The Color Green

by Diantha Harris, FSII, ASID, IACT

In Pyramid Feng Shui, a more Western approach to Feng Shui, the color GREEN is associated with the element of wood. Wood represents growth and change and in color symbology the same is true.

Going further, we associate green with the season of spring, when new growth is everywhere in nature and the muted palate of winter gives way to the riot of color which comes first with spring flowers and then with summer gardens bursting with the culmination of the growth that started to show in spring.

Green, as the wood element, is symbolic of growth, and new beginnings. It is also symbolic of life and the energy of change. Green is the new shoots of plants pushing through the soil as the sun warms the earth. Green is the color we most associate with nature and thus provides us with yet another connection to Pyramid Feng Shui: The Tao, or our connection to nature. Having green in our environment helps us to feel that connection to nature which is a physiological and psychological need we have as human beings.

In addition, green brings together the yin of the color blue which corresponds to the water element, and the yang of the color yellow, which corresponds to the earth element. We have in green, therefore, a balance of yin and yang energies and we have a combining of the earth element with the water element which then create the wood element. This elemental combination allows the stability of earth to coexist with the flowing energy of water and the energy of new beginnings and growth of wood, thus helping to balance the best of all three elements!

Green is spaciousness or having the space we need to achieve the growth and change we yearn for. It is also the space we need in which to make decisions and it carries within its emerald hue the clarity of the yellow and the stability of the earth element that yellow represents which we need to make those decisions. It also carries the hue of blue, the peace in which to make those decisions and to achieve growth, along with enough of that water element so that we can “go with the flow” once those decisions have been made.

Placing green in a space helps with the tao of nature. It is a color of balance of yin and yang energy with the coolness of blue and the warmth of yellow. It helps to promote the chi of growth and change. It brings together three elements of Pyramid Feng Shui: wood (green), water (blue) and earth (yellow). When you think of this combination of elements consider the power of creating change with support from the practical, stability of earth and still allowing for the flow of thought, movement and energy through the addition of water. Green is a powerful color from the perspective of Pyramid Feng Shui!

A final note on the color green is that when we choose to add green in the form of green plants, not only do we get the benefits of the color, we also get the benefit of what plants can do regarding environmental toxins. They can “eat up” toxins like formaldehyde, insecticides, and other indoor pollutants as well as providing us with the benefits listed above! We thus have our own clean air machines through the use of certain houseplants!

Green, the color of St. Patrick’s Day and Spring, is a great color to use on any day! A great ally and wonderful tool we can use when we practice Pyramid Feng Shui!

Diantha Harris, FSII, ASID, IACT, is the author of Simply...Color and is on the faculty of the Feng Shui Institute of America as their color expert. She also practices Pyramid Feng Shui which is a more Western approach to feng shui and based in the sciences of cultural anthropology, bau biology, psychology, sociology, sacred geometry, physics etc. Through an integrated approach of the use of these disciplines, Pyramid Feng Shui practitioners identify the many influences of the person-place connection and create recommendations for long-lasting, sustainable change, achievement of goals, and support of positive living.