The animals you live with are represented in art. Sculptures, large and small, paintings and drawings on your walls have feng shui power.

Of highest importance in determining its power are the associations or feelings about a particular animal. Often, how an animal came to live with you is a large part of its significance to you. Was it a gift? From whom? For what occasion? Or did you find it during your travels?

Another way to look at the animals you live with: Consider how they behave in their natural habitat. Are they loners? Are they social? Are they monogamous? Are they promiscuous? Are they tidy? Are they messy? Are they autonomous? Are they dependant on the group? Do they hunt alone? In packs? Are they carnivores? Are they leaf eaters? Do families stay together? Or not?

If they are loners, perhaps they match the loner in you. Or perhaps they indicate a yearning for more solitude.

Something else to consider - do your horses, polar bears, gazelles, cheetahs, lions, bears have room to roam? Do your fish and sea turtles have room to swim?

If you have sculptures or paintings of fish, which direction are they swimming? Do they have “room to swim” or do they immediately encounter a wall? Do you have room to grow or do you feel like there's a wall in front of you?

If you are a confirmed vegetarian, it would be interesting if you have carnivores in your home. Perhaps you need their hunting prowess to balance your pacifism.

As you consider the qualities of the animals around you, you can assess the power of a particular symbol by the size of the piece and how prominently it is placed.

Then, you can decide if you want to increase or decrease its power by placing it so it is more or less immediately visible.

Kathleen Tumpane owns Touchstones Feng Shui Interiors. For information, call 568-2933.