As a longtime mechanic, Henry Carter has seen cars that seemed to be dogged by bad luck.
They'd have weird electrical problems or strange noises that came only when a mechanic was not around. They seemed to break down all the time.
"It just didn't make any sense," says the 50-year-old, and he started to wonder if maybe it had something to do with a car's energy — in the same way practitioners of the ancient Chinese art of feng shui would find blocked energy in a home or office affected the people who lived inside of it.
So he and his wife, Lisa, both longtime meditation practitioners and teachers, along with feng shui consultant and author Gabrielle Alizay of Santa Cruz, got together to create something that would put a car — and, more importantly, the driver — back in harmony with nature and also improve the car owner's life.
They developed one of the first feng shui kits for cars, designed to enhance things like health, love, wealth and safety for the people who drove them.
And maybe even make a car run a little better along the way.
Good energy
Water Star Motors sits at the end of a crowded automotive center tucked against the banks of the San Lorenzo River. A pack of Mercedes-Benz automobiles are parked out front. Inside, the staccato sound of air guns punctuate conversations.
| "We had the house done and the office done," Henry says of their feng shui consultations with Alizay, who wrote a book called "Feng Shui for the Rest of Us." And while skeptics say the practice is just superstition, Henry and Lisa say they noticed that people began having an easier time finding their location once they moved equipment and furniture and installed energy-enhancing mirrors as the old art suggested. Even their workers seemed happier. |
The couple, along with Alizay, spent nine months developing the kits, which sell for $27 each.
The kits consist of two small "bagua" stickers that are put on the front and back windows of the car to reflect bad energy away, along with a "chi catcher," a small stone attached to a wire, designed to keep good luck and life forces in the car. In addition there are two small bronze statues of "spiritually evolved beings" along with a prayer card that is read each time the driver gets into the car.
The prayers, statues and chi catcher change according to what the driver wants to enhance, whether it be their love life, their health, their wealth or even their safety. The kits' contents follow the principles of the old Chinese art of placement for improving harmony in one's life.
But making changes involves more than just installing these items, says Lisa, a mother of four who worked as a mechanic with her husband before she started running the front office.
"Every item has an activation ritual that goes with it," Lisa says.
Without activation and intention, the kit doesn't do what it's supposed to do.
"The idea is to bring chi energy to that symbolic area in your life," says Alizay, who wears jeans and running shoes and has long, curling hair. "As with everything, the intentions behind it are what are important. What you visualize and what you say brings the intent to it."
Lisa, for instance, installed a "wealth" kit in her 1991 Mercedes sedan, doing the rituals as she put in each item.
"My car had so much energy in there, it was buzzing," she says. Within a short time, a friend called with an investment opportunity and a loan application was quickly approved, she says. That year, she and Henry were also able to take four weeks off for vacations, even helping to open a retreat center in Tennessee.
"Wealth is not just about money," says Alizay. "It's about a feeling of having more than enough. ... This is a feeling that you are wealthy, no matter what is in your bank account."
Toni McVey, a graphic designer in Felton who installed a "wealth" kit in her car, agrees.
As a designer, she says, she understands about energy flow and the art of feng shui, and since installing the kit, she has felt a real sense of abundance in her life.
"When I see this little sticker it just reminds me of where I want to be," she says. "Whether the gold or the reflections work, it serves as a lovely reminder to me that, ultimately, that's where I want to be."
Like most modern businesspeople, the Carters have created a Web site for their kits and are finding buyers from across the U.S. They have sold about 100 kits so far.
"When you have harmony in your car, there is peace on your path," Lisa says.
"We are creating world peace one car at a time."
Water Star Motors is at 318A River St. in Santa Cruz, 457-0996.
Contact Peggy Townsend at ptownsend@santacruzsentinel.com.
If You Buy
WHAT: Feng Shui Car Kit.
WHERE: Water Star Motors, 318A River St., Santa Cruz; Gateways Books & Gifts, 1126 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz; or online at http://fengshuicarkits.com.
COST: $27.
information: 457-0996.
