Warm greetings to all!
I’m back from vacation in Kraków and despite the brief issue with trains, we did indeed make it successfully to the Salt Mine!
This post is an entry to the current Weekly Witchy Challenge- Wickedly Delicious
The underground salt lake, deep in the mine
The Wielczka Salt Mine
The Wieliczka Salt Mine is a mine located just outside of Kraków- a southern city in Poland. Although Wieliczka is one of several active mines in Poland, it is by far the most popular with tourists 
The famous St Kinga’s Chapel- 101 meters below the ground, carved from rock salt
We took the less intensive tourist route down 60 flights of stairs through a mine shaft. Down in the mine we walked for 4 hours on a guided tour- you can’t go in by yourself because it’s way to easy to get lost!
All that walking, and we only saw 2% of the mine. It is massive! 
Carvings in the mine- all carved from salt
The mine is famous for rock salt- on the three top levels of the mine (out of the nine total levels) there are numerous art work displays and carvings, all crafted from the salt itself!
Salt in the museum
After the tourist route ends, there is an optional continuation into the museum part of the mine. This part is also guided, as it is still too easy to get lost in the labrynith underground.
The salt here is from Wieliczka and other salt mines in Poland. The blue salt is supposed formed from a mutation in the salt 
Some caverns in the mine are tiny while others are HUGE!
While the mine is no longer actively producing rock salt, evaporated salt is still collected from salt brine there. Our tour guide said that, although salt used to be extremely valuable back in the day, now the real money is in tourism 
And indeed- even with the pandemic and border restrictions, groups of 20 head into the mine every 5 minutes- and we had to wait an hour to get in!
It was well worth the wait though- if you ever find yourself in Poland, the mine is absolutely a must-see! 
White salt on the walls- if left alone, it grows like a living thing
In magick, salt is commonly used for purification and protection
Thanks to this, there is also a health resort in the mine 
. Because unlike coal mines, the air in the salt mine is so clean and actually has healing properties- thanks to the salt!
I bought a big bag of salt from the gift shop- I’ll be flavoring food and using salt magick with the memories of the mine tour for a long time to come! 
For anyone interested, you can learn more on the Wieliczka Salt Mine webstite (in English)
Do you use salt in your magickal practice? Have you been to/would you ever visit a Salt Mine?
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a very blessed Sabbat!
Love, Light, and Salt!
It’s nice and cool in the mine in the summertime, but if you find yourself there in winter I recommend bundling up! 
