Use of Paper Lanterns in Feng Shui

Red Lanterns

• In the Asian cultures, especially Chinese, red is a symbolic color with great significance. Red represents happiness, good luck, abundance and prosperity. In feng shui, red is associated with relationships, particularly marriage. Red lanterns by the front door will give the couple a happy home and ward off evil, and hanging them beside or above the marriage bed will increase fertility and the likelihood of pregnancy. The positive energy of Yang is associated with paper lanterns. Turning the red lanterns in a home on or off at the same time strengthens the unity and joy between the couple.

Purple Lanterns

• The Yin/Yang theory that everything is in consent change but is always balanced is a principle practiced in feng shui. Purple represents the Yin, or female, side of Yin/Yang and brings peace, spiritual awareness and healing, both mental and physical, when integrated into your environment. Deep, rich, dark purple lanterns will bring fame, good fortune and good luck. Place lighter shades of purple paper lanterns where you contemplate spiritual thought and meditate.

Green Lanterns

• The use of the color green represents nature, the environment, earth and growth in many cultures, including Asian cultures. In feng shui, green is a Yin, or female, color used to bring harmony, growth, health and well-being. Placing a green paper lantern by your desk or where you intend to study promotes awareness. Green lanterns increase spiritual enlightenment and contentment.

Blue Lanterns

• The soothing color of blue is also a Yin and in feng shui, it is associated with girls, not boys as it is in the western world. Blue also represents peace, relaxation and water and is frequently incorporated into environments designed for relaxing, such as bathrooms. Feng shui dictates that hanging blue paper lanterns in areas where you plan to spend time relaxing or in water will bring an added sense of peace and contentment.

Other Colors

• Other colored lanterns such as white or yellow are not as common in feng shui, though the colors are symbolically prevalent throughout the Asian culture. White symbolizes innocence, purity and morality and is linked to death and birth where the color is most commonly used. Yellow is reserved as an imperial color and considered sacred. It is also associated with earth, courage and wisdom and occasionally is integrated into feng shui to encourage those attributes.