عبودية الكراكيب

by Karen Kingston, كارين كينجستون, مروة هاشم (Translator)

Drawing on the success of her first book, Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston has met popular demand by expanding on the indispensable activity of clearing clutter. There is very little of actual Feng Shui here, and certainly nothing you can't get elsewhere, but the clutter problem gets full and complete treatment. Kingston reminds us that clutter is stuck energy that keeps you stuck in undesirable life patterns. Therefore, you can "sort out your life by sorting out your junk." Kingston covers the reasons we keep things as well as the amazing stories of people who have cleared their clutter away. More than just junk, clutter is all those things that have negative symbology and that collect stagnant energy. This latter can also apply to bodily, emotional, and spiritual clutter, all of which Kingston describes with characteristic passion. In an age of accumulation, it's good to see a book that frees up life again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Psychology, Reference, Health, Personal Development

223 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

I am the author of two international bestsellers with combined sales of over 3 million copies in 26 languages. My most popular title is 'Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui'.

In 2024, I co-authored and published two new books with my husband Richard:

Space Clearing, Volume 1: The art of clearing and revitalizing energies in buildings

Space Clearing, Volume 2: How space clearing works.

Our latest book, published in 2025 is: 7 Steps to Declutter Your Home.

My online courses about clutter clearing and conscious living have been taken by over 10,000 people from 70+ countries. If you've enjoyed my books and have not yet taken a course, do treat yourself sometime!

Reviews

[Nayra.Hassan · Rating 3 out of 5]

ابي العزيز يحتفظ بكل شيء منذ السبعينات حتى الان كل شيء بلا مبالغة: راديوهات و اجهزة التسجيل من كافة الموديلات تذاكر طائرات و قطارات..اطنان من أوراق عمل انتهى..حقائب 💼و صناديق و علب و بلا حدود

..و لأسباب فرعونية بحتة ..فعندما تسأله لماذا ؟ يجيب للتاريخ !؟
بالطبع اشتريت الكتاب لاني اخاف جدا من هذا المصير

لا يمكن ان يجتمع الحب و الخوف في المكان نفسه التعلق بالأشياء يعبر عن خوفك من ان تكون على صورتك التي تتمناها ..و إطلاق سراح كراكيبك يفتح الطريق لينفذ الحب لحياتك
حسنا😏لم اهضم ما سبق تماما
لكن هناك مايفيد بالكتاب العجيب

معظمنا يرتدي 20./.فقط مما نمتلكه من ملابس في 80./. من الاوقات و" هذا يطبق ايضا على كافة ممتلكاتنا" ..و بالتالي
يجب ان نصفي ملابسنا..بعد مرور عامين من عدم ارتدائها ... وبعد تقييم مشاعرنا تجاهها ..لاننا ننتقى الملابس بعواطفنا و نشترى بعضها و نحن في حالة شعورية سيئة ✔

من يحتفظون بالكثير من الأوعية و الزجاجات و الصناديق على التسريحة ..يكونوا أشخاص خاويين من الداخل😨 حسنا انا امتلك خمس صناديق على التسريحة!!ا

الكتاب يطرح عدة حلول مادية و معنوية أبرزها فكرة الصناديق الاربعة الاساسية للتخلص التدريجى من التعلق :📦
صندوق النفايات
صندوق الإصلاح
صندوق إعادة الاستخدام
صندوق مؤقت
+
صندوق الهدايا..صندوق المشاكل ..صندوق الصدقات ..صندوق المراجعات..صندوق المبيعات..
ثم تعلن الحرب على محتويات منزلك بالكامل..فانت لن تاخذ شيء مع الى قبرك {صينيين صحيح😄 مش عارفين ان الفراعنة اخدوا كل شيء للقبر حتى الاكل }..لذا فلا داعي مطلقا للتعلق باي شيء

ماذا استفدت انا من الكتاب ؟ تعودت ان ابعد عن متناول يدي ما اريد الاستغناء عنه و اذا لم أحتاجه او أتذكره حتى خلال عام او عامين ..اذن فلنطلق سراحها لصاحب النصيب

