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Just Salt...

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posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 03:53 PM
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Salt

So, what's salt have to do with anything? While I was researching that (yep, I researched salt, I know) I found it has to do with, well, almost everything. Salt is, by far and large, one of the most versatile natural resources within this world. From enhancing the natural flavors of food (the word salad comes from the act of Romans salting their leafy greens), to trade and currency (salary is derived from the word salt as well) it has been pivotal in our lives and cultures for thousands of years. From religious annotations, to trade, to supernatural...it's been there, through all the ages and has played an important role in the development of man, discoveries of new worlds, wars, and life in general.

Why is this, what is the reason salt has and, it seems, will always be a valuable resource to us humans? The answer seems clear, we need it to live, but is it really that simple? Are there really any underlying spiritual aspects to this substance? Any supernatural evidence to prove it's more than just salt? I decided to look and see if I could answer these questions...

I am not an expert on this subject matter, so those with more knowledge will be able to correct anything that I have presented inaccurately here...and I hope they do. And, this does flow in many directions, trying to take bits and pieces from each subject is difficult, but the links will be provided throughout the posts for you to pursue whatever area you wish further .

This is just a introduction to what I've read so far, in reality, you could do pages and pages on the subject of salt and its origins, as well as how pivotal it's been in our society throughout the whole reign of man kind, from the very beginning up until present day.


Salt In religion

Used in various religious and ancient burial customs, it's become associated with cleansing ones spirit, attracting positive energy, and repulsing negative energy. Used in purification acts, protection spells, and attraction spells, it's deeply engrained into the spiritual side of our societies/cultures.

From voodoo to Christianity, the substance has and can be found in one or more of their ceremonies. Used for baptism, exorcism, to rid yourself of tricks played by the enemy and lengthen life, it has become very tightly intertwined with spirituality.

Hoodoo/voodoo/witchcraft

Hoodoo, an offshoot of voodoo, uses salt quite often in their spells. It is used before they began their casting ritual by placing a pinch of salt in each of the four corners of the room, thereby enhancing the power of their spells. Mixing it with other ingredients, it can be used as a very powerful protection agent or a very powerful conjuring agent.

Salt gives life, it brings sustenance, it purifies the heart and mind, the body and soul. Salt is also a very powerful agent to use when making a curse because of all those things as well. It strengthens your will, ability, and intent behind the curse, offering more power than just the other ingredients used would alone. It can be mixed with other things such as red pepper, black pepper, sulphur, and blue stone to increase the power of a spell against an enemy.

Hoodoo spell (note it is similar to other spells in regards to bathing in salt and purifying yourself from your demons.)


SALT AND SALTPETER BATH FOR PUTTING ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET
1458. Now, if -- when yo' wanta be lucky an' stay lucky so yo' kin jest -- yo' know, thrive and have prosperity, yo' git chew a nickel worth of saltpeter an' a tablespoonful of that and put it into yore water, five quarts of water an' take a tablespoonful of table salt an' mix with that an' let it boil down.
An' after yo' gets dat five quarts of water, yo' heat it. Whenever it start tuh, look like it gon'a boil, yo' jest stir this salt an' brimstone together an' then when yo' begin tuh lie down [at night], yo' take yore bath with it. An' when yo take yore bath with it, yo' save dat water an' throw it east. An' every time yo' throw yo' explain lak dis -- say, "Lord, moves [ = removes] thine evil influence." An' that [is called] puttin' de enemies under yore feet. more


continued...
edit on 1-2-2017 by blend57 because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 03:54 PM
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Used for witchcraft salt offers more of the same..purification, dispelling negative energy, enhancing the power of a spell...


Common salt, sea salt or kosher salt – all has a long history of use in rituals of purification, magical protection and blessing...
In general terms, when the intention of a spell is mainly protection, salt can be used alone or combined with ingredients such as salt and black pepper.
Salt is incredibly powerful in white magic. Especially the spells with sea salt. Almost all cultures have considered protective in salt. Religions pagan, Hindu, Voodoo among others have rituals with salt.



