Feng Shui ~ Graduation Gifts

    With class graduations just around the corner I'd like to go over a few Feng Shui cautions. From a Feng Shui perspective, auspicious gift giving brings luck to both the giver and the recipient. Everyone benefits. This is a time when intention comes into play.  The act of giving should be accompanied with the very best wishes for the graduate. As you select and then wrap the gift - spend a few minutes in meditating on the success and happiness that you envision for the young person's future.

If you are giving flowers to a young woman or decorating a reception area, yellow flowers are the best; sunflowers, daffodils, tulips but never roses because of their thorns.  The gift should be wrapped in a bright yang color such as red or gold wrapping paper. Tying with a red or gold ribbon will increase the good luck attached.  Best of all is to wrap the gift in yellow cloth, and silk is king.

All gifts should be personally delivered or sent to the house of the recipient.  This is because you will be symbolically sending good luck to their home and their family. Never just hand it to the person at graduation.  Classical Feng Shui practitioners will actually pick the most auspicious day to send the present.

In Feng Shui clocks and watches are a big taboo as they measure the passage of time and imply that time is fleeting and one can never recover what has passed. It is interesting that in our culture we give watches at retirement when one's job is over. There are some practitioners that feel that you can counter the bad luck attached if the recipient immediately gives you money for the watch - it must be in coins (metal) this way symbolically they purchased the watch for themselves.  I would prefer to avoid the awkwardness of this situation, play it safe and chose another gift.  In America watches have become a common graduation present so if you have your heart set on giving a watch then why not give a gift certificate to a jewelry store and they can purchase their own watch.