The Black Salt Witchcraft Bar, Newly Opened in Hamtramck, Is a Specific for Melancholy
You Will Be Greeted by Three Sisters ...
Thursday, March 9th 2023 at 5:12 PM
The Black Salt
Hamtramck Michigan
I wanted to be happy this evening. So I boarded the bus to Hamtramck. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to stretch my legs with a walk. Walking around Joseph Campau's stores could provide enough good exercise. Plus, I wanted to have a drink in a place where I could feel comfortable. I don't feel snubbed in Grosse Pointe. But I know most of the patrons have better jobs, better incomes, better investments and better homes. And God love them for all their advantages.
Having a drink in Hamtramck, I believe the locals outdo me in some cool way. Which is cooler than mere money, stacked up in banks and investments. For example, Taj at the Baker BoxCar lounge organizes old timey dances on Conant and plays in a Urban country band.
At the newly opened Black Salt, three sisters awaited guests behind the bar.. I doubt they are all related. Yet, this is a pagan, Wiccan and witchcraft themed bar. As the line goes, the three can call themselves sisters from different misters.. Anything magical comes in threes.
And if I desire, I can order my drink with ritual or not. Drinks ordered with ritual include a little ceremony, kind of like the Japanese Tea Ceremony. I promised myself to experience all four on an evening when I had an Uber home. The ritual includes a magic spell too. That's for the cocktails.
I had to pour my own beer into a polished glass. Black Salt serves very nice craft beer, but it’s not a beer bar. I chose an Old Farm Hand from Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids. I shared about a magical night when the owner lined up samples for me to try. We talked about the fashion designs painted in watercolor, exhibited as the monthly exhibit. And it wasn’t slow at Black Salt. So why did my bar sister listen to every word? I try not to be garrulous, but when I am, I don’t expect to be heard out.
The Fruition cocktail lends itself to the Prosperity Ritual. Fruition can be ordered non-alcoholic or not. The cocktail mixes vodka, mixed berries, tangerine, ginger beer and pomegranate seeds. If one wishes the ritual performed, one turns the Black Star coaster star side up. I copied the ritual language, with permission. I’ve learned a few customs in my experience with Wiccans and pagans. Always ask permission very, very formally. And Wiccans and pagans are always on time. When the time is ripe, Wiccans and pagans show up.
PROSPERITY RITUAL
Stir clockwise with the garnish stick. Pomegranate seeds symbolize infinite possibilities. While watching the pomegranate seeds mix, visualize opportunities implanting in your life. Look for and honor financial prospects in the following week.
I'm having a flashback to the three sisters of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Remember the ones who chanted, "Double double toil and trouble/Fire burn and cauldron bubble?" Recall the ones who warned, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." I don't believe these three sisters at Black Salt mean any guest any danger. But I am charmed. I am enchanted. I am enthralled. I'm sure the owner hired each one because each adds her own charm to the Black Salt experience.
“Would you like one more Farm Hand?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m afraid I’ll have to break the spell and take my leave.”
“Yes, we understand. As long as you promise to make your return.”
“I promise to make my return. Yes, and I will send friends and well meaning seekers your way.”
“Blessed be.”
The bells of Saint Florian Cathedral rang a phrase from Ave Maria as I walked to the corner of Saint Florian and Joseph Campau.
Maybe I needed to have a drink in a place with some knowledge of the occult, the hidden and the secret. I have a hidden sadness. And I tried to hire essentially an alchemist to rid me of this bad humor. But the board of wizzards rejected the ritual as too expensive. It's a ceremony that they do not cover. So I'm back to the druids who practice locally. I was in need of a few moments of hocus pocus to turn my focus to my inner locus. And the Black Salt delivered this in spades.
If I am to believe in magic again, I certainly hope I am put in touch with my own. Who still remembers that I toured elementary schools, performing as Mr. Wizard?
Walking to Planet Ant, I heard the call to prayer at the mosque. Yes, I felt the deep sadness in the heart of the one who was singing. At the Ant, I sat & wrote in the Ghost Light bar, listening to a few Ant staffers plan & create. I didn’t interrupt or interject. I eavesdropped as I wrote. I put in some work at the Ant before I left Detroit for fifteen years. I sat in the black box, even when the script was way out there and most of the seats went empty.
Not a bad night even though the cooperative book store was closed.
Oh dear Hamtramck, how beautiful to remember that Detroit tried and failed to annex you. You truly are the pituitary gland in the brain of the Dirty D.
