Salt Lore

Salt has had a tremendous impact on society dating back to ancient times...

Salt's ability to preserve food was a foundation of civilization. It eliminated the dependence on the seasonal availability of food and it allowed travel over long distances. It was also a desirable food seasoning. However, salt was difficult to obtain, and so it was a highly valued trade item, which followed the pull of economics along salt roads, some of which had been established in the Bronze Age. Until the twentieth century, salt was one of the prime movers of national economies and wars.

In Sumo Wrestling both wrestlers cast salt on the circle’s ground. In virtually all cultures, salt held great importance and was a symbol of well-being and friendship.The commencement of the game is preceded by a ring-purifying ceremony. Salt and sake (rice wine) are placed at the center, after which the priest blesses the ring. Salt is meant to purify the ring and rid it of evil spirits.

Masu ~ Japanese Salt Customs

Salt is called "Masu," with a long 'a.' The salt used in Okinawa in particular is "Shima Masu" (island salt). Its particles are coarser than the table salt marketed throughout Japan and it has a slightly moist flavor. This more concentrated salt is an established favorite among Okinawans. Masu is also a favorite for protection and to ward off evil. Returning home after a funeral or other Buddhist ceremony, people will lick a little salt and sprinkle salt on their head and shoulders before entering the house. When buying a new car, the owner will sprinkle a little Awamori and salt on the vehicle to assure safe driving. When moving house, carry Masu and Miso into the house before anything else, at high tide. It is common for people to carry salt with them in a small bag as they go about, and an Okinawan will certainly have some salt in his or her car.

In the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks, the American military bases instituted heightened security procedures and subjected Okinawan workers entering and leaving the bases to stricter checks. In this atmosphere, some gate guards entertained the suspicion that the tiny bags of salt carried in vehicles for protection might contain a dangerous substance and gave some workers a hard time. This produced bad feelings among many Okinawans who retorted, "but this is an Okinawan custom!"

Salt & Religion

Salt has long held an important place in religion and culture. Greek worshippers consecrated salt in their rituals. Jewish Temple offerings included salt; on the Sabbath, Jews still dip their bread in salt as a remembrance of those sacrifices. In the Old Testament, Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Author Sallie Tisdale notes that salt is as free as the water suspending it when it's dissolved, and as immutable as stone when it's dry - a fitting duality for Lot's wife, who overlooks Sodom to this day.

Covenants in both the Old and New Testaments were often sealed with salt: the origin of the word "salvation." In the Catholic Church, salt is or has been used in a variety of purifying rituals. In fact, until Vatican II, a small taste of salt was placed on a baby's lip at his or her baptism. Jesus called his disciples "the Salt of the Earth." In Leonardo DaVinci's famous painting, "The Last Supper," Judas Escariot has just spilled a bowl of salt - a portent of evil and bad luck. To this day, the tradition endures that someone who spills salt should throw a pinch over his left shoulder to ward off any devils that may be lurking behind.

In Buddhist tradition, salt repels evil spirits. That's why it's customary to throw salt over your shoulder before entering your house after a funeral: it scares off any evil spirits that may be clinging to your back.

Shinto religion also uses salt to purify an area. Before sumo wrestlers enter the ring for a match - which is actually an elaborate Shinto rite - a handful of salt is thrown into the center to drive off malevolent spirits.

In the Southwest, the Pueblo worship the Salt Mother. Other native tribes had significant restrictions on who was permitted to eat salt. Hopi legend holds that the angry Warrior Twins punished mankind by placing valuable salt deposits far from civilization, requiring hard work and bravery to harvest the precious mineral.

In 1933, the Dalai Lama was buried sitting up in a bed of salt.

Today, a gift of salt endures in India as a potent symbol of good luck and a reference to Mahatma Gandhi's liberation of India, which included a symbolic walk to the sea to gather tax-free salt for the nation's poor.

Russian Bread & Salt Custom

The "bread and salt" was a traditional Russian ceremony of welcome. It originated as a folk custom in western Russia. As a sign of hospitality, when the emperor or empress visited their towns, merchants and gentry would present a loaf of bread placed on a round dish covered with an embroidered towel. A cellar of salt was placed on top of the bread or set in a hole cut into the top of the bread. The ceremony also was used prior to the marriage of a landowner when he traveled to each village on his estate, introducing his new bride to the peasants. The ceremony symbolized that the couple would never be without the necessities of life.

The tradition still is practiced, both in Russia (occasionally at weddings) and by descendants of Russians living in other countries (bread and salt is brought to a family member or friend when they move into a new home). It is interesting to note that upon his return to Russia on May 27, 1994, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was greeted with the traditional bread and salt.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, bread and salt were presented to the imperial family. The early platters and cellars and those used by the peasants were predominately carved from wood. Later, the ones used by the nobility were of elaborately gilded silver and enamel.

Bread and salt represented the hospitality of folk isolated far from one another in a large country. This hospitality was legendary in Russia, and very similar to that known in the old West in the United States.

Whatever you do ~ don't spill the salt!

The early Greeks worshipped salt no less than the sun, and had a saying that “no one should trust a man without first eating a peck of salt with him” (the moral being that by the time one had shared a peck of salt with another person, they would no longer be strangers).

The widespread superstition that spilling salt brings bad luck is believed to have originated with the overturned salt cellar in front of Judas Iscariot at the Last Supper, an incident immortalized in Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting.

According to an old Norwegian superstition, a person will shed as many tears as will be necessary to dissolve the salt spilled. An old English belief has it that every grain of salt spilled represents future tears. The Germans believe that whoever spills salt arouses enmity, because it is thought to be the direct act of the devil, the peace disturber. The French throw a little spilled salt behind them in order to hit the devil in the eye, to temporarily prevent further mischief. In the United States, some people not only toss a pinch of spilled salt over the left shoulder, but crawl under the table and come out the opposite side.

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