Salt and Witchcraft

Disclaimer

This is NOT a page about Wiccans or neo-pagans, and I do not advocate the belief that Wiccans are Satan-worshippers and/or baby-killers. I am well aware that they are not. This is a starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD. And please, don't ask me for spells.

Salt

As a Ward

Salt has been long considered anathema to evil and demons. In folklore, salt provides protection against witches, witchcraft, demons, and the evil eye. Salt also was used to break evil spells.

During the Middle Ages, it was a common belief that witches and the animals they bewitched could not eat anything salted. "Inquisitors who interrogated accused witches were advised by demonologists first to protect themselves by wearing a sacramental amulet that consisted of salt consecrated on Palm Sunday and blessed herbs, pressed into a disk of blessed wax." A common torture method was to force-feed an accused witch heavily salted food and then deny them water.

Salt superstitions still exist today. Spilling salt leaves someone vulnerable to bad luck or the Devil. The bad luck may be averted by tossing a pinch of salt over the left shoulder with the right hand (Guiley 1989 301).

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Salt and Witchcraft is copyright 1997-1998 to Shantell Powell.