Salt Ceremony/Salt Covenant
The Covenant of Salt ceremony originated in Biblical times. Before refrigeration, salt was indispensable for keeping food preserved. Jesus referred to his disciples as "the salt of the earth" in his Sermon on the Mount, saying "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, werewith shall it be salted?' (meaning, once the salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?). Salt was even used for currency in some cultures.
The Covenant of Salt symbolizes a binding contract. In the Bible, when a contract was made between two parties, each person put a pinch of salt into the pouch of the other. The understanding was then that the agreement could not be broken until it was possible for each and every grain of salt to be separated and returned to its original owner. In modern wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom each have a separate vial of salt. During the ceremony, each takes their vial and ours their individual grains of salt into another joint container, symbolizing the permanency of their commitment.
This tradition is popular with many religiously observant couples in place of the sand ceremony.
Below are some options for the Salt Ceremony wording. Note: many of these are similar to the sand Ceremony wording as the symbolism is similar.
1. Groom and Bride, you have sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings and this covenant is a pledge between you as you commit to one another for the rest of your lives. Today, this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of salt one, representing you, Groom and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, bride and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be.
In Biblical times, salt was exchanged in a binding contract--symbolizing that the agreement between the two parties was as irrevocable as trying to separate combined grains of salt. As your two containers of salt are poured together, they will no longer be separate, but will be joined together as one. Your commitment is irrevocable.
Bride and Groom will pour salt into the center container. Sometimes a song is played at this time.
2. Groom and Bride today you join your lives together. The two vials of salt symbolize your separate lives, separate families, and separate set of friends. They are all that you were, all that you are, and all you will ever be as an individual. As these two containers of salt are poured together, they will no longer be separate, but will be joined together as one. Just as these grains of salt can never be separated and joined again into individual containers, so will your marriage be. You each will remain individual, with your own uniqueness, but you will face the world united.
Bride and Groom will pour salt into the center container. Sometimes a song is played at this time.
3. Groom and Bride, you have proclaimed your love and commitment before all of us and now your lives are joined in the most sacred and joyous of unions. I ask that you each take your container of salt which represent your individuality and separateness-and combine them into the center container to symbolize the merging of your two hearts and lives into one,
Bride and Groom will pour salt into the center container. Sometimes a song is played at this time.
4. Today, Bride and Groom have chosen to commemorate their marriage through the celebration of the Salt Ceremony. This ceremony symbolizes the inseparable union of Bride and Groom into a new and eternal marital relationship.
Bride and Groom will simultaneously pour separate containers of salt into a common vessel. Each grain of salt in their separate containers represents a unique and separate moment, decision, feeling or event that helped shaped Bride and Groom into the separate and unique individuals that they are today. As they pour their separate containers of salt into a common vessel, those separate and independent individuals will cease to exist. Instead they will merge into a loving and supportive marital partnership. Groom and Bride just as the grains of salt can never be separated into their individual containers again, so will your marriage be.
Salt Ceremony with Children
As with the Unity Candle, the Salt ceremony can be used to depict not only the union of the couple, but the formation of their new family should there be children involved. (This can also be used if the children of the bride and groom are adults.)
Officiant: There are (insert number here) containers of salt behind me. One, representing you, Groom and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, Bride and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be. And thirdly, there is a container of salt representing each of your children (insert children's names here).
I ask that you take your vials of salt and combine them into one in the center vessel of the dish before us, representing the permanent intertwining of your lives from this day forward. Just as these grains of salt cannot be separated once combined, so shall your lives be forever interwoven.
Everyone pours their salt. Often a song will be played at this time.
After the pouring:
Officiant: Bride and Groom and (insert children's names here), as family members, you will bring both happiness and sorrow to one another, you will be each other's strength and on occasion, you will be each other's trial! Remember, that even if you are far apart, you will always belong to one another, for the (insert number here) of you are irrevocably bound together on this wonderful, yet challenging journey that we call life. On this special day, as these containers of salt have been poured together, it is our wish that the light of love will always guide the path of your family's journey.