اللغة سلسة و الترجمة معقولة تتعثر أحيانا
و الجزء الخاص ببوذا الفينج تشو معقد و طنشته ..و اوافق بالطبع على ان هناك استبدال للبشر بالأشياء
..لكن لم اهضم الجزء الخاص بتنظيف القولون و التخلص من كراكيبك الداخلية عن طريق إلقاء ممتلكاتك كلها
و لم يقتنع ابي مطلقا بحرف واحد🌚ا

[da AL · Rating 4 out of 5]

My hunch is that those who need this probably won't read this lol

[zahra haji · Rating 3 out of 5]

فكرة قراء ة الكتاب لمحبي جمع الكراكيب بشكل هوسي مثلي مرعبة .. إن كانت هوايتك جمع البطاقات
الملابس وقصاصات الورق ومحارم مكتوب عليها 😁 وجميع الأمور الأخرى .. الخ
ستجد صعوبة كبيرة في تصديق المكتوب ومحاولة تطبيقه .. أما لو كانت حالتك لم تصل لدرجة الهوس
فالاستفادة ستكون أكبر .. ومحاولة تخفيف منزلك من تلك الاثقال ستكون أسرع

" التخلي عن الكراكيب يسمح لك بالتخلص من مشاعرك المزدحمة بداخلك "

الغريب أنني أصنف نفسي ضمن المهووسين .. إلا أنني ما أن باشرت بالقراءة حتى تخلصت من مجموعة
كبيرة من ملابسي القديمة والتي لم أعد استخدمها منذ سنوات .. من ضمن ما تخلصت منه إحدى الكنزات
التي تعود لعام 2006
طبعا الفكرة الأساسية باحتفاظي بمعظم " كراكيبي " .. هي المشاعر والذكريات المرتبطة بها وحتى لو
أصبحت تلك الذكريات لا معنى لها ... هذه الخطوة البسيطة كانت البداية فقط والطريق ما زال طويلا
للتخلص من الكراكيب النفسية والجسدية والروحية

التخلص من الكراكيب لا يتوقف على ما تكدسه بمنزلك بل عليه أن يشمل عقلك وروحك .. تلك الأفكار
والذكريات والعواطف التي راكمتها لسنوات وسنوات حتى باتت عبء يثقل حياتك وينقص عليك سعادتك
وربما تتجاوز مرحلة التخلص من الكراكيب المادية لتصل للأشخاص تطبيق الأخيرة صعب جدا
..ولكن لابد من المحاولة

[Shimaa Mokhtar · Rating 3 out of 5]

لم استفد منه بشكل كبير، ربما لأني قرأته بعد كتاب "سحر الترتيب" وكلاهما يدور حول نفس الهدف وهو التخلص من الكراكيب القديمة، وإن كان الكتاب الحالي يركز في جزء منه على الكراكيب النفسية أيضاً
بشكل عام كتاب متميز لمن يهوى الاحتفاظ بكل شئ قديم ويقدم حلول عملية سهلة التطبيق

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sure that Ms. Kingston's advice works very well for other people, but a lot of what she said boiled down to advice I've heard many times about how an orderly house leads to an orderly life, or that you feel better if you have less clutter. This would make for a fine book, except that I find some of her other statements offensive. If your house burns down, that's a sign from the universe that you need to restart your life. If you have books near your bed, then your primary relationship is with them and not people. If you have extra cans of food in your house, it's great to just throw them away. If they were outdated, I would totally agree with that statement, but otherwise, wouldn't it be better karma to donate them to a food pantry? I'm sure there are many people out there who wouldn't have any problem with the above statements and many of the others that she provides, but I found most of them to be quite irksome. If it wasn't such a short book, I wouldn't have finished it.

