According to the concept of the ancients, salt is a valuable item representing the supreme beings. In fact, this concept comes from the use of mummification and preservation of salt.
Salt has a preservative effect. Until modern times, salt is still the main way to preserve food. The Egyptians used salt to embalm bodies. This effect of preserving and preventing decay has given salt a common metaphorical meaning in the world. Perhaps this is precisely what Freud considered absurd, when subconsciously we associate a trivial object like salt with a great meaning like permanence and eternity.
A salt merchant in Africa, where salt is still highly regarded. (Photo: Finances).
For the ancient Jews, salt remained a symbol of the eternity of God’s covenant with the Israelites. The Torah, Numbers recounts: “It was an everlasting covenant of salt before the LORD.” The Chronicles later quote, “The Lord, the God of Israel, by a covenant of salt that no man can break, has given King David an everlasting dominion over Israel, himself and his descendants. “.
On Friday nights, Jews often dip their Sabbath bread in salt. In Judaism, bread symbolizes food, is a gift of God, dipping bread in salt is to preserve it, which also means keeping the covenant between God and His people.
Loyalty and friendship are associated with salt by its enduring properties. Even when dissolved into a liquid, the brine can still evaporate and condense back into square salt crystals. Because of this immutability, in both Islam and Judaism, salt is used to close a deal. The Indian army pledged allegiance to the British with salt. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used salt in sacrifices and sacrifices, praying to the gods with salt and water.
Not only is it associated with eternity and permanence, according to Christianity, salt is also associated with truth and wisdom. The Catholic Church distributes both holy water and holy salt aka Sal Sapientia, “Salt of Wisdom”.
Bread and salt, on the one hand a blessing, on the other a symbol of immortality, are often associated with each other. Bringing bread and salt to a new home is a Jewish tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages. The English do not bring bread, but the custom of bringing salt to a new home goes back centuries. In 1789, when moving to a new home in Ellisland, Rober Burns (the great Scottish poet) was sent off by relatives with a bowl of salt. The city of Hamburg (Germany) once a year holds a festival of blessings by marching through the streets with chocolate-covered bread and sugar-covered macaroons in salt.
According to Welsh tradition , at funerals, it is customary to place a plate of bread and salt on the coffin, and a professional local “sinner” will be invited to eat the salt plate.
Because salt prevents decay, it is believed that salt can protect people from harmful agents. In the early Middle Ages, Nordic farmers learned to protect their grain harvests from ergot, a pest that is toxic to humans as well as livestock, by How to soak grains in salt water. So it’s no wonder that Anglo-Saxon farmers added salt to their sacrificial ingredients to pray for a bountiful harvest.
Both Jews and Muslims believe that salt can protect people from the evil eye. The Book of Ezekial once mentioned that rubbing salt on the body of an infant would protect them from evil spirits. In Europe, the custom of protecting infants by placing salt on their tongues or immersing them in salt water is said to have existed since Christian baptism. In France, soaking children in salt until they were baptized remained popular until 1408, when the practice was abolished.
Salt is a very powerful and sometimes dangerous substance that must be handled with care. Medieval European table etiquette places special emphasis on how to scoop salt : Salt must be scooped with the tip of the blade, never with your hands. A part of the ancient Jews believed that if a man used his thumb to tame salt, his children would die, if he used his little finger, he would become poor, and if he used his index finger, he would become poor. become a murderer.