So you want to be loved. Who doesn't? While many of us have read the latest books advising how to date, meet people or just plain be irresistible, few have delved into the mystery of the ancient Chinese discipline called feng shui to spruce up St. Valentine's day of love. Feng shui, a 6000 year old Chinese art of arranging one's environment to improve life's experiences has secrets to reveal to make you almost impossible to resist. Long before we Westerns did, the Chinese recognized how certain environmental factors can transport the mundane into the magical. Perhaps no day so richly deserves the art of placement as does Valentine's Day.

From the first knock at the door to turning back the satin sheets, here's a few feng shui tips for Valentine's Day.

First Knock - Create a Sensuous Threshold

Scents communicate instantaneously. The nose talks directly to the brain and can not be altered by nervousness or even a lousy mood. Select a scent that will create the right mood for your romantic interest.

Dab a scent near the entrance door. Dribble an aromatic essence on a wreath hanging on a front door or pour a few drops in a scent ring resting on a bulb of a lamp positioned close by. A small amount on a surface of a terra cotta pot (the kind you buy at any plant store) can dispense a scent. Any porous surface is ideal, for air spaces between the pores hold the scent and release it over time it into the air. You can even spray an aroma on a welcome mat.

Scents communicate instantaneously. The nose talks directly to the brain and can not be altered by nervousness or even a lousy mood. Select a scent that will create the right mood for your romantic interest.

Fragrances to Use

When someone has had an unsettling week, use Jasmine to mitigate emotional suffering.
If a person is prone to nervousness (perhaps your first date) use Cedar to dispel fear.
When someone has been overworked, use Eucalyptus to clear away fatigue.
If your partner has been burning the candles at both ends or just finished a taxing exam, use Mint to help eliminate metal fatigue and unclear thinking.
If a love interest is on the brink of asking you the "big question," use Orange to help them feel less self-conscious.
If a date has been depressed lately, use Basil to cheer them up.
If you want to snag them into your lair, use Cinnamon to dissipate emotional coldness.

The Heart of the Matter

A shape can communicate a message secretly. What subconscious impressions do you want to make? Consider transmitting your message by choosing a shape for a centerpiece on the dining room table.

Squares bring us back to the basics. If you want your love interest to know home life is very important to you, use a square arrangement. Don't be surprised if your date suddenly wants to bring you home to meet his family.

Round shapes can help keep up conversation. If a date is shy or finds conversing difficult buy snow ball flowers or place roses in a round vase to stimulate discourse.

Triangular shapes will get your date hot under the collar. If a relaxed, leisurely meal is how you want to spend the evening, don't use any flowers with pointed leaves or any shapes that overall resemble a triangle.

Wavy lines can unwind and relax those who might feel tense. Use an array of different flowers in a vase decorated with undulating lines to loosen up someone who may be a bit uptight.

Rectangular shapes will help a date want to enter a new era. If you have been trying to get this person to commit to being with you, try tall slim flower in a rectangular vase to stimulate a need for change.

To tantalize, seduce and allure try these other feng shui inspired suggestions:

Romance and proximity are essential. Don't eat at a table that holds more than two people. If your dining room table is too big, throw some pillows on the floor and set up a tray on a footstool and dine there. Being close brings you into thermal range -- a precursor to touching. Feeling another's body heat heats you up.

The only light in the room in which you dine should be a candle's flame in the center of the table. Flickering light creates a magnetic center. Few can resist its allure. Make sure all other house lights have been turned off, especially the ones in the kitchen!

Hang a crystal on a lightweight line near a subtle spot light and point a fan in its direction. It will twirl and move and bring a twinkling array of dancing specks into the scene to stimulate love's light by starlight..

Use a chenille, velvet, satin or otherwise seductively soft throw to cover the back of the sofa. Leaning against a smooth, delicious fiber can be the precursor to wanting to feel other soft items.

Always sit so that your love interest must turn to the right to converse with you. Since most of the human race, including the left handed, are right side dominant, it is far more comfortable and less stressful to turn to the right. Give it a try: kiss the air on the right side and then the left and you will discover how different it feels.

And so dear readers, I leave you with this advice
To help you seduce and entice
With scents, sights, shapes and touch . . .
Thus happily to celebrate the day of love
And all the days that follow.