive within four days. I tell everyone who asks that this is not Feng Shui, just another e-mail hoax, if for no other reason than the ancient Feng Shui masters never used chain letters to bring luck. Try not to feel intimated by this e-mail hoax, and don’t feel you need to forward the e-mail to anyone. Instead, you can create your own luck and make Feng Shui changes to attract wealth.

First, the premise of this e-mail is untrue because the phenomena of July having 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays occurs much more often than once every 823 years. In fact, it happened in 2005, 1994, 1988, 1983, and will happen again in 2016, 2022, and in years beyond.

Second, while there is a “money bag” symbol in ancient Chinese Feng Shui, it certainly doesn’t involve forwarding e-mail. In the Chinese culture, the Happiness Buddha carries the “money bag” sack over his shoulder and goes around handing out gifts. That’s why you often see the statues or images of the Happiness Buddha in Asian restaurants and businesses.

If you like the concept of money bags, but don’t necessarily want to display a Happy Buddha, you can create your own version of Feng Shui money bags that fits with your culture, and consequently create your own luck and wealth.

To make a traditional money bags symbol, find nine coins, wrap them in a piece of red cloth, then tie the cloth together with a red ribbon to create a bag or mini-purse. However, you can make your own version of this prosperity symbol. For example, the coins don’t need to be Chinese, and in fact they can be any coins that feel valuable to you, such as silver dollars or foreign money that you collected on a vacation. But you need nine coins because this is an especially auspicious number in Feng Shui. The traditional color for the bag is red because it represents the Fire Element that symbolizes abundance and wealth. However, you can use any color that feels prosperous to you, especially purple, green, or gold, and then embellish your money bags. I have even seen money bags shaped like fish, another Feng Shui wealth symbol.

After you have created your Feng Shui money bags, you can place them in the Wealth Area of your home, or anyplace where you receive or collect money, such as on the desk where you handle your banking and book keeping. If you have a home office, place your “money bags” near your phone. If you get paid online for your work, place your “money bags” near your computer.

Create your own version of Feng Shui money bags to help attract wealth, prosperity, and abundance – and then delete the junk e-mail from your in-box.

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