Feng shui, Latino-style

That Last Supper art work that you see hanging in so many Latino dining rooms might be more than just tradition – it may actually be an example of good Latino feng shui.
Feng shui (pronounced fung shway) is an ancient Chinese art that offers guidelines for arranging and decorating homes to create harmony and allow energy, (known as ch’i), to flow freely. It’s become increasingly popular in Western culture, too, which got us to thinking: What would a Latino feng shui look like? Would that Last Supper inspire peaceful family dinners? Or could rich, spicy wall colors also rev up your love life?

Feng shui practitioner Eric Cuestas-Thompson has become an expert at melding traditional Chinese feng shui teachings with multicultural Southwest homes. Cuestas-Thompson, a licensed psychotherapist, and his partner, Michael Bamba, opened their Tucson-based business, Those Feng Shui Guys, in 2006 after completing formal training. Their bilingual, bicultural approach means using elements that are culturally significant to individuals. So, instead of a helpful Buddha statue, Catholic Latinos may display santos in the health section of the home.

“There’s nothing Chinese about feng shui — that would be like saying you have to be Hindu to do yoga or a Buddhist to meditate,” Cuestas-Thompson says. “It’s all about ch’i flow, about how the energy flows.”

Along with lots of family photos, religious art work such as crosses and shrines are commonly found in Latino homes, Cuestas-Thompson says, creating more openness to feng shui. “There’s a natural tie-in to traditional folk medicine and using the environment to heal and, if the family is Catholic, the use of symbols is often very powerful. They may be more responsive to feng shui because they’ve grown up in a culture where color is important and symbols are important.”

He offers this quick fix for a problem that he sees in far too many Latino homes: keep family pictures and religious art work out of the bedroom. “Even though they’re just pictures, they affect you subconsciously. You don’t want the Virgin Mary, your kids or suegros looking down at you in your bedroom.“