Salt in costumes
In nutrition
Cave men obtained their allowance of salt from the raw meat from hunting. The development of agriculture and grain-based feeding, introduced the need for salt. Salt had also a great impact in the history of civilization: Thanks to its food preservation properties, it helped the survival of people and migrations. Before the Middle Ages Dutch fishermen knew already to salt herring for storage, making the fish available far from the sea all year around. Salted cod also dates from before the Middle Ages.
In the article “In colonial Bahia”, Taunay mentions the enthusiasm of the traveller Pyrard de Laval to Bahia in 1610: “It is impossible to find better meat, more tender and tastier….They salt the meat, cut it in wide pieces but very thin(…) When they are well salted, they take them without washing, and put them to dry in the sun; when dry they can be preserved for a long time.”
Brazilian indians didn’t know salt. Their needs for salt came from the game they hunted. Their spices were peppers, and their method to preserve was smoking slowly over some leaves and sticks. Salt was introduced in Brazil by the Portuguese and its use as a preserver helped substantially the occupation of the Brazilian territory. Charque, or jerked beef, was the basic food of the northeastern cattle farm hands, who headed south looking for new pasture lands, and of the pioneers of São Paulo who marched to the Northwest searching for wealth.
Dried-meat farm, watercolor by Debret
In rituals
Salt is present in religious rituals of several eras and different civilizations. It was used by the Greeks, Romans, Asians and Arabs. But few traditions have given it so much importance as the Jewish-Christian. The Old Testament mentions salt frequently, sometimes within events of every day life, some other times as a symbol. Salt means, for instance, purity and faithfulness.
 In the New Testament salt is mentioned as metaphors. Jesus says to his apostles: “You are the salt of the earth”.
Until the industrial revolution in different civilizations, salt on the table meant prestige, pride, security and friendship. The roman expression to express de denial of a friendship was “to betray the promise and the salt”.
Since those times the absence of a salt shaker on the table represented a bad sign, as much as the salt fallen on the table. When Leonardo Da Vinci painted the last supper, he placed a shaker spilled in front of Judas.
Abolished by Luther from the christening ritual of the Protestants in the 16th century, the use of salt remained in the catholic ritual until 1973, representing the expulsion of the devil and a sign of wisdom for the newborn. Even today, potatoes and hard boiled eggs served during the Pesach, the Jewish Easter, are wet with salted water, that symbolize tears shed by the Jews when crossing the desert during the retreat from Egypt
In witchcraft
In folklore, salt is a must to keep devils and witches away. In Brazil, a bath with coarse salt is popularly mentioned as a protection against an evil eye. Pots with salt and a garlic head can be seen not only in homes but also in shops and offices. After all, “que las hay, las hay…”
It is believed that the Catholic Church borrowed this practice for its rituals, mainly those of exorcism, and not the other the other way around. A French authority in demons from the 16th century explained the anti-demon powers of salt: “it is the sign of purity and eternity because it never decays or is corrupted and corruption is everything the devil looks for: the dissolution of minds, just as God seeks creation. That is why, by the laws of God, salt is always present on the sanctuary tables…”.
 Old timers ascribed to salt aphrodisiac qualities and believed that its absence decreased the sexual power of men. A French satirical illustration from the 16th century shows women from different social levels in a strange activity: bent over their husbands, with their pants down and held over wood barrows, they rub salt vigorously on their genitals.
Povos antigos atribuíram ao sal poderes afrodisíacos e acreditavam que sua carência reduzia a potência sexual dos homens. Uma gravura satírica francesa do século 16 mostra mulheres de diversas classes sociais numa atividade insólita: debruçadas sobre maridos sem calças, que esperneiam, aprisionados em barris, elas esfregam com sal, vigorosamente, suas partes íntimas.
Until today a large number of superstitions about salt remain. A few of them:
• Salt passed from hand to hand over the table brings bad luck. In Brazil it is recommended that the salt shaker must slide on the table top to avoid raising it. In United States there is a popular moto that says: ‘pass me salt, pass me suffering.’
• To throw salt keeps vampires away.
• A salt sachet hanging on the neck keeps evil spirits away.
• To spill salt brings bad luck, unless one throws a pinch over the left shoulder
• Every grain of salt spilled is equivalent to a tear. To avoid them, salt should be put in a pot over the fire. This is enough to dry the tears.
• Borrowing salt or pepper destroys friendship. It is better to give them or accept them as gifts.
• In the Middle East it is said that if two persons ate salt together they establish a strong tie. For this reason salt is used in contract signatures.
• In Hawai a person coming back from a funeral pours salt on her body to avoid bringing in her house evil spirits from the dead.
• In Japan salt is spread on the stage before a performance to protect the actors.
• In many countries salt is put on doorways to keep out evil spirits. |