Black Salt, a.k.a Witch's Salt, or Drive Away Salt, is a formula used primarily in occult magic and especially the practice of hoodoo/rootwork. Black salt is deployed to remove or repel evil or negativity and in both white magic and black magic spells to banish troublesome people. Black salt is also used in black magic spells to curse one's enemy.

Black salt is composed of salt plus a blackening agent. The blackening agent can be one or more of the following items; black pepper, powdered charcoal, ash, or iron scraping from a pot, pan, or skillet. Many occult shops sell black salt composed of salt that has been dyed with black food coloring and, believe it or not, this is said to work just as well. more



Buddhism:

nyūjō in relation to self mummification is supposed to mean underground, the ascetic is immersed in a state of profound meditation. The body assumes the lotus position, seated in darkness without any physical movement or activity, while the mind remains in a state of ecstatic contemplation. Also meaning union, a total concentration and union of mind and spirit. This is the state that some Buddhas desired to achieve. They used self mummification in order to do so.

The third and final step (quoted below) of this process is to seal oneself in a tomb. Some articles say they were sealed in with salt to help keep the body from decaying, and after ten years, if the body was in good condition, they would then be deemed living mummies. As this is not notated in all the articles, I quoted the process of mummification without it below.


Self mummification involves a three step process: The first step being for a prospective mummy monk to spend 1,000 days (over 3 years) eating a strict diet of nuts and seeds and engage in rigorous physical training to strip the body of fat (Fleshy Bones, 2011). This process was commonly known as mokujikigyō, which literally means “tree-eating,” but refers to abstention from cereals (Jeremiah, 2010, p.195). The second step, involved another 1,000 days of eating only bark and roots which would eventually reduce down as time passed. Towards the end of this time period, they would start drinking tea made from the sap of the urushi tree. This is a poisonous substance normally used to make Japanese lacquer bowls. However, used in this manner it creates a further loss of bodily fluid which is an important part of self-mummification (Fleshy Bones, 2011). The tea gathered was highly toxic which created a germ-free environment within the body and helped preserve whatever flesh was left on the bone (Fleshy Bones, 2011). The third and final step of self-mummification is that the monks would seal themselves in a tomb located in the mountains which they connect to the surface by a tiny bamboo air pipe (Jeremiah, 2010, p.12). There, the monks meditate until the point of death - at which point they were sealed in their tomb. After another 1,000 days, they were dug up and cleaned. If the body remained well-preserved after this 10-year process then the monk was deemed a living mummy (Jeremiah, 2010, p. 196). Due to this intense process many Japanese monks were unable to reach Buddha status and therefore failed to become living mummies. more


The Dalai lama is buried on a bed of salt. The Egyptians used salt as part of their mummification process as well. The act of preparing the body for the afterlife in many religions involves salt in the preparation process. Sometimes used for preservation, sometimes used in the spiritual, purifying sense that salt has become associated with.

continued...


edit on 1-2-2017 by blend57 because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 03:56 PM
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a reply to: blend57

There are also a lot of salty posters on ATS. Just saying.
However a lot of salt people buy these days have a lot of unhealthy crap in them. Back in the day salt was more of a pure form. Today it can be made in the lab



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:00 PM
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a reply to: Skywatcher2011


Back in the day salt was more of a pure form. Today it can be made in the lab


Whats you point about it being able to be made in a lab?



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:00 PM
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In Times of war...seek out salt!

Salt was so important, it was traded pound for pound for gold. In some areas, it was so scarce that it was valued more than gold. It is and has been used as a form of currency. Trade routes were established following salt supplies. Kingdoms conquered to gain control of salt mines and other resources. Wars were won because of it, cities rose and fell, a founding contributor to civilization itself..

Although salt is plentiful today, it wasn't always readily available or easily gained. Sea salt makes up 35g of salt per kg. The extraction of salt from the sea is not an easy process (or wasn't) and the salt mines on land are left over from dried up oceans or seas from the past. Once you have mined the surface, it is difficult and costly to dig for more. Living by the sea made it easier for you to obtain salt, while living inland may have potentially made it more difficult. And that is where, from my understanding, some of the value of this natural resource came into play.


