The Salt Water Cure: How This Ancient Feng Shui Method Clears Negative Energy in 2025

If you’ve ever walked into a space and immediately felt heavy, anxious, or “off,” you may have encountered what Feng Shui calls stagnant or disruptive energy—often linked to environmental or temporal “Sha Qi” (煞氣), or inauspicious forces. One of the simplest and most enduring ways to address these imbalances is the Salt Water Cure.

This time-tested technique is more than just a bowl of salt and water—it’s a powerful energetic tool rooted in the Five Elements theory, used to absorb negative qi and stabilize troubled sectors of a home or workspace.

Let’s explore how it works, how to make it, and when not to use it.

The Logic Behind It: Salt, Metal, and Water in the Five Elements

In the Five Elements system (Wu Xing), each material corresponds to an energetic phase:

• Salt is classified as Earth
• Water is Water
• Coins are Metal

Certain annual stars, such as the #2 (Illness Star) and #5 (Misfortune Star), are Earth-based energies. These stars are considered among the most disruptive in classical Flying Star Feng Shui.

To moderate these heavy Earth energies, Metal is introduced to weaken them (this corresponds to 洩 xiè relationship in the Five Elements, where Metal releases energy to drain Earth). Water is added not to empower the Metal but to keep the energy moving—like a gentle current that prevents stagnation.

It’s an energetically elegant way to shift imbalance without brute force.

When to Use the Salt Water Cure in 2025

Use this method when Annual Flying Stars #2 or #5 land in important areas of your home 

In the 2025 Flying Star chart, Star #5 lands in the center and #2 lands in the southwest of your home. These are ideal zones to set up a Salt Water Cure if they coincide with vital living areas.

How to Make a Salt Water Cure

You’ll need:

• 1 glass or stoneware or porcelain bowl (like a large noodle/ramen bowl)
• Coarse sea salt
• 6 coins (regular quarters are fine—there’s no need to hunt down antique Chinese coins)
• Room temperature water

Steps:

1. Fill the bowl 70% full with salt
2. Place 6 coins flat on the surface of the salt
3. Gently pour water until the bowl is about 90% full
4. Place the bowl in the affected sector of your home based on the Flying Star chart

Important notes:

• Do not move it once placed—this disrupts the energy
• Replace the entire setup once salt crystals begin to overflow

What the Salt Crystals Tell You

Over time, you might notice fascinating structures form in the bowl:

• Salt crystals forming around the bowl often mean high energetic tension or active absorption
• Be sure to place a saucer or tray underneath the bowl, as salt crystals may eventually grow over the edges and damage the surface beneath
• Minimal change could mean the area is relatively calm—or too stagnant to activate the cure (check for airflow and openness)

While not “scientific” in a conventional sense, these formations are valued by many practitioners as energetic indicators.

Customize with Your Personalized Zi Wei Dou Shu Chart

If your personal astrology or home already contains excessive Metal—especially in Zi Wei Dou Shu charts where the Destruction Star  (Qing Yang 擎羊) or the Obstruction Star (Too Luo 陀羅) dominate—adding a Metal-based cure may backfire.

Instead, use a Water-based plant (like pothos or lucky bamboo grown in water):

• Wood (plants) counters Earth
• Water (from the plant’s base) drains excess Metal

This creates a more harmonizing, softer approach that still supports energetic clarity.

Final Thoughts: Mindful, Not Magical

The Salt Water Cure isn’t a mystical talisman—it’s an energetic stabilizer. And like most Feng Shui tools, its effect depends not just on where you place it, but how you interact with your space.

Let this method remind you that small, intentional rituals can shift your environment. And through that shift, your body and mind might just start to feel different too.