Salt has long been considered sacred. Evidence dating back to 6000 BC illustrates neolithic people using salt as sacred offerings, trade, cosmetology, and food preservation. Interestingly, evidence of salt mining directly correlates to the rapid rise of these societies. In Egypt, it was often used in funerary offerings. In the 3rd millennium BC, Egyptians began to trade salt, and salted fish for goods such as cedar, dyes, and glass. Ancient Romans used salt as currency. In the Hebrew bible, salt is mentioned in 35 verses, and the christian new testament mentions it in six verses. Jesus referred to his followers as the “salt of the earth”. Hindus consider salt auspicious, and use it in religious ceremonies. To preserve the covenant between people and God, Jews dip the sabbath bread in salt. Japanese Shinto use salt for ritual purification of people and places. Aztecs worshiped Huixtocihuatl, a fertility goddess who presides over salt and water. Pagans use salt as a space purifier and a symbol of the earth element.
Chloride and Sodium ions are necessary for the survival of all known living creatures as it regulates fluid balance in the body. Salt is associated with Aphrodite and is protective, grounding, purifying, elevates emotions, diminishes negativity, and enhances good will. It also connected with creation and destruction, life and death, and feminine earth energy. It cleanses and clears the heart chakra. Working with salt energy allows one to go deep within the self to find ancient solutions to modern problems.
Crystals, jewelry, and spaces can be cleansed with salt. Perhaps if cleansing a soft crystalline form, opt for sage. Salt or any abrasive could mar the surface of a soft stone, it will not however alter the properties. Soak 7-24 hours, rinse in clean water, and energize in the sun. Alternatively soak in salt water 1-7 days in a clear container which allows sunlight to penetrate. Once again for anhydrous crystals use a bowl of dry salt and leave for a one day to one week, throw the salt away when through.
Black Lava Salt gets its color from coconut shell charcoal. It’s praised for amazing skin detoxifying properties, try adding some to a ritual bath. Adding salt to a bath causes an alchemical change as you’ve created a liquid from a solid, visualize a change in yourself. Visualize doubts, illness, or worries that plague you leaving the body, neutralized by the water. It’s also used as a decorative finishing condiment.
Red Alaea Salt is formed through evaporation from shallow tidal pools in Hawaii. There it mixes with red volcanic clay. Said to contain over 80 naturally occurring minerals, natives use this salt for healing. Traditionally, women in their late 40’s and 50’s increase their intake of red salt in hopes of helping with the onset of menopause. It has also been used to stop bleeding from cuts and minor injuries. Use in salt scrubs and masks to promote smooth, healthy skin. In contemporary Hawaii still use this salt mixed with water, this is sprinkled using a ki, or ti leaf on persons, structures, and building sites for purificatory purposes.
Pink salt, from the foothills of the Himalayas, was formed by marine fossil deposits over 250 million years ago. This mineral salt helps balance the body’s ph levels, normalize blood pressure, and increases circulation and conductivity. This salt is hand selected, hand washed, and hand crushed. This salt has been used in baths to relieve ailments such as; arthritis, rheumatism, osteoporosis, gout, kidney and gall bladder stones, skin diseases, and psoriasis. Facial steams can be used for those with asthma, bronchitis, sinus infections, ear infections, and for all illnesses of the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Simply boil water, add salt to water, cover your head with a towel to create a “tent”, and inhale the vapors for 10-15 minutes.
To protect a home sprinkle salt into the corners of each room, visualize it sterilizing and removing negativity from the home. If you feel the need to focus your energies and attention, carry a bit of salt in a green bag. Salt has also been added to money-attracting talismans and is used in such spells. Blessed Be.