Feng Shui & the Kitchen Stove

{Photo via This Old House}

One of the most important considerations in feng shui is the location and placement of the main entrance, bedroom and stove. Today we will focus on the stove.

In feng shui, the stove is important because it governs the health of not only the cook, but all occupants of the home. The stove is used to prepare our meals, and when we consume our meals our body uses the energy from the food to sustain our lives. It is for this reason that we want the stove to be facing one of our best directions.


{photo via Moon-Goddess~Earth's flickr stream}

Depending on your date of birth and gender, each person has four different auspicious or positive and four malevolent or negative directions. Having the stove facing our positive direction will infuse the prepared food with energy that is favorable and supportive of good health. To find out what your favorable directions are please click here and enter your birthdate into the 8 Mansions Feng Shui Calculator.

So how do you find out what direction your stove is facing? Using a good compass, stand with your back in front of the stove (as if you were inside the oven facing out) and use that compass direction to find out the direction the stove is facing. If it turns out to be one of your positive directions there is no need for change. If the stove is facing one of your negative directions you may wish to consider changing the location of the stove. This would only really be necessary if you are planning to live in your current home for the long term.

Another consideration is where the stove is in the kitchen. Ideally, the stove should be supported with it's back against a solid wall. This protects the stove from receiving any unstable or negative chi from adversely affecting the cooking. An island stove, although a popular modern kitchen feature, is not so desirable in the eyes of feng shui. We do not like to see the back of the stove exposed as the chi will not be able to effectively support health.


{photo via Country Living}

One more thing to consider is the sink in relation to the stove. The stove represents fire element while the sink is the water element. Remember the cycle of the five elements? Water controls fire. This is not a productive relationship in the cycle of the elements therefore the sink and the stove should not be side by side. The least recommended distance between the two is at least 1 foot.

If you are living in the home that you plan to spend the rest of your life in then it is advisable to consider that the stove has been properly placed with in the kitchen. Short term living (less that 5 years) will have less impact, and when you do move to a new place you will be armed with the feng shui guidelines for good health.

Please visit Elke Zoe over at International Feng Shui if you are interested in finding out more about this ancient Chinese practice.