Salt and Blessings

We returned yesterday from a long weekend of camping at Acadia Park in Maine. Josh did a lot of Rune magic throughout the island (you’ll be able to hear that story when he publishes his blog next week) and we both enjoyed connecting to both the spirits of the island and the ocean.

I was, of course, ecstatic to be by the sea. I submerged myself in those cold northern Atlantic waters as much as I could, connecting to the ocean’s primal power and cleansing myself of any psychic muck I may have picked up. As we drove home, I was deep in thought about the cleansing power of ocean water and methods of energetic cleansing that I use at home. It comes down to something that most every house has, something that we use every day.

Salt.

Salt has a lot of interesting history in many different cultures. Salt has been used by humanity as far back as 6050 BC in trade, food, preservation, and religion. Imagine eating your food without a little bit of salt. There aren’t many out there that enjoy bland food. So, this ocean derived commodity was a big deal (and an important source of dietary minerals).

As I mentioned, people had also noticed applications in spiritual practices. Even the ancient Egyptians used it in their spiritual practices, including mummification. They were far from the last culture to use it in spiritual practice, though. The first modern example that comes to mind is the Catholic Church. Salt is mixed in their holy water, after both the water and salt are blessed. It is then used in baptism and blessing. While the blessing is an important aspect in the usefulness of the holy water, it is the mix of the water and salt that hold the first step towards its power.

I’m sure you’ve heard of fairy tales, myths, or TV shows that involve the magic of salt. Many times it shows up in a protective circle of salt around a magician or a horror movie protagonist. That myth comes from actual use in folk magic as well as Catholicism. It even continues in modern day “tradition” in the practice of tossing salt over your shoulder when you spill salt.

According to John Michael Greer’s “Encyclopedia of Natural Magic” salt’s astrological correspondences are Saturn in Aquarius. Energetically, it absorbs and purifies. These qualities make it a great choice for protection and banishment work. It also makes it great for clearing out psychic gunk that might be attached to you or something that you own. I even make a protection salt that incorporates herbs of blessing and protection that one can use to block out negative energies.

I often use salt in my own energetic clearing. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it, but I’ve begun an exploration into a very intriguing magical system called Quareia. I’m still in the beginning stages of the course, so I can’t really give too much of an opinion of the magical system. One of the first things that you learn in the course is how to make a sort of holy water. The idea is to make cleansing baths once a week for a few weeks to learn how it feels to be clear of the psychic grime that we accumulate throughout our travels in life. It can also be used in clearing a room of unwanted energies, as well as helping to remove simple energetic parasites from someone.

Here’s an example of its use. Josh and I attended a sound healing event. The space it was held in was full of people, so there wasn’t a lot of room to work with. As I laid down, I set the intention that the session was for me and that I wouldn’t connect to those around me as the session went on. I wanted to focus on my energetic stuff, and I didn’t want to get sucked into doing healing work for others while I ignored why I was there. I set up strong boundaries and let the sound wash over me.

Josh had a very different approach. He opened up to feel what was going on in the room. He interacted with spirits of the place and the energies of the people in the room. He didn’t feel anything too out of the ordinary until we arrived home. I noticed that he was edgy and something was off. As we tried to go to sleep, he was wide awake with the feeling that something was off. He had picked up some small parasitic energy from the session, most likely dislodged from someone else during the sound healing session. Josh was an open target! So, I rolled out of bed, grabbed some salt, poured some water, and got to blessing. After dousing him in the salty water mix, he began to feel like his normal self. The salt water had worked!

It may seem like a little thing, but the usefulness of this is pretty fantastic. You can find the blessings I used in this PDF (starting on page 8). I’m still playing around the uses, but it’s shown some promise. It makes me wonder how much of it is the blessing, and how much of it is in the natural properties of the salt and water.

An interesting note in the use of salt, holy water, and cleansing herbs. My teacher Adhi has a theory about the uses of these items in Catholic baptism that may help shut down people’s third eye. She theorizes that the mix of symbolism, salt, water, and herbal oils (all of which, by themselves are useful tools for healing and clearing work) were formulated to help shut down the intuition of the common people about a millennia or two ago. While it may seem a little like a conspiracy theory, the methods that she taught me that employ sacred geometry and dowsing to counteract this “psychic scarring” have a powerful effect. There is certainly something to it! I bring it up to look at all the sides natural magic, and how too much of a good thing can be counterproductive.

Well, that’s all I have for tonight. Thank you for exploring the mechanics of a little natural magic with me.

Be well and do good work

-The Green Mountain Mage