Of Salt and Safekeeping: Salt and Witchcraft

 

Of Salt and Safekeeping

A Household Protection from the Old Ways

Concerning Salt

Salt hath long borne quiet authority within the practices of folk magic. Prized not for rarity but for constancy, it was held to preserve, to purify, and to set firm boundaries against corruption. In early European belief, salt was thought to withstand both bodily decay and spiritual ill. Cunning folk, midwives, and household healers made use of it in protections for the home, the cradle, and the threshold—those liminal spaces most subject to mischance.

In English and colonial custom, salt was strewn across doorways, mingled with water for ritual washing, or sewn into small linen bags to be carried upon the person. It was often joined with iron, bread, or spoken charm, not in spectacle but in sober defense. Sea salt carried the virtue of the tides; rock salt was bound to the bones of the earth. To waste salt was held ill-omened, for once set to purpose it was believed to retain its charge.

 

A Charm of Salt for the Guarding of the House

At first light or at the fall of night, take a small measure of clean salt. Stand upon the threshold or at a window that looketh toward the road. Hold the salt in thy right hand and say:

Salt of earth and salt of sea,
Stand between all harm and me.
As this house is set and sealed,
So be its peace and so its shield.

Lay then a thin line of salt upon the sill or threshold, or place a pinch within a cloth and keep it near hearth or bed. When its charge is spent, return the salt unto running water or to the soil, with thanks given.