There’s a reason why the beach feels so energetically clean and refreshing and it's one of my favorite places in the world to be.
For thousands of years, all over the world, salt has been considered a protective and cleansing agent, both physically and metaphysically. A salt bowl in your home can absorb water, emit ions, and kill bacteria. Some people like to buy fancy salt lamps for this purpose, and I have many of them, but a simple bowl filled with salt can do the trick, too.
I’ve been playing with the concept of salt bowls, and have a system that works for me and my home.
1. Choose a Bowl
Choose a bowl to use for your salt bowl. You can go for something plain or fancy — whatever you prefer. I like to use a black soup bowl for the black-and-white contrast. You could use a smaller bowl if you’d like to take up less space.
If you’re going to leave the bowl out for more than a couple of days, I recommend using a non-porous bowl (i.e. not wood). However, if you’re okay with salt penetrating the porous material, and possibly ruining whatever protective cover it has, you can use whatever you wish.
2. Choose a Salt
You can use whatever salt you have in your cupboard, but I’ve found that industrially processed salt doesn’t feel “natural” enough for me. It feels mechanical and somewhat lifeless.
I like to use natural sun-evaporated sea salt for my salt bowls. If you’re feeling fancy, you can buy some black sea salt, pink Himalayan sea salt, kosher diamond crystal salt, Japanese big-flake salt, or any other kind. If you don’t want to set out a whole dish of that kind of salt, mix the fancy salt with some good old regular sea salt.
3. Add Herbs and Oils, If Desired
Here’s where you can get creative. Open your cupboards and peruse your spice rack and tea tins. You can add anything to the salt. It will add another aspect of cleansing to the dish.
I like to add juniper berries to my salt bowl because juniper is a protective herb. I also add cloves and peppercorns, as they are also protective and are known to banish negative energy. I also like to add a few drops of essential oils, like tea tree, lavender, or thieves blend.
Some people like to add garlic, rosemary, rue, bay leaves, and many other protective herbs. Other cultures have been known to cut lemons or limes and set them in the salt.
4. Spell Out Your Intentions
I like to mix everything together with my fingers and speak my intention out loud. I say something like, “May this salt cleanse the energy of my home and protect me from negativity.” If you can go into an altered state at this point, do so. Feel yourself become more cleansed, and align your energy with the purpose of the salt bowl.
Place your beautiful salt bowl somewhere in your home. Some people like to place it out near the hearth or in the kitchen. Other people like to put it near the door that’s used most often.
Be conscious of the salt bowl. When you pass by it, use it as a cleanser of your energy. You can push negative energy into the salt bowl, or touch the salt with your hands to ground any errant energy.
Other people like to place salt bowls in the corners of a room. This can create a very magical-feeling space! If you want to try this out, but don’t want to commit to four salt bowls, sprinkle salt from your main bowl into the corners of your room. You can also sprinkle salt on your windowsills, as long as a pet won’t jump up there, and as long as the windowsills are not metal, which is susceptible to rusting in salty conditions.
A few things to consider:
Please do not eat the salt afterwards
Please do not bathe in the salt afterwars
Please keep out of reach of children & pets
When the energy of the bowl doesn’t feel cleansing anymore, it’s time to get rid of it. You can either tip it into the trash, or toss it outside someplace where you wish to prevent plants from sprouting (like the cracks between concrete).
There are many other ways to magically cleanse the energy of your home and belongings, if you are looking for more ideas, please sign up for my "Creating & Clearing Sacred Spaces" by signing up for my newsletter - it's jam packed with goodies to cleansing your space
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