The Ritual of Newborn Salting: Shamanic Incantations in Turkic Folklore (Part 4)
⚠️ IMPORTANT MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME:
Modern medicine and science have proven that a newborn's skin is incredibly thin and absorbs sodium rapidly. The tradition of baby salting can lead to severe sodium poisoning which is clinically known as hypernatremia, as well as brain hemorrhages and unfortunately infant mortality. This post is strictly for cultural, mythological, and anthropological exploration, not a medical recommendation.
As the grandchild of a traditional "Ocak" which means an ancient lineage of folk healers still active in Anatolia, today I want to introduce one of the most mysterious and enduring practices of our lands as a continuation of my previous posts: Baby Salting.
To fully understand this ritual, we have to look back at ancient Turkic Shamanism. In the old belief system, a newborn baby is considered to be standing on a liminal threshold, a phase where they are half spirit and half human for the first week of their life. Because they still carry the scent of birth and the womb, they act as a beacon for negative energies and malevolent entities. The primary purpose of baby salting is to create a form of spiritual camouflage. The salt effectively masks the baby's biological scent, making the infant appear as dry, lifeless matter to passing entities so that they simply overlook the cradle.
How the Ritual is Performed:
Anthropological research shows that this ancient ritual is performed across Anatolia using two primary methods depending on the tradition of the healer lineage. Shifacis would choose either the dry method or the wet method based on their ancestral guidance. In the dry method, rock salt is ground into a fine powder, mixed with olive oil or dried medicinal herbs, and gently rubbed onto the newborn's entire body, focusing heavily on the joints and armpits. The baby is then loosely swaddled for a symbolic period before being washed clean.
In the wet method, which was generally performed within that critical first week after birth, the salt is dissolved directly into the newborn's very first ceremonial bathwater. I was one of those salted newborns myself during my first week of life, and the method my grandmother practiced in her own Hearth was exactly this. In the culture of the Hearth, this bathwater is never just ordinary water because the healer women transform the cauldron into a literal spiritual armor. The other elements dropped into the water are what give the ritual its true depth.
These objects are rooted in traditional sympathy magic and vary according to the gender of the newborn. For a baby girl, a silver earring or a silver coin is dropped into the water to wish for beauty, purity, and a bright face like the moon. For a baby boy, a gold ring is placed in the water, symbolizing strength and prosperity, so that his word may always carry the weight of gold. Regardless of gender, a piece of pure iron such as an old hearth nail or a knife is always added to the water. In Turkic folklore, iron possesses a sacred protective power, acting as a metaphysical shield to completely ward off Al Karısı and evil spirits from the vulnerable infant.
Ancient Incantations and the Synthesis of Beliefs:
While performing this procedure, the Hearth healers or midwives never remain silent, as the spoken aspect of the ritual is just as vital as the physical one. In the traditional Hearth culture of Anatolia, a midwife should not be confused with modern hospital staff or an outside healthcare professional. In these families, the midwife is usually the newborn's own maternal or paternal grandmother, meaning that a child is born directly into the hands of their own family elder. It is these wise grandmothers who deliver the baby and whisper this ancient incantation to seal the purpose of the ritual while the newborn is being washed with the salted water or rubbed with the salt:
"Be as white as salt, be as pure as earth.
May your flesh and bones be tight, may your scent be heavenly and bright.
May your nature be beautiful, may your lineage be bountiful.
May no evil eye strike, may no harsh word bite, may Al Karısı stay out of sight.
It is not my hand, it is the hand of Fatma Ana..."
The most critical part of this incantation is undoubtedly the final phrase: "It is not my hand, it is the hand of Fatma Ana." When we examine academic and anthropological studies, we see a magnificent synthesis of beliefs hidden behind this single sentence. Before Turks embraced Islam, the most powerful sacred figure protecting childbirth, mothers, and newborns was the goddess Umay Ana. Following the adoption of Islam, these shamanic roots did not vanish; instead, they transformed within folk beliefs and merged with Islamic culture. Umay Ana, the protective goddess of mythology, was synthesized over time with the figure of Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Hazrat Fatima, known locally as Fatma Ana.
When a woman from a healing Hearth says "It is not my hand, it is the hand of Fatma Ana" while performing this ritual, she actually means this: "I am not performing this healing through my own mortal, ordinary power. I am merely a vessel. I am surrendering my hand to the thousands of years old sacred feminine energy, to that great protective power, and to my ancestral lineage." Through this verbal seal, the ritual simultaneously keeps the Shamanic roots alive while gaining an Islamic sanctity, allowing it to be passed down from generation to generation.
Modern Corruption and the Boundaries of Tradition:
Today, the practice of baby salting has thankfully decreased dramatically across Anatolia due to modern medicine. However, those who still try to keep it alive today are usually not the traditional healers anymore. Instead, it has turned into a reckless show by uninformed people who completely misunderstand the tradition, blindly covering newborns in kilograms of salt.
If you have read this far, I truly thank you for your time and curiosity. 🫶🏻