What’s up and down comes around, or so Nancy SantoPietro discusses in her informative book Feng Shui and Health, The Anatomy of a Home.

Reading SantoPietro’s take on the Feng Shui of the attic and basement truly put fear in my heart for a moment because both places in my home are unfit for human visitors. (In all fairness to me, the attic has been invaded by flying squirrels and nobody can figure out how to remove them from entering.) I’m resolving to have a massive clearing out of clutter in at least the basement this summer, and that is helping me feel less concerned. What are these places like in your home?

Here is an adaptation of what SantoPietro says of these two places:

Attic: The attic corresponds to the top of your head, the crown chakra and the third eye, and oversees any head-related injuries, strokes, migraines, headaches, eye health, foggy thinking, and more. Do you have a sense of uncompleted issues “hanging over your head?” You might want to clear out your attic.

Basement: The basement corresponds to the first and second chakras of the body, overseeing the genital area, bladder, uterus, edema, gout, foot and leg problems, and more, such as influencing difficult pregnancies or problems conceiving, prostate problems, menopausal problems, illnesses of the blood, and any lower-body cancers and tumors. The foundation of your health is affected by whatever is collected in your basement. Keep in mind that energy, like smoke, rises. The foundation of your house, each floor above it, and the foundation of your health are affected by whatever is collected and stored in your basement.

Adapted from Feng Shui and Health, The Anatomy of a Home, by Nancy SantoPietro (Three Rivers Press, 2002).

–Annie Bond