The Great Lent and Easter for our ancestors were of great importance, and almost every day of this period has its special significance associated with various folk beliefs. For example, it was during the Great Lent that they made Thursday salt, how we will cook it and talk today.
How and when to prepare the fourth black salt?
The first thing to remember is that according to traditions such salt was baked on special logs, they were collected during Lent. If you want to observe the traditions as much as possible, then you need to postpone one birch log every Sunday from the beginning of the fast and till Easter, and it's them that will later be used for the ritual.
Now we'll figure out what Thursday salt is, and at what time to cook it. Thursday was the usual common salt, which on the day of Clean Thursday was baked on fire. This salt is sometimes called black, because after certain manipulations, it actually acquired this color.
In order to understand how to prepare black Thursday salt, we will use the old recipe, to make everything according to it turn out, if you live in a house with stove heating. Traditionally on Clean Thursday, the salt was mixed with the rye crumb, soaked in spring water, in a proportion of 1: 5, and the oven was melted by pre-collected birch logs. As soon as the mixture was ready, it was either tied into a clean linen cloth, or put into the old already no one needed bast, and put in an already hot oven. Keep the salt in the oven with crumb had about 1-2 hours, after which it was extracted and split into small pieces.
There is another recipe telling how to prepare the Thursday salt before Easter . First, just like in the first description, you have to mix salt and crumb, but put the composition not in a rag, but in a pot that is placed in the hot ash left from the burnt wood in the stove. The damper of the furnace was closed after the container with salt and crumb was placed inside, and the pot was pulled out only when it took approximately 4-5 hours.
Black salt, according to the beliefs is an excellent tool for cleaning the house of evil forces, helps sick people to get up on their feet and protect them from misfortunes. To store such salt it is necessary for an icon, having placed it in a linen rag or a clay pot.
How to prepare Thursday salt at home?
A modern person who lives in a house without stove heating or in an ordinary city apartment can also prepare black salt. You need to take 1 kg of table salt and 5 kg of rye fresh bread. From the loaves you should cut the crusts, and a little soak the bread crumb with water, it's better to drink, just make sure that the amount of liquid is not too large, you need to moisten the bread, and do not make it completely impregnated with liquid.
Next, in a bowl, mix the salt and crumb, put all the ingredients in a frying pan or baking dish,
It only remains to cool the black salt, crush it into small pieces and pass through a sieve. This should be done when reading the prayers, it is believed that so the salt will become even more miraculous. The resulting black salt can also be used for cooking, it is a delicious and natural product.