Start Renovation Ceremony Guide For a Prosperous Start of Household

After the Door Opening Ritual/Ceremony and moving into your new house, renovation is definitely required (even for the most minor amendment to the house), so you should not miss out on the Start Renovation Ceremony!

Similar to door opening ceremony, this procedure is not a principle of Feng Shui, but it will give you a peace of mind, so no harm doing it. If you go around asking your elderly folks or Feng Shui Masters, you will even be more confused because there are many different way of doing it , so we hope that this DIY general guide will give you better understanding.

NOTE: Follow your own religious or FS Master procedure for starting renovation if you have one.

Preparation for the ceremony (same as door opening ritual)

1. Choose an auspicious date and time for the open house ceremony

You can use an annual almanac (Tong Shu) to check if the day is an auspicious day and the zodiac does not clash with you and your spouse. If you have someone to conduct the ritual for you (usually is your renovation contractor) on behalf, ensure that their Zodiac does not clash on that day too.

Some finding: If you are browsing the Yearly Almanac to choose the auspicious date for the start renovation ceremony, you will come across these 2 words 动土,破土 and 修造 . Here are some explanation of the differences so that you know which one to choose during selection.

What is the meaning of 动土 in the yearly almanac?

– 阳宅建筑时，按所择日时，用锄头在吉方锄下第一锄土的时间称“动土” (The moment when the hoe is hit on the ground before construction of the building, also known as ground breaking)

What is the meaning of 破土 in the yearly almanac?

– 仅指埋葬用的破土 (meant for burial ceremony)

What is the meaning of 修造 in the yearly almanac?

– 房屋的装修与建造(House renovation or repair)

What is next after the selection of the auspicious date and time?

2. Preparation of items for the ceremony

On the day of Commencement of Renovation work ceremony

1. Upon entering the new house, head to the center of the house (you can use your floor plan and mark out a cross to find your center) and place your offerings there.

2. Light up the 2 red candles and insert it onto the cucumber slide to make it stand

3. Next,  light up the 5 incense sticks and start to pray to all corners (just turn yourself around while praying), while saying auspicious phrase like “Blessing for a smooth sailing and harmonious household”, “Everything going well for the renovation” and of course, you must thank for it too. After praying, you can place the incense onto the slice and proceed to the next step.

4. Now, you bring the hammer and knock 3 times on every corner of the house, while saying the auspicious words.

5. After that, just wait for a while and you can start to burn the joss paper.

6. After ensuring that all the joss paper/ incense stick and candle are completed used up, this will complete the entire ceremony.

Note: Do not consume the offering and discard them after the ceremony