A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) is any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt has been transported to regions that lacked it (see History of salt).
The gabelle—a hated French salt tax—was enacted in 1286 and maintained until 1790. Because of the gabelles, common salt was of such a high value that it caused mass population shifts and exodus, attracted invaders and caused wars.[1] In American history, salt has been a major factor in outcomes of wars. In the Revolutionary War, the British used Loyalists to intercept Revolutionaries' salt shipments and interfere with their ability to preserve food.[1] During the War of 1812, salt brine was used to pay soldiers in the field, as the government was too poor to pay them with money.[citation needed] Before Lewis and Clark set out for the Louisiana Territory, President Jefferson in his address to Congress mentioned a mountain of salt, 180 miles long and 45 wide, supposed to lie near the Missouri River, which would have been of immense value, as a reason for their expedition. more


So, where did the first wars over salt come from? It is believed China. They were ahead of the rest of the world with regards to salt extraction. Scientists found that as early as 6000BC they were harvesting it. From one lake, which, there had been many fights over control of...


Huangdi—a Chinese ruler who crosses the fine line between myth and man—is purported to have resided over these beginning wars. Lake Yuncheng, in the northern province of Shanxi, is home to prehistoric China's earliest salt works and the location of countless wars over power of the lake. Chinese historians have found that as early as 6000 BC (and possibly even earlier than that), people harvested salt from the surface of the lake after the water evaporated during the sunny summer seasons. more


They also, subsequently, were the first to find the use for it in the making of gun powder. So, it is without saying that the belief of whoever controlled the salt, controlled just about everything else was true. Taxation and food supply, wealth and poverty, all seemed to center around who had the salt. And anyone in power (or wishing to be) was willing to do what it took to gain that control.



The beauty of salt
Now, salt has been integrated into our beauty regimens, by using it in scrubs, baths, toners, teeth whiteners and hair products. Using it to balance, protect and restore the skin in a multitude of ways. As our bodies contain the same concentration of minerals and nutrients that sea water does, it would be of some benefit for us to utilize the salt from those waters. The Egyptians new the value of salt and used it in their beauty regimens as well. Salt from the dead sea was used to exfoliate their skin, also for soaps and making synthetic compounds which were derived from wet chemistry:


Philippe Walter and researchers from the Laboratoire de recherche des musées de France and L’Oréal-Recherche found, when analysing the contents of 49 containers from the Louvre Museum, that the cosmetics contained, in addition to commonly used lead-based minerals , synthetic compounds derived from a process called wet chemistry: Crushed lead oxide was mixed with water and sodium chloride (rock salt), then filtered repeatedly, a procedure which may have taken weeks to complete. The resulting lead chloride was used as an ingredient for eye make-up. By adding fats and oils to dry powders a wide range of unguents could be concocted.
For soap Egyptians used natron, swabu (derived from (s)wab meaning to clean), a paste containing ash or clay,[18] which was often scented, and could be worked into a lather, or the like. The Ebers Medical Papyrus, dating from about 1500 BCE, describes mixing animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts. The soap-like material was used for treating skin diseases, as well as for washing.
The Egyptians had wash basins and may have filled them with a natron and salt solution from jugs with spouts and used sand as a scouring agent. - more



Medical applications for salt have been documented throughout history. Folk healers and midwives, medicine men and witch doctors, each of them have used salt to cure people. Hippocrates used salts for treating certain ailments and Egyptians used it in their medicinal practices as well..

Salt in Egyptian medicine
Salt is mentioned as an essential ingredient in medical science in some of the oldest medical scripts. The ancient Egyptian papyrus Smith, which is thought to refer to the famous master-builder and doctor Imhotep of the third pre-Christian millennium, recommends salt for the treatment of an infected chest wound. The belief was that salt would dry out and disinfect the wound (b). The papyrus Ebers (1600 B.C.) describes many salt recipes especially for making laxatives and anti-infectives. They were dispensed in either liquid, suppository or ointment form. For instance, there was a suppository containing honey, vegetable seeds and ocean salt that was used as a laxative and one with incense, vegetable seeds, fat, oil and ocean salt against anal infections. Salt-based remedies were also prescribed for callous skin, epidemic diseases, to check bleeding, as an eye ointment, and to accelerate childbirth (a vaginal suppository).more


I am not going into the home remedies and early uses of salt for treatment of ailments or beauty.. but included links to a few sites in the quotes for those who are interested.

continued...



edit on 1-2-2017 by blend57 because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:01 PM
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originally posted by: D8Tee
a reply to: Skywatcher2011


Back in the day salt was more of a pure form. Today it can be made in the lab


Whats you point about it being able to be made in a lab?