[Israa · Rating 5 out of 5]

اكثر من رائع .. ينصح بالتخلص من الكراكيب المادية و المعنوية 👏🏻

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been on a purge of the "stuff" in our home for a while now, and hoped this book would encourage me to go forth with renewed energy. It did, a little, but I also found a lot in it that made me more irritated at the author than inspired. Books by my bed don't mean that my primary relationship is with books rather than people. It means that I'm an avid reader and read a lot of books, though (now) keep only a smidgeon of what I read. If my house catches on fire, it's not the universe biting me in the behind for my clutter, though it would be a misfortune. I found the author to be a bit patronizing, as well.

What would really help me is a book that told me how to separate memories from objects, or how to detach myself from the joy those memories bring me of loved ones now gone, or times now past. It's not a sin to treasure memories, and sometimes objects help keep the heart whole, or help a wounded one heal. I want to cut down on our possessions mostly because I know it would make my husband happy, and to save my children from having to decide what to do with it all. The toy mechanical tiger that was my father's has memories for me from his stories, but they not only never met him, but never heard me tell the stories. Ebay, anyone? I think I need inspiration/motivation from inside myself rather than from inside the pages of a book.

Thank you blogging for books for sending me this book. I am removing it from the pile beside my bed, to help declutter the house.

[Maha Moustafa · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب معمول فيه مجهود حلو عن فكرة عبودية الكراكيب وطاقتها وأسباب احتفاظنا بيها
مش بس كراكيب مادية ده في كراكيب عقلية وعاطفية وغيرها.
كان في أجزاء حلوة وجديدة وأجزاء تانية مملة بس في المجمل لطيف
الترجمة ممتازة💖

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I have only read a little bit of this so far but already it's inspired me to de-clutter various nooks of my house. It has a way of inspiring you to de-clutter instead of inducing guilt about it.

Feng Shui is about the movement of energy through your home, and not surprisingly clutter is a major thing that gets in the way. She makes the point that you can follow the various advice to put a mirror here or a plant there, but if everything is all cluttered that is going to overshadow whatever positive effects you are trying to build. Clearing clutter is foundational.

It also made me consider the files on my computer and the clutter there - my computer is my virtual house/office for most of the day - and I've got files in all kinds of half-implemented organizational structures. It's a sprawling mess. The only set of files I keep religiously streamlined and organized is, of course, my financial ones. Heh. And yep, look, the financial area of my life always hums along fine.

I feel like ever since I opened David Allen's book Getting Things Done I've been on a perpetual re-organizing binge. So right now I'm frustratingly aware of my clutter and dis-organization and not feeling much progress in my quest for shiny-clean order and alignment. Actually, what I have now is a half-implemented GTD system. Which isn't really much better than what I had before. I did get a shiny new filing cabinet out of the jag though.

OK, that's off topic. My point is, any book that can motivate me in a good and realistic way rather than a here-is-an-entirely-new-system-you-must-adopt is helpful. I need an understanding hand to hold, not an injunction that I must change everything at once or it doesn't count. I can't possibly change everything at once. I have a life. So baby steps is a much better approach. A room at a time. A shelf at a time. A nook and cranny at a time.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read books on decluttering to keep myself on track. I think this is one I got super-cheap on Amazon. It started out fine, if you can over-look all the mystical silliness. No new information, but fine for me as a booster. But. The author seems to think she single-handedly invented the idea that clutter is problematic. Even believes that all the de-cluttering television shows out there are a direct result of this book! But I was even able to mostly ignore that until I got to the chapters on the body. I'm not sure when I've see so much bad science collected in one place. Colon cleansing, holding your arms over your head on the toilet, monitoring your poop, bras channeling electromagnetic rays into your breasts to cause cancer... The list goes on. She presents this hogwash as fact, in spite of a lack of robust data to support it (and some of these ideas have been solidly dis-proved). For mental de-cluttering she even advocates canceling out last minute on your obligations if you just don't feel like it, rationalizing that says probably what the other people involved would want anyway. Really - that's not self-serving?

I finished this book but ONLY because I am trying to meet my goodreads challenge. And now I can't get that time back.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not easily offended, and usually take things with a grain of salt. I also usually give authors the benefit of the doubt, and in this case I really wanted to because I know virtually nothing about Feng Shui. But this book was so extremely out-there that I got the feeling the author may be psychotic. I'm not kidding.

