Oh, the wonders of this neatly packaged herb! So small and pungent, so beneficial and repulsive. Garlic is the herb we love and hate; we love it for its flavor and positive properties but hate its powerful aroma. Garlic's magical properties are steeped in delicious recipes and a long tradition of healing and mysticism.
I plan to discuss and highlight the many valuable aspects garlic holds for both Magickal and non-Magickal purposes. In fact, this herb is so deeply ingrained in our psyche that we often think of or perform small rituals pulled from old folklore all the time. Do these small superstitions mean there’s a little Witch in all of us?
Garlic is a powerful conduit in spiritual practices. It wards off evil, cleanses, and protects. This article explores the rich history, medicinal benefits, and magical uses of garlic, offering insights into how to harness its power for protection, healing, and enhancing your spells.
A Brief History of Garlic
Garlic has been revered for thousands of years for its culinary and medicinal properties. Native to Central Asia, Garlic has been cultivated for over 7,000 years. Garlic is closely related to onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Garlic grows all year in mild climates. In cold climates, Garlic is planted in the fall about 6 weeks before the ground freezes. Garlic is usually very hardy and is not attacked by many pests or diseases.
The medicinal properties of Garlic have been noted back to the time when the Giza Pyramids were built. Hippocrates, among others, noted Garlic for its ability to relieve and treat many conditions, including parasites, respiratory problems, and poor digestion. Most notably, the medicinal properties of garlic include digestive, circulatory, and respiratory benefits.
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Perhaps the usefulness of Garlic is the reason many cultures found it also to be critical in folklore and religious practices. It has been revered as an element of both good and evil. Garlic has been used for protection and “White Magick”.
The Hidden Biblical Truth About Garlic's Spiritual Power 🧄
Selecting and Storing Garlic
When choosing a bulb of garlic, you will want to be careful and take note of the condition of the outer wrapping of the bulb. The paper or outer wrapping should be tight, and it should hold each clove snugly together. Also, give your bulb a little squeeze. The outer cloves should not give. Each clove should feel firm and solid. If you encounter a clove that gives or if the outer wrapping dips in with a little pressure, you have a bad bulb.
Garlic should be stored dry at a temperature above or around 64° F. Some varieties are braided and hung.
Medicinal Uses of Garlic
Garlic is among the most versatile herbs in the natural world, being universally recognized for its medicinal properties and uses. Garlic is antimicrobial, acting on bacteria, viruses, and parasites alike. The volatile oil is effective against chest congestion, helping to break up and remove mucus in the lungs. It can be used to treat bronchitis, coughs, sore throats, colds, and influenza. Garlic has also been found to help support natural gut flora, killing pathogenic organisms and promoting overall gut health. It also lowers blood pressure and cholesterol. Externally, it has been used to treat ringworm and threadworm.
Eat garlic to help regulate blood sugar, reduce high blood pressure, slow the hardening of the arteries, and help reduce fat buildup in the liver.
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Preparation and Dosage
Internally, garlic can be taken as an infused oil, honey, or eaten whole. To create an effective cough/cold/flu remedy, combine 1 minced glove of garlic with 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice and 1-2 teaspoons of honey. Take up to three times a day. This infused honey can also be added to 1 cup of boiling water and a slice of ginger root and drank as an infusion up to three times a day for the same purpose. To create an infused oil, combine 4 crushed garlic cloves with 3 tablespoons of oil. Simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain and store for up to 12 months. Add to foods or take straight to improve gut health, fight infection, and speed in recovery. If you wish to eat garlic whole, eat up to three cloves a day. Externally, garlic can be crushed and used as a poultice to treat fungal infections. Garlic is commonly added to other herbal remedies, such as fire cider, to treat infections and improve overall health.
However, the benefits don’t come immediately if you are cooking with Garlic. Another study indicates that if you cook with Garlic, you should let it rest for about 10 minutes before you place it actually cook it. This time allows the garlic to produce the phytonutrients that make Garlic so valuable and useful.
Magical Properties and Uses
Garlic’s magical correspondences include protection from illness, warding off the evil eye, reversing curses, stopping gossip, providing long life, and giving spells a good power boost.
Garlic is one of the earliest domesticated plants, and while its lineage is uncertain, its magical and healing abilities are anything but. In Talmudic literature, garlic is commonly described as protection against all manner of evils, including the Evil Eye, demons, witches, and, most famously, vampires. In one tale, garlic was given to a servant by their master after asking for the weaponry of a knight, suggesting that garlic is as powerful and protective as a sword. Odysseus used garlic to protect himself against Circe, who had turned his men into pigs.
In India, garlic was believed to have originated from a drop of amrita or divine ambrosia that was unintentionally left behind by the bird-like creature and Lord Vishnu's vehicle, Garuda. Garuda is known for driving away evil, negative spirits, and poison, further associating garlic with protection.
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In the Balkans, garlic was rubbed on the chest, soles of the feet, and armpits on Christmas and Easter to protect everyone, especially children, from being eaten by witches, who were said to feed the most on the holy days. While rubbing garlic on children, parents would recite the following charm: "When the witch has counted up all the blades of grass on the ground and all the leaves on the trees, then let her kill my child!"
On St. Thomas's Day, October 19th, garlic bulbs were hung in windows to keep witches away from the house all year, while during the middle ages, it was worn around the neck to protect against werewolves and hung in doorways for the same purposes.
Most famously, however, garlic was used as protection against vampires. Bram Stoker's Dracula popularized the Romanian belief that garlic wards off vampires, but it wasn't just in Romania that it was believed garlic could ward off vampires. In China and the Malays, children's foreheads were anointed with garlic to protect against vampires as well.