The more natural the form the healthier it is for body and spirit.



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:03 PM
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I'm not sure if I answered the questions I posed above. Seems like salt has been a lot of different things for different people/times/eras. I do know that when we find something valuable we, as humans, tend to worship it. To me, this is what salt is. .. something soo valuable that it was worshiped/fought over to ensure that the benefits of it and its value to our species would never be forgotten.

I know... quite a lot of info to absorb. So many different areas that salt has played a role in our cultural and social developments. Just found it to be interesting, such a small thing, taken for granted. Yet, it has had such a huge impact on us. Maybe it is worth more than gold or any of the other precious minerals. After all, we can live without all those other metals, but apparently we can't live without salt.

Thanks for reading!
blend57

Idioms & Superstitions

Taken with a grain of salt = listen to the story or explanation with suspicion or distrust.
Salt of the Earth = dependable or trustworthy person
Worth ones weight in sale = A person who is useful, a person of value.
Rubbing salt in an old wound = to purposely make a bad situation worse.


• Throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder to ward off bad luck when you spill it.
• If you knock over the salt cellar, which was a big container of salt kept on the table, it would mean the end of a friendship and you will have a big fight.
• When you eat another man's salt, it creates a mystical bond between you and the person whose salt you ate, and if you ignore that bond, it could be very, very bad.
• Putting salt on someone's food or "helping them to salt" could bring bad luck to them.
• You should never let someone borrow salt from you: You should only give it as a gift, or sell it, but never lend it.
• And, borrowing salt is bad luck for the borrower, and it is even worse to return it. If you do borrow it, it is best to have the lender 'borrow' it back. All of which gives new meaning to the maxim, "neither a borrower nor lender be."
• Giving a bride salt as a gift on her wedding night promotes fertility.
• Newborns were sprinkled with salt to ward off witches.
• If you want a lover to return then burn salt on seven consecutive mornings However, If you have a frequent visitor whom you don't want then simply throw a pinch of salt at them when they are in your house
• while at sea a tradition is to sprinkle fishing nets with salt to ensure safe return .
• If a gypsy put a curse or hex on you, then once they left your home you were supposed throw a pinch of salt in their direction to nullify the curse
• Brides are supposed to sprinkle a pinch of salt onto their dress for a happy marriage

edit on 1-2-2017 by blend57 because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:04 PM
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a reply to: Skywatcher2011

There's a salt mine by where I live. They inject water into a salt bearing zone, pump up the water from an adjacent well and evaporate the water off. The product is Sodium Chloride, NaCl, used for livestock blocks and table salt.
I dunno if there are any labs in the business of synthesizing salt, it's really a fairly simple substance.



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:07 PM
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I'm not sure why it's wrong to make salt in a lab.

You react chlorine with sodium and you get salt. It is the same stuff you get out of ground. If anything, the impurities are found in the natural form and are what give them their colors and flavors.



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:12 PM
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a reply to: ketsuko

I recently looked at a box of salt of a specific brand and in it contained an ingredient called "sodium ferrocyanide" plus other things.

I don't think having cyanide in the body is good for you even in small doses.

en.m.wikipedia.org...
edit on 1-2-2017 by Skywatcher2011 because: Added link



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:20 PM
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originally posted by: Skywatcher2011
a reply to: ketsuko

I recently looked at a box of salt of a specific brand and in it contained an ingredient called "sodium ferrocyanide" plus other things.

I don't think having cyanide in the body is good for you even in small doses.

en.m.wikipedia.org...


It's an anti caking additive. Not saying I agree with it. You might be able to find a brand without the additive?
Good that you have spotted this.