People actually believe that the things that happened in your house before you bought it will probably also happen to you, such as divorce, or bankruptcy?! (page 8) People actually believe that by clearing my clutter today, I am not only helping my children, or future children, but that it can actually "work back down the spiral of time to help your ancestors retrospectively?" (page 44) WHAT?! At one point she claims credit for healing a heroin addict. She calls palm reading an "extraordinary skill". She claims she "can smell clutter in a person's aura".

To top off this ridiculous cake, on page 40 she asserts that fires and floods that destroy everything one owns are in fact "wonderful opportunities", and that they are your fault, "cocreated" by you and God.

Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? This woman has the biggest superiority complex I've ever seen. I wanted to finish reading it just so I could be a fair critic, but I cannot. Frankly I am in disbelief of the positive reviews it has gotten, but maybe I'm simply, like the author claims herself to be, "a great skeptic".

I would have given it zero stars if I could have. Please don't waste your time, money, or energy on this garbage.

[Radwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

تتحدث المؤلفة هنا عن التخلص من الكراكيب، ليس فقط تلك الموجودة في المنزل لكن ايضا كراكيب الجسم والمشاعر والوقت والعلاقات الاجتماعية وغيرها



قضت المؤلفة وقتا طويلا لتحدثنا عن كراكيب من السهل التخلص منها وهي كراكيب المنزل أما عن الكراكيب الأخري فلم تذكرها بنفس الإسهاب

لكن الحياة لا تسير دائما علي هذا النحو؛ فكثير من الكراكيب علينا تحملها لأنها جزء من طريقنا علينا المضي فيه أيا كانت النتائج
علي سبيل المثال: ذكر زملائي الذين انهوا دراساتهم الطبية أن العمل بالمستشفي لا يمت بصلة لما درسوه وأنهم قضوا سنوات من عمرهم في "اللاشئ" هل يعطيني هذا حق ترك دراستي واعتبارها من الكراكيب؟

وعلي مستوي العلاقات الاجتماعية فإن كثير من العلاقات التي يجب أن اعتبرها من الكراكيب هي علاقات عائلية، هل علي إذا التخلص منها حقا؟

للأسف لا تسير الأمور كما ذكرتها المؤلفة في كتابها فإن علينا تحمل الكثير لتستمر الحياة كتحمل مثلا كوننا مصريين ونعيش علي أرض مصر



أما عن كراكيب المنزل فمن السهل التخلص منها

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Present day. Anywhere. Karen Kingston’s Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, Free Yourself from Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Clutter Forever (Revised and Updated Edition 2013) luckily defines feng shui. Feng shui “is the art of balancing and harmonizing the flow of natural energies in our surroundings to create beneficial effects in our lives.” The author specializes in “the art of clearing and revitalizing energies in buildings.” Then she continues with “For your life to work well, it is vital to have a good flow of the life force or ‘chi’ in your home and workplace.”. The author explains that “clutter is stuck energy.”. If one wishes to have her/his life flowing again, one must ‘clear the clutter out of your home’. Clutter is defined as 1. Things you do not use or love. 2. Things that are untidy or disorganized. 3. Too many things in too small a space. 4. Anything unfinished. Clutter May make one tired, keep one in the past, congest one’s body, can affect one’s body weight, confuse one, can affect the way people treat one, and the list goes on. There are various types of clutter. For example, paper clutter may refer to books. If one hold onto old books, it may not let “new ideas and ways of thinking” into one’s life. Then there is sentimental clutter such as ‘wedding memorabilia, personal diaries, or previous years Christmas cards. and photos. The next step is to ‘clear your clutter. The author suggests how to approach this. Time clutter also exists. The author helps with this also. Ultimately, one is to stay organized and clutter free. Life will ‘flow’ more easily.
To be honest I am not quite sure that I ‘buy’ this approach to living life. 3 stars.

