Recommendations: Sea salt.

Dear Reader,

It's not every week that I have a recommendation that can be used in cooking. Sea salt is more than just useful for cooking. It can be a vital component in ritual activities, a crucial spell ingredient, and a powerful tool in its own right. The majority of the salt that one can purchase is derived from salt that is mined from deep within the earth. This has a great deal of magical properties of good use, but sea salt combines the essential properties of mined salt with the energies of the ocean.

Sea salt is a magically potent thing. A little bit goes a long way. Just a few grains of salt in a cup of water imparts the blessings of the ocean into freshwater with out you having to add enough salt to make it fully saline. Sea salt is expensive compared to standard iodized table salt. It is worth the price, honestly, because of the purity of the salt is beyond compare. The best sea salt is known as 'fleur de sel' or the flower of salt. It is collected in salt marshes by hand. It is expensive but it is the purest grade sea salt you can acquire in the grocery store. It is to be used sparingly, just as you would saffron threads.

Lower grades of sea salt are less expensive and can be used more liberally than fleur de sel but I would save the crafting of a ritual circle of salt for the salt that is derived from rock salt just because it is more cost effective. (Side note, the rock salt used for melting ice can be very useful in magical working but should not be used in anything that will be consumed because there are often additives to it. Also, salt circles should be swept up and disposed of after magical work to limit the negative impact of salt on the environment.)