🧂 The Ceremonial Saltzer — Symbol of Life, Covenant, and Restoration
🧂 The Ceremonial Saltzer — Symbol of Life, Covenant, and Restoration
“Give salt often and remember the ways of your ancestors…” — Mehnihpahsihts 2:18
🏺 A Humble Pot with a Holy Purpose
Every now and then, something simple comes along that carries a whole sermon inside it.
This month, Phillip “Cloudpiler” Landis, one of the five translators of The Nemenhah Records, introduced a new addition to the Nemenhah Sacred Objects Subscription — the Ceremonial Saltzer.
At first glance, it looks like a small, hand-thrown clay pot. But look closer, and you see genius — designed by Jeshua, a member of the Great Council of Kohhaht, to store and dispense salt one serving at a time. Its natural clay composition even draws out moisture to keep the salt dry on long journeys.
Back in the old days, the Nemenhah travelers carried these in their pouches as they moved across the northern lands. No matter the weather or the bumps in the road, their salt stayed pure and ready — unspoiled, undefiled, and always useful.
👉 And that’s the message behind it: God hides the profound inside the humble.
🪶 Who Is Cloudpiler — and Why It Matters
Phillip “Cloudpiler” Landis is one of the translators of The Nemenhah Records — a sacred continuation of the Book of Mormon story. Of the five original translators, three have since passed on, leaving behind this extraordinary legacy.
And just so folks know — these records were written long before computers, technology, or even the thought of AIexisted. They are ancient writings preserved and brought forward for our time.
These records come from the people once called the Anti-Nephi-Lehites, or Ammonites, who left the south and traveled north after the days of Moroni. They carried with them the covenants of peace and the teachings of the Peacemaker, Jesus the Christ.
They were also connected to the migrations of Hagoth, the shipbuilder mentioned in the Book of Mormon, who took his people and sailed northward. Those migrations — by land and by sea — formed the roots of the Nemenhah civilization.
One of the most surprising revelations in these records is the restored account of Corianton (the son of Alma) and Isabel— yes, that Isabel from the Book of Mormon. Far from being a harlot, the Nemenhah writings reveal she was a repentant daughter of the Savior, a woman of great faith who became a matriarch of righteousness.
Corianton and Isabel married and journeyed north, becoming the progenitors of the Nemenhah people. Their grandson? Samuel the Lamanite.
So when Cloudpiler shares a teaching about salt, he’s not just giving a cultural tidbit — he’s reminding us of a living covenant carried forward from Alma and Ammon to Moroni, from Hagoth’s ships to our own day.
🧂 Salt: More Than Seasoning
The prophet Tsimohtl (Timothy) — one of the Peacemakers who visited the Nemenhah in ancient Missouri — spoke often about salt. He taught that salt should be kept in Medicine Bundles and used to bless homes, families, and sacred gatherings.
📜 Mehnihpahsihts 2:18–19
Give salt often and remember the ways of your ancestors. For the days come soon enough when there shall be no savor and men shall stand with no beliefs worthy of their heritage.
They shall forget the Earth and Her goodness to them, and they shall defile the Creation which the Peacemaker has given them…
Salt, for the Nemenhah, was not just a condiment — it was a covenant, a purifier, and a symbol of endurance.
📖 Salt in the Bible
✨ Jesus taught:
“Ye are the salt of the earth…” — Matthew 5:13
He wasn’t talking about food flavoring — He meant the covenant people of God. When we lose our savor, we lose our distinctiveness, our divine identity.
🔥 Paul wrote:
“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt…” — Colossians 4:6
Salt preserves truth and grace. It’s the flavor of Heaven in earthly words.
📝 Moses taught:
“With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.” — Leviticus 2:13
In ancient temple offerings, salt symbolized permanence — an eternal covenant that cannot decay or spoil.
⚖️ God Himself called it a “Covenant of Salt.”
Numbers 18:19
2 Chronicles 13:5
📚 Book of Mormon Echoes
The Savior repeated this same teaching at Bountiful:
“I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor…” — 3 Nephi 12:13
He was speaking to the remnant covenant people on this very land — the same lineage that would later become the Nemenhah.
And sure enough, Mormon saw the day when salt would be lost — when faith would be traded for money and power:
“Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.” — Mormon 8:32
✍️ What Is Chiasmus — and Why It Matters
Before we look at the “Chiastic Warning,” let’s pause and talk about that word: chiasmus.
Chiasmus is a pattern of writing the Lord has used since ancient times — a mirror structure that places the most important truth right in the middle. The ideas build forward (A-B-C), reach a center point (D), then return in reverse order (C′-B′-A′).
In other words, it’s how Heaven underlines a message without using bold print.
📖 The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and The Nemenhah Records are full of these patterns. It’s how the Lord says, “Pay attention — this is what I’m putting My finger on.”
Even famous voices through history — Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, George Washington — naturally used this divine rhythm in their speeches. Truth seems to echo best when it comes back around.
So when we find a chiasmus, we’re not just finding clever writing — we’re uncovering the Lord’s own language of emphasis.
🌀 The Chiastic Warning
The Lamentation of Mehnihpahsihts, Chapter 27, sets up a prophetic chiasmus about salt and society — a perfect mirror showing the fall and restoration of sacred community:
| Element | Theme |
|---|---|
| A | Salt loses savor / covenant forgotten |
| B | Collapse of communal governance |
| C | Prophetic comfort |
| D | Pivot: unity, stewardship, all things common |
| C′ | Comfort through Creator & descendants |
| B′ | Restoration of Councils & harmony |
| A′ | Renewal of salt / covenant / ceremonies |
At the heart (D) is the answer: return to unity, consecration, and the original covenant way.
That’s the same pattern of restoration found in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Nemenhah.
🌿 Why It Matters Now
Cloudpiler often reminds us: we are living in the very days Tsimohtl foresaw.
Our modern culture has forgotten its covenant savor. The earth is dishonored, families divided, and sacred stewardship traded for convenience.
The Ceremonial Saltzer is not just a collector’s piece — it’s a physical call to remembrance.
🕊 Remember the old paths.
“Ask for the old paths, where is the good way…” — Jeremiah 6:16
🌍 Honor the Creation.
“To dress it and to keep it.” — Genesis 2:15
🫱 Restore consecration.
“They were of one heart and one soul… and had all things common.” — Acts 4:32
✨ Pass the covenant forward.
“Turn the heart of the fathers to the children…” — Malachi 4:5–6
🔥 Closing Reflections
Something as simple as salt can hold the whole gospel message inside it.
Just as salt seasons and preserves, so do our faithful acts, pure hearts, and covenant lives preserve the sacred Way in a decaying world.
So next time you hold a little Saltzer in your hand, remember —
👉 It’s not just salt.
👉 It’s memory.
👉 It’s covenant.
👉 It’s prophecy.
👉 It’s hope — all held in a humble clay vessel.
✨ “It is good for us to be here.”
“Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” — Mark 9:50
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