Asia's Apothecary - Black Salt

About Black Salt

Black Salt, often called witch's salt, is a folk-magic preparation made by blending ordinary coarse salt with something black, most often wood ash, charcoal or the ash left from burned herbs and incense. Recipes vary from maker to maker, and some add black pepper or protective herbs such as rosemary. It is used for protection and banishing: sprinkled across thresholds, kept in a dish by the door, or added to protection jars. It shares a name with kala namak, a sulfur-scented Indian cooking salt, but the two are unrelated, and the Black Salt sold for ritual work is never meant to be eaten.