[Suad Alhalwachi · Rating 3 out of 5]

يتحدث الكتاب عن خاصية في الانسان وهي تجميع الاشياء. هذه الاشياء قد تكون مادية (ملابس، مجوهرات، اثاث، كتب، العاب، ادوات مطبخ، وهنا استطيع ان اضع قائمة بملايين الاشياء) او معنوية ( نزاع بين الاشخاص، تراكمات لافعال تثير الضيق ، حياة صعبة، اصدقاء مزعجون وووو) او جسدية (ما نأكله لا يخرج مثلا)

لذا علينا ان نفكر بأننا لا بد ان نتغلب على هذه الصعوبات اذا اردنا تحقيق امالنا كلها. لان (وحسب تأكيد الكاتبة) الفينج شوي سوف لا يتحقق في حياتنا وسنبقى عرضة للقلق والامراض.

اذا لنبدأ العمل.

لم يعجبني في الكتاب عدد المرات التي ذكرت فيها كلمة "كراكيب clutter " احيانا تصل الى خمس- ست مرات في كل صفحة واتخيل لو اننا جمعنا الكلمة لاستطعنا التخلص من نصف صفحات الكتاب وهكذا سنحصل على كتاب مكون من ١٥٠ صفحة بدلا من ال ٣٠٠ صفحة وبهذا نكون قد تخلصنا من جزء من كراكيب الكتابة.😉

[Margaret Unger · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has a few practical points that must be filtered out from stuff that struck me as BS. The practical points are useful and motivating. The BS parts often caused me to laugh out loud and have provided me with amusing funny-story material -- seriously, you must clap your hands in corners and ring specially-designed bells but only if you are experienced or a trained space-clearing consultant, otherwise doing this might be dangerous?? I also had serious issue with her ending notes about the importance of colon cleansing. After reading this, I did a bit of research on colon cleansing and it appears to be the general medical consensus that it is completely unnecessary and can, in fact, cause injury and be dangerous to one's health. The author may thus be doing many people harm by touting the practice so enthusiastically, as I can imagine gullible people who take the Feng-Shui part seriously will also take her strong pro-colon-cleansing opinions seriously.

[kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far this book has made he a happier person and I am only on page 50.

I have a lot of clutter, though. Let me know if you want to borrow it.

[Emilie Lykfeldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking changed my life. Super inspiring!

[Amanda L · Rating 2 out of 5]

What does feng shui have to do with what your poo looks like? Everything, apparently.

[Donna Finke · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting.
Information that basically is in every magazine in January...make your piles and discard in a way that makes you feel better.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book inspired me to do a complete "feng shui" clean-out of my home! I have been scaling down my belongings for the past few weeks and feel such a surge of excitement with this wonderful revitalization of my living space.

In the process of reading this book and clearing space in my home/life, I have had to stop and consider every single object I have been holding on to...and ask myself: Why? Why do I still own this thing? If it still has a use, then fine, but if there is any negative memory attached to it, then its presence in my home will keep me in the past. Instead, getting rid of things like this will allow me to grow toward positive experiences in my present and future. Also, quite practically, clearing clutter creates space for new things...

I was amazed that this whole process of letting go works on so many levels. There is the physical aspect of it, of course, but it is also a cathartic, emotional experience. It was also a meditative process, too, awakening my spiritual sense (in a similar way that Yoga does for me), giving the old proverb "cleanliness is next to Godliness" a new meaning in my life!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to invite new energy in his/her home. It's amazing how the physical world around us, especially the home, can manifest in other areas of our lives as well...

[Al Alkhayyat · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب عبودية الكراكيب من اروع الكتب للتنميه البشريه التي قرءتها ، استفدت استفاده جمه ، خاصه ان هذه الحيثة لا يتطرق لها الكثير من المعالجين النفسيين وهي حقيقه ، تتكلم الكاتبه عن الكراكيب الخارجيه وكيف نتخلص منها ثم تتحول الي الكراكيب الداخليه النفسيه ، انصح بقراءة الكتاب للتعامل مع التكدسات المنزليه والمهنيه والنفسيه وحتي فب العلاقات التي حو��نا ، من الكتب التي ممكن ان تقرءها لاكثر من مره وستجد معلومات اخري وبشكل مختلف ، اعجبت به وعملت جاهده للغايه في تطبيقه ، recommended

