Asian charms offer hope of prosperity

By TAMA MOISER

Want to breathe a bit of harmony and prosperity into your home? Feng shui miniature dragons, on display at the Auckland Home Show this week, may be just the ticket.

Visitors to the show can hatch speckled "eggs" containing the hand-painted clay dragonettes at the Crafty Dragon stand, run by husband-and-wife team Brian and Karen Stewart. They can then place an I Ching coin in the dragonette's mouth to "capture" it.

Mrs Stewart says the coin is used in feng shui to provide protection against evil, while dragons are thought to create harmony.

She suggests that people put the dragonettes in the wealth corner of their homes - normally the far left-hand corner looking in from the entrance - to bring prosperity.

Mr Stewart says the miniature dragons come in three different designs and three colours, and not even their creators know which one is in a given egg. "People like the element of mystery, like a lucky dip. It seems to capture their imagination."

About 20 per cent of the fantasy shop's products can be used for feng shui, which has become popular in Auckland over the past few years.

Feng shui practitioner and author Mai'a Martin says the system aims to "enhance energy flow within the environment, so you create more balance and harmony in life."

Interest in feng shui is "increasing all the time," she says. "When I started 5 1/2 years ago, nobody had heard of it. In terms of basic knowledge, nearly everyone knows something about it now."

Mai'a Martin says her clients are mainly Pakeha women in their late 20s and early 30s.

Fashion photographer Julian Miller says he noticed an immediate difference after having his apartment and studio "balanced" by Mai'a Martin 18 months ago.

"I got more calls for work straight away, and I've been steadily climbing in my industry."

His personal relationships have also become stronger, he says.

The consultation showed him "which parts of the room were for different areas of my life."

"Then you can correct things and make that area more productive."

The Auckland Home Show will run from tomorrow until Sunday at the Auckland Showgrounds in Green Lane West.

Opening hours will be from 10 am to 10 pm every day except Sunday, when the show will close at 6 pm.