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Salt

August 29, 2013 •

Photo of salt marsh

Cotuit Salt Marsh with Egrets

My sum­mer home over­looks a salt marsh on Cape Cod. We love this marsh for many rea­sons: beau­ti­ful vis­tas, abun­dant marine and birdlife, invig­o­rat­ing air, and con­stant sea breezes. The sea air is full of salt.

We curse salt’s destruc­tive power: how lit­tle time it takes to cor­rode metal objects (deck fur­ni­ture, door knobs, lanterns or win­dow frames) that face the marsh and the bay beyond it.

But we also rec­og­nize that salt is essen­tial to life.

Now that I’m read­ing Salt: A World His­tory, I have a much greater appre­ci­a­tion for the impact salt has had on civ­i­liza­tion and com­merce. Not to men­tion lan­guage (words such as “salary” or even “sol­dier,” for exam­ple).

The Power of Salt

Photo of Cape Cod saltworks

Photo cour­tesy of Orleans His­tor­i­cal Soci­ety

Once upon a time, for those who con­trolled access to it, salt fueled wealth cre­ation, financed wars, inspired long and ardu­ous trade routes. Peo­ple enslaved oth­ers to help in the mak­ing or trans­port of salt.

Salt was so valu­able that cities were founded near salt mines or salt­works; wars were fought to con­trol salt, or get access to it. Salt was the basis of the first-known monop­oly (in China thou­sands of years ago).

Even here on Cape Cod sea salt was once a source of wealth — in the 18th and early 19th cen­turies when the British block­aded New Eng­land dur­ing two wars. Their block­ade drove resource­ful Cape Cod­ders to cre­ate their own sources of salt when they could no longer trade with Europe for it.

Thanks to plen­ti­ful wind, sun and salt water, there were almost 900 salt­works on Cape Cod by the 1830s, the hey­day of salt­mak­ing in this tiny region.

From Power to Symbolism

Because of its eco­nomic value and intrin­sic prop­er­ties, salt has taken on many sym­bolic mean­ings over the cen­turies, such as:

Loy­alty and friend­ship are sealed with salt because its essence never changes.… In both Islam and Judaism, salt seals a bar­gain because it is immutable.

— Mark Kurlan­sky, in Salt: A World His­tory, © 2002

Other sym­bolic mean­ings include:

  • The keep­ing of promises or covenants with God (Judaism)
  • Bless­ing a new home
  • Asso­ci­a­tions with longevity and per­ma­nence (think: mum­mies)
  • Pro­tec­tion from evil spir­its or the evil eye

It’s also asso­ci­ated with wis­dom in some reli­gions:

In Chris­tian­ity, salt is asso­ci­ated not only with longevity and per­ma­nence, but by exten­sion, with truth and wis­dom.

— Mark Kurlan­sky, in Salt: A World His­tory, © 2002

It used to be high praise to say a per­son was “worth his salt.” Cen­turies ago your stature was indi­cated by where you sat, rel­a­tive to the salt­cel­lar on the table. Pow­er­ful or impor­tant folk sat “above the salt.”

Although salt no longer com­mands high prices nor dri­ves mankind to war, it’s still essen­tial to life.

On cloudy days like this, look­ing out over a salt marsh and the herons fish­ing there, it’s good to be reminded of what’s truly valu­able in life. It’s not just the boat­ing…

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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