Pickles in Religion: A History

The discovery of pickling over 4,000 years ago was a massive step forward in our ability to survive long winters and small harvests. It's no wonder this revelation inspired a religious veneration of pickles, as they were included in spiritual practices throughout the centuries.

In the book The Pickled City: The Story of New York Pickles by Paul van Ravestein and Monique Mulder, the role of these brined miracles in Abrahamic religion is examined along with cultural and spiritual practices. “The Talmud makes numerous references to pickled vegetables, particularly turnips, which symbolize abundance and endurance,” wrote Ravestein. In the Gemara, cucumbers are mentioned many times pertaining to “magic” work. Apparently, Rabbi Akiva learned the halakhot of gathering them through sorcery from Rabbi Eliezer, whose work with “magic cucumbers” is mentioned throughout the Sanhedrin. Bring that factoid to your next Shabbat dinners with your parents, and you’ll be a hit.

Ravenstein goes on to write that during the Middle Ages, pickling became an important way of sustaining Christian monks, nuns, and priests during long fasting periods. The tradition expanded into Islamic tradition as well, where pickles played a central role in Ramadan feasts. “Preserved lemons, a staple in Moroccan cuisine, became symbolic of hospitality and were often served to honored guests.”

In Japan, the goddess Kayanohime is a deity from the Shinto pantheon who protects agriculture, herbs, fields and, evidently, pickles. Legend has it that villagers offered cucumbers and salt to the local deity, thereby creating the “first pickles.” Raw cucumbers also play a huge role in traditional Japanese Buddhist practice. The Cucumber Purification Ceremony is a traditional ritual held in Kyoto every year to ward off illness and bad luck. Participants write their name, age, and ailments on paper, rub a cucumber on their body to transfer sickness, then surrender it to a temple to be blessed, buried, or burned.

In pagan and witchcraft traditions, the magic starts with the jar. Spell jars originated in 16th and 17th-century Europe as protective counter-magic against curses. They were filled with items of significance and protection, and then hidden in walls, under hearths, or buried. Even today, pickling is a common practice for modern kitchen witches and green witches, traditionally on the pagan sabbath of Lammas, which marks the beginning of the grain harvest and the first fruits of the season. Cucumbers are harvested and pickled for manifestation magic.

Pickles have historically been a food of the gods, and humanity is lucky enough to partake in this salty delicacy. Treat your pickles with reverence, and you may infuse some of their magic into your life.