Apart from hanging in the home or rubbing one's body with garlic, it was also used as an offering to Hecate for protection. Bulbs were routinely left at crossroads for Her in return for protection against evil, ill-will, witches, and other ill-intentioned spirits. Hecate was also offered garlic during childbirth and placed in the birthing chamber to protect women and children from demons and ensure a safe, healthy delivery.
Apart from protection, garlic was also believed to promote health and increase strength and endurance. Greek athletes and soldiers would eat large amounts of garlic prior to a match or battle to increase their strength and endurance and ensure victory. In Rome, not only did the soldiers consume garlic for courage, but Roman generals would also plant fields of garlic in the countries they conquered, believing that courage would be transferred to their soldiers on the battlefield. In Egypt, slaves were fed garlic to keep them strong and healthy, and King Tut was documented as spending fifteen pounds of garlic to buy healthy slaves. Even as recently as World War II, Russian soldiers ate garlic before going into battle to promote courage and strength and protect their bodies from bullets. As such, garlic can be used to promote strength, courage, and endurance whether for the witch or the spell being cast.
Garlic was also noted for its healing abilities and is often used to fight infection and stave off illnesses. Hippocrates recorded garlic being used to fight infections, clean wounds, treat cancer and leprosy, and cure digestive disorders. Later, Dioscorides praised garlic for its ability to treat heart problems, while Pliny listed 61 remedies featuring garlic that were used to treat everything from the common cold to epilepsy. In the Middle East, garlic was used to treat the plague and prevent others from getting sick. As such, garlic can be used in spells for healing, health, and general wellness.
Finally, garlic is associated with wealth, luck, and prosperity. Garlic is often consumed on Christmas Eve or New Year's Day to ensure good luck and prosperity, while in China, garlic is given to newlyweds as a symbol of health and prosperity. In Ancient China, garlic was often planted around the home to attract good luck and ward off evil. As such, garlic can be used in spells to bring luck, prosperity, and wealth.
According to Culpepper, garlic is ruled by Mars.
Magical Uses and History:
- Gender: Masculine
- Planet: Mars
- Element: Fire
- Powers: Courage, Exorcism, Healing, Lust, Protection, Strength
How Can I Use Garlic In Spells?
Whole garlic bulbs and cloves of garlic can be made into charms. Crushed, sliced, and minced garlic can be used in magical edibles, such as potions, soups, sauces, and roasts. Use the dried powder in sachet bags, spell bottles, jar spells, and more. Focus on your magical intent and visualize your goal as if it’s already happened while you work with the herb.
Types of Spells
- Protection Spells
- Endurance Magic
- Prosperity Magic
- Healing Spells
- Wards
- Money Spells
Specific Spells
- Banishing: Add a clove or the dried powder to any banishing spells or incense. Hang dried bulbs or a braid in a space to continuously banish harmful energies and evil spirits.
- Breaking Curses & Hexes: Wipe the blades of a pair of scissors with the clove’s juice, place a drop of olive oil into a glass of water, and use the scissors to cut through the drop of oil. Write down any bad luck you think may be from a hex or curse. Bury it in a deep hole with a clove.
- Confidence: Add an unpeeled clove to a confidence spell jar to help boost your confidence. Plant a clove. As the new plant grows, as will your confidence.
- Healing: Speed recovery from an illness: Sleep with sliced garlic cloves around your bed to help speed recovery. This also works with onions. Clear up skin issues: Rub the sliced side of a garlic clove on a bug bite or skin ailment, rinse the clove under running water, then throw it away. The same can be done with an onion. Ward off common colds: Slice and simmer fresh garlic in oil over low heat until it starts to turn golden brown. Allow it to cool and eat while you cook the rest of dinner in the garlic oil.
- Longevity: Keep a garlic braid in your root cellar or a cool area of your house. Eat from it and continue adding to it to maintain a long life.
- Power Boost: Leave a bulb at a crossroads as an offering to Hecate, Goddess of Witchcraft.
Garlic and Daily Rituals
Don’t underestimate the power of using daily rituals in manifestation. Garlic is a powerful conduit in spiritual practices; it wards off evil, cleanses and protects.
Essential tips for aiding in manifestation:
- Keep The Bathroom Clean: The bathroom can be a negative portal if it isn’t kept clean.
- Keep The Toilet Lid Down: Keep the toilet lid down if you don’t want your luck and prosperity to leave the house.
Garlic in Folklore
Garlic was once worn to guard against the plague. It is still used to absorb diseases. Simply rub fresh, peeled cloves of garlic onto the afflicted part of the body, then throw them into running water. An old spell utilized garlic in protecting against hepatitis. To do this, simply wear thirteen cloves of garlic at the end of a cord around the neck every day for thirteen days.
Garlic is also extremely protective. Sailors carry some while aboard ships to prevent wreckage. Soldiers wore garlic as a defense in the middle ages, while Roman soldiers ate it to give them courage. It is placed in the home to guard against intrusion of evil, to keep robbers and thieves, and is hung over the door to repel envious people.
When evil spirits are about, bite into garlic to send them away, or sprinkle powdered garlic on the floor (if you don't mind the smell for some time). Garlic is also placed beneath children's pillows to protect them while asleep, and brides used to keep garlic in their pocket to guard against evil spirits on their special day. According to mythology it is used to protect oneself from vampires. This is true scientifically, as eating raw garlic causes the skin to secrete a toxin that wards away blood-sucking insects.
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