In feng shui, the color black is connected to the water element. Water represents wisdom, depth, and fluidity. If these are qualities you’d like to bring into your life, it may be helpful for you to work with black stones such as black obsidian. Water is also connected to career and social network. You might want to bring in more water element through the color black if you’d like to enhance these areas of your life. One of the most popular uses of black obsidian is to create a shield of protection to ward off negative or harmful energies. Wearing black obsidian or carrying it with you can help to absorb negativity that you may encounter.
Room-by-Room Uses
You may also want to place black obsidian in a particular room of your home with the intention of protecting a certain area of your life. Here are a few ideas:
Entry
The main entrance to your home is how energy, people, and opportunities come into your home and your life. If you’d like some extra protection around what or who you are allowing in, you can place black obsidian near your front door. If your front door happens to fall in the center third of your home, rather than closer to the left or right side, it is in the career area, called Kan in Chinese. Kan is connected to the water element and the color black, so black obsidian could be especially supportive in this position.
Bedroom
Your bedroom is the area of your home that is most closely connected to you, so black obsidian in your bedroom can help with personal protection. This might be a good choice if you are feeling particularly ungrounded, especially when you’re trying to rest. Another way you can use black obsidian (or another black stone) in your home for protection is to create a grid: place one stone in each corner of your home or under each corner of your bed.
Kitchen
Your kitchen represents how you nourish yourself, as well as your resources. If you feel like you need protection around your food and nourishment, or if you feel like you need to protect your resources, try placing black obsidian here.
Workspace
Your home office or workspace represents your career. Black obsidian on your desk or in your home office can be helpful if you feel like you need more protective energy in your work life.
Protection
Protection is a popular topic that feng shui practitioners often get asked about, but we encourage you not to take a fear-based approach. The best form of protection is focusing on yourself, so find ways to work on your own self-improvement rather than just blocking out other people or energies. This might mean working with a trained expert in a modality that resonates with you, so that you can dig deeper into what is really going on when it comes to your desire for protection. Black obsidian is also used to show us our own reflections, including parts that may have been hidden or unacknowledged. By showing us a reflection of ourselves, black obsidian can give us more clarity around aspects that we may need to focus on or release, so this is another possible way to work with this stone.
Cleansing Your Black Obsidian
However you choose to work with black obsidian, you’ll want to cleanse your crystal and program it with your intention. There are several different ways to cleanse crystals. You may want to cleanse it with smoke by burning an herb like palo santo, cedar, or sage. You can also wash it in flowing water, and then place it in a sunny place to energize it. Or, you can visualize bright golden light surrounding the crystal, with the intention of dissolving any negativity that the crystal is currently holding. To program the crystal with your intention, you can hold it in your hand and set an intention for what you would like the crystal to help you with. KrimKate / Getty Images