[Reem Elmasry · Rating 4 out of 5]

وجود اشياء ليس لهما قيمة مركونه أو معطلة لم ولا تلاحظها أو نسيتها قد تكون كراكيب انت في غنى عنها , اشياء من الماضي انت متشبث بها رغم معرفتك بانتهاء صلاحيتها لمستقبلك وانك لن تستخدمها في حقيقة الأمر ، اشياء تحمل طاقة سلبية عليك ولكنها تذكرك بصاحبها أو تذكرك بذكرى أليمة هي كراكيب، كل ذلك ستجد الدافع القوي الذي يخلصك منها في هذا الكتاب، وعندما تفعل ستشعر بعدها بأن الاشياء من حولك لم تعد تضيق عليك الخناق

[Yomna Hamdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

:') رائِع جدًا جدًا جدًا
يِكفي إنني قد تخلصت من كَراكيبي الداخِلية .. وكَراكيب مكتبتي الدِراسية وكراكيب مكتبة الكُتب .. يِكفي أنني أدركت أن في "التَخلي" قُوة تفوق قُوة "التَمَلُك"
الكِتاب من الكُتب القِلة التي تمنيت لو أن آخر صفحة لم تأتي بعد
بُوركت كارين كينجستون .. وبُورك جُهدها
.. وفي القَريب باذن الله تَعالى ان منحني الله عُمرًا سأكتب باستفاضة ما تعلمته

[طارق سيد · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب مهم دسم عن تنظيم الحياه عبر التخلص من الكراكيب

[Mayar Ebead · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب مفيد ويستحق القراءه 🗨

[Ahmad Shuhait · Rating 2 out of 5]

نجمتان ونصف للأحقية

يطرح هذا الكتاب السؤال الأهم بنظري
"لم الاقتناء دون وجود الحاجة"

كتاب بأفكار جيدة، أنصح به

[Kamal · Rating 2 out of 5]

خلاصة الكتاب: خفف كراكيب تخف روحك ومشاكلك.

والباقي كركبة بلا داعي.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I need. And yet, whenever I read tips about how to de-clutter your life, I seem to always say that the ideas make sense, I can just never follow through with them.

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Most of the tips and advice for clearing clutter was common sense (get rid of things that don't work; get rid of things you're "going to fix some day" that you know you won't; get rid of stuff that has no real sentimental value for you anymore; get rid of stuff you have no use for anymore; etc.) and things I know I should do or things I have done, but it's nice sometimes to have someone else to remind you about things. It's one of those times where I know I *should* do something, but maybe don't do it, for some reason. For example, I know I *should* get rid of things that have no emotional value anymore, or now have negative emotional value (even though at one time they had positive feelings attached. You know, that thing your boy/girl-friend bought you that one day. You know, that boy/girl-friend who is now your ex and whom you now hate), but I can't bring myself to do it because they did *at one time* have good feelings attached (Well, at one time, I *did* like him, and he *did* like me. Even though, now, he doesn't, that jerk. I hate him. HATE HIM!). So the book is a nice reminder/kick in the pants to get rid of those things. :D And other little things like that -- things I know, but need to be reminded it's okay to do, or reminded that I *need* to do.

And I didn't/don't really buy into the whole touchy-feely, spiritual aspect of the book. Some of it seems to me (the skeptic) like common sense psychology type of stuff, not necessarily something that happens because of a Higher Power. But, whatever. I'm really just here for the cleaning advice.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring! I have already started to clean up the mess in our basement.

[Hawra habib · Rating 3 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب لمن يريد أن يعيش في مساحة رحبة ، بدون كراكيب ، لا استطيع القول بإنه ممتاز أو أني أصدق كل ما فيه مثل التخلص من كراكيب القولون وغيرها .. ولكنني أحببته كدفعة معنوية ايجابية دفعتني لتنظيم بيئتي المحيطة أكثر وأكثر.