In every industry, trends tend to spruce up out of nowhere from time to time. Then disappear when the market gets tired of it or when it suddenly doesn’t seem trendy anymore.
But in the world of symbolic feng shui, the pixiu bracelet has survived the test of time. And many would even insist that it’s popularity has grown with each passing year.
Part of it’s popularity can also be attributed to the pixiu being a cute-looking likable celestial creature.
If you don’t fully know the story of the pi xiu, or pi yao, then you should check out it’s tale of how it became a creature that eats gold and never defacating.
In short, the pixiu is a celestial creature highly associated with wealth. And it is also the pet of the Grand Duke.
Therefore, the use and placement of it is mainly to attract wealth luck, and also to appease the Grand Duke.
So carrying it around as jewelry, maybe in the form of a bracelet or pendant on a necklace can serve the user a dual role of both calling on wealth luck and for protection against bad luck.
Because bracelets are easy to wear as accessories, pixiu bracelets have become the accessory of choice for those who seek to call on the celestial powers of the creature.
This is also in part to how piyao bracelets these days have become more and more beautiful too.
Selecting a pixiu bracelet
The pixiu bracelets available these days in jewelry stores and feng shui malls have mostly settled on a particular form of design.
They mostly consist of a pixiu charm that is stringed with beads made out of different types of crystals.
This also means that the price of such bracelets depends on the material of the charm itself and the type of crystals used as beads.
If you allow me to side-track a little, when I recently purchased one as a gift for a friend and asked the store manager what the elastic string that holds the beads and charm together was made of, he answered that it’s high quality fishing line. I don’t know how true that is, but that’s the answer from a reputable jeweler.
Let’s get back to the topic.
While the more affordable bracelets consist of charms made out of bronze, silver and even plastic, the more expensive ones are made out of 24k gold. Then there are also those that are made with metal alloy and plated with gold. Crystals such as citrine and jade are pretty popular too.
Keep in mind that the most potent feng shui charms should always be made of metal such as bronze, brass, silver and gold. This is because metal is associated with the Chien trigram which represents heaven.
Charms made of earth material such as crystals would then be tied to the attributes linked to that particular type of gemstone.
So if you are wearing a pixiu bracelet to call on it’s magic rather than just for making a fashion statement, the charm itself should be made of metal.
Catching onto this feng shui concept, jewelers have also designed pixiu charm bracelets that are made fully of metal without the band of beads.
This is when the bracelets resemble more like bangles rather than bracelets. But they are pretty much meant to serve the same purpose.
Personally, I prefer crystal beads such as citrine, garnet, black agate or onyx as they supercharge the wealth symbolism. Even though jade would be a good combination of symbolism as well, I just feel that green with gold can be an eyesore for a bracelet. You might like that color combination though.
Further more crystals are of earth element, and would provide a source of strength for the metal pi yao to draw on.
How to wear a pixiu bracelet?
While just wearing them with you as a personal emblem can call on the mystical powers of the pixiu, there are some ways of wearing it that can optimize it’s effectiveness.
Just like you can watch a movie on the phone at low resolution… but going high definition would be more pleasurable experience 😀
Firstly, unless you have been specifically advised not to, then the pi xiu bracelet should be worn on the left wrist.
This is because it is deeply rooted in Chinese culture that the left hand is for receiving and the right hand is for giving. This is also supported in other metaphysical studies which state that vital energy enters from the left and exits from the right.
The left green dragon in the concept of the 4 celestial creatures also supports this idea.
So if the purpose is to attract wealth luck, then wearing it on the left wrist is the way to go.
However, if you are more focused on keeping and retaining money rather than making more, then it would be appropriate to wear it on the right. This is in line with the concept of the right white tiger, again drawn from the concept of the 4 celestial creatures.
Secondly, the feng shui concept of placement should be looked into regarding the orientation of the pixiu.
In this case, when worn on the left hand, the gold creature should be facing out. This is so that it grabs wealth from the external environment for you.
When worn on the right hand, then it would be acceptable for it to be facing inwards as it keeps wealth within.
Don’t forget to touch it often like playing with a real pet. The more it loves it’s master (you), the harder it would work to make you happy.
Since the bracelet is circular and and turn in any direction, what is outwards and what is inwards?
Just look at the bracelet like how you would look at your watch to check the time. The clock face would be usually on your wrist below the back of your palm. This is where the location of the pixiu should be when checking it’s orientation. When the pixiu is at his space, then the direction of where you thumb is would be inwards, and the opposite being outwards.
These are the two main important points of wearing a pixiu bracelet.
Remember to take it off when bathing as naked bodies should not be exposed to celestial beings. That is just disrespectful.
When not wearing it, the bracelet is best kept in a closed drawer without being exposed to onlookers. This is because unlike a pixiu meant for display, this personal pixiu would already be doing it’s job all the while when it is being carried around. So leaving it exposed on the coffee table for example, would be akin to ordering it to work overtime!
Let the adorable creature rest a little!
