Remedies
Vastu remedies: what’s tradition, what’s habit, what’s marketing
If a “Vastu remedy” needs a shopping cart, ask whether the old building books ever mentioned it. Furniture and light come first. Products, if any, come last.
Last reviewed: October 28, 2026
The short answer
Most of what is sold as a Vastu remedy, such as pyramids, strips, crystal tortoises and laughing Buddhas, isn’t in Mayamata, Manasara or Brihat Samhita. What those books do discuss is where a house sits, light, which room does what, and not sleeping under a beam.
We don’t claim any remedy changes luck, health or money. This page sorts the common ones into three layers, so you can decide for yourself. (More on the three layers: what is Vastu.)
Common Vastu remedies, flagged
Classical= in the old building texts. Living practice= a common modern habit. Marketing= product culture, mostly from the 1990s on.
| Item | Classical | Living practice | Marketing | In our Shop (as an ordinary household item, not a remedy)? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock or sea salt bowl | No. Brihat Samhita chapter 53 covers rites and water-pots, not salt bowls. Fake verse citations are common. | A cheap drying habit in a damp bathroom | “Vastu salt kits,” coloured dosha jars | No. Any grocery salt works. No kits. |
| Copper or brass vessel, lamp, simple sill | No vessel or lamp rule; doors and entrances are covered (Brihat Samhita 53.71–82) | Yes | Copper tape, studs, floor grids | Yes, a lamp or a plain bottle. No strips. |
| Pyramids | None | Sold as if they were shastra | “No-demolition correction” | No |
| Yantras | Ritual diagrams, not building | A pooja shelf | “Fixes the flat” | No |
| Crystals, salt lamps, chakra stacks | Gems at groundbreaking, not room fixes | Décor | “Energy absorption” | No |
| Horseshoe | None | Folk luck | Relabelled as Vastu | No |
| Wind chimes | None (Feng Shui language) | A pleasant sound | Rod counts for “prana” or “chi” | No |
| Tortoise figurine | Brihat Samhita lists a live tortoise near a site among its omens (53.90), the opposite of the figurine | Shrine image | Wealth charm | No |
| Laughing Buddha | None. Chinese folk and Buddhist | Gift-shop | Filed under Vastu anyway | No |
| Vastu strips, helixes, lead | None | Consultant products | “Invisible boundaries” | No, never. Lead is toxic, especially to young children, so we don't recommend keeping lead objects at home (EPA: Learn about lead). |
| Mirrors | Not a corrective device in the house chapters | Cover one that faces the bed; bounce light | Missing-corner or toilet-erasing discs | Yes, an ordinary mirror |
| Plants | Trees on a plot, in the texts | Tulsi, indoor plants | “Money plant = money” | Yes, a real plant that needs light |
| Colours and textiles | Soil colour in site tests, not paint chips | Zone palettes | Element “activation” | Curtains, as curtains. No colour claims. |
| Furniture moves | Planning is the subject; not under a beam (53.124) | Compass-perfect furniture | “70% of energy” | Lamps and storage, as furniture |
Do Vastu remedies work?
We can’t promise that any object changes how a home goes, so we don’t. The old building manuals describe planning: where rooms go, light, and how a house is used. They don’t describe objects that correct a finished flat.
If a yantra is part of your prayer practice, it can be a prayer object. It doesn’t fix a toilet or a door, and we won’t sell it as a remedy.
What’s worth doing as a habit
These are ordinary household jobs. Living practiceEach line is what the thing does, nothing more.
- Bed off the beam, on a solid wall. Slide it 30 cm if that clears the beam. (Brihat Samhita also says not to sleep under a beam, 53.124.)
- A lamp you’ll actually switch on at a dark entry, so you can see keys and shoes.
- A dry bathroom. Exhaust on, door shut, floor dry. Some people keep a bowl of grocery salt and replace it when it gets damp. That’s a drying habit, not a toilet cure.
- Cover a mirror that faces the bed, if it bothers you at night.
- Real plants in real light, and only ones you’ll water.
- A clear threshold. Shoes to the side, nothing to trip on.
More everyday habits: everyday habits.
Remedies without demolition?
In the old texts, a correction means changing the plan. In a flat you rent, you change what you can move: the bed, the light, the clutter. The room-by-room version is on Vastu without demolition.
Eight things we won’t sell or fear-copy
- Fake footnotes (“Brihat Samhita says put salt in the toilet”). We read that chapter. It doesn’t.
- No-demolition miracle kits: pyramids, copper strips, 91-pyramid sets.
- Fear of the toilet. Schools don’t even agree on the right square for it. Keep it clean, keep the door closed, skip the doom. See a northeast toilet.
- Feng Shui relabelled as Vastu: laughing Buddhas, bagua mirrors, bamboo flutes.
- Wealth products: crystal tortoises, wallet mirrors, Kubera plates. No money claims.
- Plot rules on a rental: a taller southwest wall, a northeast sump, the neighbour’s kitchen.
- Compass theatre: one phone reading next to the fridge, then panic about a south door.
- A consultant pitch that starts with remedies. Start with the plan, the light and what you can move.
The short policy version: what we will and won’t sell.
If you already own one
Keep it as décor if you like it. We just don’t count it as a house fix. The move is still the bed, the lamp, the door.
Three short questions
Do I need a pyramid or a yantra?
No. Neither is in the building manuals as a house fix. Start with the bed, the light and a clear entry.
Is a salt bowl a Vastu remedy?
Not in the old texts. Some people keep grocery salt in a bowl in a damp bathroom and replace it when it's wet. That's a drying habit, nothing more.
Will a remedy fix a northeast toilet?
No product changes where a toilet is. Keep it dry, aired and closed, and put a prayer or reading shelf somewhere else. More on a northeast toilet.
Start with a bed that isn’t under a beam. Everything else has to earn its place.
Sources
- Brihat Samhita, chapter 53 (house-building), trans. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1884), via wisdomlib.org: verses 71–82 (doors), 85–87 (trees), 90, 101 (groundbreaking), 124.
More: what we won’t sell · FAQ · learn · how it evolved