You may often see the term “Three-Killings” from the Chinese zodiac forecast or hear it from a Feng Shui practitioner. But, what are Three-killings?
What are Three-killings?
Three-killings, known as “San Sha,” is a Chinese feng shui term for a combination of three types of negative energy, manifesting in the forms of accident, financial loss, and illness. The locations of the Three-Killings change annually. When the energy of these annual locations is triggered, it often brings about a series of unfortunate incidents.
What does “San Sha” mean?
Three-killings (San Sha) are a combination of three types of negative energy. In Chinese, “San” means three; “Sha” means ominous energy and rhymes with killings; therefore, Three-killings. Three “Sha” refers to Jie Sha (Robbery or financial loss), Sui Sha (Annual ominous energy), and Zai Sha (Disaster).
The Origin of Three-killings
The concept of the Three-killings is associated with the Triune Harmony of the twelve Chinese zodiacs. In Feng Shui practice, the twelve Chinese zodiacs are also called earthly branches, they do not only represent different types of elements individually, but when partnering with zodiac allies, they can harmonize as the office of certain elements.
Triune harmony, known as “San He,” is one of the most important allies’ combos. In a triune system, each zodiac is allying with the other two animal signs that are four zodiacs away from it and together harmonize as the office of the element associated with the cardinal zodiacs (Rat, Rabbit, Horse or Rooster).
Below is a table for the 4 triune harmony groups and their corresponding triune elements.
The annual positions of the Three-killings are directly opposite to the triune element of the year, affecting three zodiac houses of that direction.
For example, 2023 is the year of Rabbit. Rabbit, Sheep, and Pig are triune allies with cardinal element wood in the east. The positions of the Three Killings are directly opposite to the triune element of the year; therefore, the positions of Three-killings in 2023 are in the west with a coverage of 225 ° -315 °, affecting the houses of Zodiac Monkey, Rooster, and Dog.
How about 2024, where are the positions of Three-killings in the year of Dragon?
2024 is the year of the Dragon. Dragon, Monkey, and Rat are triune allies with cardinal element water in the north; therefore, the positions of Three-killings in 2024 are in the south region with the coverage of 136 ° -225 °, affecting the houses of zodiac Snake, Horse, and Sheep.
How about 2025, where are the Three-killings in 2025, the year of Snake?
2025 is the year of Snake. Snake, Ox, and Rooster are triune allies with the cardinal element metal in the west. The positions of the Three Killings are directly opposite to the triune element of the year; therefore, the positions of Three-killings in 2025 are in the east with a coverage of 45 ° -135 °, affecting the houses of Zodiac Tiger, Rabbit, and Dragon.
Got it? Don’t worry if you have not. I have prepared a sheet below for the next ten years for your reference.
The impact of Three-killings, misconception, and the best cure
Three-killings are notorious not only because of their precarious energy but also for bringing a series of misfortune incidents once it is triggered in any form. I have personally been in touch with quite a few clients who triggered Three-killings by accident and had car accidents, surgery, and family issues consequently. It often manifests not only one but multiple unfortunate events. Allegedly, the negative effect will last until at least three mishaps happen, and that is why they are called “Three-killings”.
The energy of Three-killings exists in both time and space. Time-wise, hours associated with Three Killings are considered ominous. For example, in 2024 the three killings affected three zodiac houses in the south region, Snake, Horse, and Sheep. As a result, the hours corresponding to these three zodiacs are considered Three-Killing hours of 2024.
You should avoid using Three-killings time when picking an auspicious time for a significant event. Other than that, three-killing time has little effect on daily activities.
Space-wise, positions affected by Three-killings are called “Three-killings direction.”
For example, in 2024, the Three-killings are affecting three zodiac houses in the south region, so the south region is called the Three-killings direction for the year of Dragon. The three zodiac houses being affected, Snake (135°- 165°), Horse(165°-195°), and Sheep(195°-225°) are south, southeast to south, and southwest to south. These regions should avoid remodeling, renovation, or any activities causing strong vibration (such as drilling).
If the south region mentioned above happens to be your workspace, bedroom, or dining area, and you cannot avoid doing activities there, please adopt a healthy schedule and be precautious of disputes, unexpected incidents (sudden illness, accident, etc.) in life, an in-depth annual check is recommended.
Insider Tips
You will hear advice to deflect Three-killings such as wearing a certain bracelet, or an amulet or displaying 3 celestial animals (Pi Yao, Fu Dog, Chi Lin), this is folklore and does very little to lessen the effect of Three-killings in feng shui. First of all, any amulet to be effective must be consecrated by an authentic Daoist ritual. Second, in certain situations, most of these “feng shui cure products” are manufactured to be merchandise-oriented, looking good and fashiony to attract buyers. Without good professional knowledge, these items can do more harm than good to the people.
Feng shui is all about the play of elements, Ying and Yang in time and space.
Here is the best practice, or the secret method that only an advanced Feng shui Master would do to ease the negative effect of Three-killings. Remember I told you earlier that Three-killings were caused by element conflict and zodiac clash. So, what we need to do is to balance the elements and ease the clash.
For example, the element conflict of the Three-killings is between fire in the south and water in the north, so all we need to do is adding wood elements to balance the energy. Simply placing a plant in the north in the year of Tiger will significantly reduce the negative impact of Three-killings.
Just to make sure the plant you display in that Three-killings region is healthy with a strong stem, but avoid ones with spiky and pointy leaves.
In practice, these can reduce 70-80 percent of ill-developed energy, and as long as there is no big action (reconstruction, breaking walls, etc.), it will not affect much of your life.
I also provided an in-depth analysis of Tai Sui, which is the other common annual affliction in Feng Shui practice. It breaks down the origin of Tai Sui, common misconceptions, how to calculate the annual Tai Sui and Fan Tai in Chinese astrology, and advanced Feng Shui cures as well.
If you are interested in the 2024 annual Feng Shui arrangement, please check out the article below.
