Epsom Salt

Early in the seventeenth century, cattle on Epsom Common were said to refuse a bitter spring, and the salt drawn from that water made a small Surrey town famous across Europe.

Origin & Traditional Use

Epsom salt is magnesium sulphate, first drawn from the mineral springs at Epsom, where taking the waters made the town a fashionable spa. It has been a household staple ever since for soaking baths and in the garden.

Uses by Tradition

Hoodoo & Rootwork

• Uncrossing bath: dissolved in a bath with herbs such as hyssop; the bather washes downward from head to feet to push the crossed condition off the body.
• Disposal: a little of the used bath water is carried out and thrown toward the east, or left at a crossroads, to finish the work.
• Floor wash: dissolved in the mop water and worked from the back of the house out through the front door.

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Ritual bath: a cupful in a bath with rosemary or lavender to clear yourself before ritual.
• Cleansing tools: crystals and metal tools set briefly in a dry bed of the salt between workings.

A Simple Working

• Steep a small handful of hyssop in a pot of hot water for ten minutes, then strain.
• Run a warm bath and dissolve a cupful of Epsom salt in it.
• Add the hyssop water and light a white candle.
• Get in and pour the water over your head, then wash downward, from head to feet, seven times.
• Read Psalm 51 aloud, or say plainly what you are washing off.
• Before you drain the bath, save a cupful and throw it toward the east.
• Air-dry rather than towel off.

Pairs Well With

• Hyssop, the classic hoodoo purification herb.
• Rosemary for a clearing ritual bath.
• Lavender for a gentler, calming bath.
• A white candle to light the bath.

Lore & History

Epsom became one of England’s first spa towns, and its salts were sold far beyond Surrey. In hoodoo, bathing and floor washing are core methods of spiritual cleaning, and Psalm 51, with its line ‘purge me with hyssop’, is the passage most often read over them.

What You Receive

Epsom salt, available in 1 oz, 2 oz, 1 lb, 5 lb and 25 lb.