YPS is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an anti-caking additive in table salt based on exhaustive tests demonstrating no evidence of toxicity at levels considerably higher than those used in highway deicing salts. Prussian Blue is also used in household bluing, blueprints, blue-black ink and carpenter’s chalk and is also non-toxic to animal and plant life.


Salt Institute



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:23 PM
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a reply to: Skywatcher2011

What you are talking about is different than lab created salt.

The salt itself is not made in a lab. You are talking about additives to keep it from turning into bricks.



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:28 PM
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originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

What you are talking about is different than lab created salt.

The salt itself is not made in a lab. You are talking about additives to keep it from turning into bricks.


Lab created is pretty much same as Table Salt and other salts.

I recommend you do some research into this before you go off about not understanding me.
You can start here for one thing. Read this and wake up



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:42 PM
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a reply to: blend57

A fascinating thread!




posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 04:57 PM
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a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Yes, I get it, but when you are talking about the additive chemicals, you are talking about an anti-caking agent.

That isn't part of the chemical make-up of the salt's crystal structure. Iodized salt is mixed with small amounts of iodine salts. So you have two different crystals mixed together. The caking agent is the same way.

The salt itself is still NaCl.

The only difference is that the Himalayan and other salts are coarse crystals formed with the trace minerals still inside the crystal structure. It's not just pure NaCl crystal. Those trace element impurities in the crystal are why it's colored. They don't wash out the trace mineral impurities so it retains the color.

In true lab created salt, there are no impurities either to create the color. It's just straight NaCl crystal before they break it up, bake it, etc, and then mix in the additive salts.



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 06:00 PM
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a reply to: blend57

Great post!!!

Salt has an interesting history all throughout modern history!

Thank you for bringing it up!

S&F to you!!

Excellent post!




posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 06:14 PM
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I remember going inside the salt mines under the state of Michigan in the US. They're incredible. They're deep too.

Many of the salt caverns are great for records storage because of salts ability to absorb/disperse water.

In another life I used to work heavy equipment, and I've seen Caterpillar 988 loaders working down inside salt mines (that's a HUGE loader). The ceilings are 30' tall.

Much of my mine experience is down in "Trona" mines, at about 2,000 feet below the surface. Trona is soft rock, salt is similarly soft, but not so much. It's much more stable. I spent some times in coal mines doing electrical work, but never again. That S# is WAY too scary!!

It's weird, in coal mines the seams "talk", they always talk (when they stop, you need to be worried). In the trona mines the seams talk too, but not so much; it's almost like a moaning (which is spooky in itself). Salt mines, they don't "talk" at all; you can mine that S# floor to ceiling and they just stand there.

It's crazy!



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 06:56 PM
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a reply to: blend57

Good stuff here blend


I know all about salt. It's my specialty!

I like your new avatar too, it's really cool.



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 07:29 PM
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originally posted by: Skywatcher2011

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Skywatcher2011

What you are talking about is different than lab created salt.

The salt itself is not made in a lab. You are talking about additives to keep it from turning into bricks.


Lab created is pretty much same as Table Salt and other salts.

I recommend you do some research into this before you go off about not understanding me.
You can start here for one thing. Read this and wake up


You're wrong about lab created salts being the same as sea salt. There is no comparison. Those small abounts of trace minerals in salt are very important. Sodium chloride is not salt. Water is not H20 either, it is a complex mineral complex full of bonds with other chemistry. I spent a lot of time studying salt and water, the real science does not show salt is just NaCl. Same with the real science not showing Water is just H20



posted on Feb, 1 2017 @ 09:14 PM
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originally posted by: Skywatcher2011
a reply to: ketsuko

I recently looked at a box of salt of a specific brand and in it contained an ingredient called "sodium ferrocyanide" plus other things.

I don't think having cyanide in the body is good for you even in small doses.

en.m.wikipedia.org...


The B vitamins are cyanide compounds too. They don't produce hydrogen cyanide, and neither does Sodium Ferrocyanide.

Interestingly, Sodium (Na) reacts violently (like, fiery explosion violently) when it comes into contact with water. Chlorine (Cl) gas, inhaled, can kill you. Yet NaCl is, well, salt.




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