I am about to purchase a new vehicle, and am concerned about which color to choose. Choices are gold, silver, red & blue. Question: Should I choose to balance the element of the vehicle (metal) & go with water or fire, or choose to balance my personality (slight introvert) with the color of fire?

- Dierdre Brust, USA

Karen's reply:

If you read my books you will find that my approach to Feng Shui is not as mechanical as this. When choosing the colour of a car I choose the colour I am most passionate about at that time in my life - the colour that lights me up and makes me feel good. This is because I understand that people have an etheric interaction with their cars and other kinds of mechanical equipment they use on a daily basis (computers, tools, etc), and the better the relationship with the machine, the better it performs.

For this reason I also name my cars, computers and other major pieces of equipment in my life, and yes - I talk to them and pat them and give them words of encouragement too. Ask any master craftsperson or musician and they will tell you that they have an intensely personal relationship with the tools or instruments of their trade, even to the extent that some can tell if they have been handled by another person without their knowledge (what they are sensing here is the etheric imprint that has been left behind).

So as well as the colour of a car, how it feels is also important. The five element principles of feng shui offer guidelines upon which to base choices, but continually adhering to feng shui dogmas can be self-defeating. Your ordinary mental consciousness is very limited. Go higher. Tune in to your intuitive knowing about what works for you and discover a whole, vibrant new approach to feng shui, from the inside out rather than from the outside in. This, after all, is how ancient feng shui masters, who were great spiritual adepts, first distilled the wealth of feng shui knowledge that exists today.

Of course the main problem with this more advanced method is that your choices will then depend on your degree of spiritual discernment. If you are concerned about 'getting it right' then this may feel too risky for you, in which case you will have to consult a classically trained feng shui practitioner for a prescription to your current dilemma and I'm sorry I've made you read so far to find this out!