Garlic!

Garlic or Allium sativum is among the few herbs that have a universal usage & recognition. Its daily usage aids and supports the body in ways that no other herb does. It is one of the most effective anti-microbial plants available, acting on bacteria, viruses and alimentary parasites. The volatile oil is an effective agent and as it is largely excreted via the lungs, it is used in respiratory infections such as chronic bronchitis, catarrh, recurrent colds and influenza. It may be helpful in the treatment of whooping cough and as part of a broader approach to bronchitic asthma. It may be used as a preventative for most infectious conditions, digestive as well as respiratory. For the digestive tract garlic will support the development of the natural bacterial flora whilst killing pathogenic organisms. In addition it will reduce blood pressure when take over a period of time as well as reducing blood cholesterol levels. It has been used externally for the treatment of ringworm and threadworm.

You can eat a clove of garlic three times a day. If the smell becomes a problem, use garlic oil capsules. Take 3 once a day as a preventative or 3 times a day when an infection occurs. For microbial infections, it will combine well with echinacea.

Magickal Uses & Folk Lore...used to be called Ajo (Spanish), Poor Man's Treacle and Stinkweed. They used it for protection, healing, exorcism, lust and anti-theft. Ritually, garlic was eaten on festival days to Hecate and was left at a crossroads as a sacrifice in Her name.

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 thor 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 for thirteen days. On the last day, in the middle of the night, walk to a corner of an intersection of two streets, remove the necklace, throw it behind you and run home without looking back. (Can you imagine? LOL)

Garlic is also extremely protective. Sailors carry some while on board ship to protect against its 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 the intrusion of evil, to keep out robbers and thieves and is hung over the door to repel envious people. It's especially protective in new homes.

If you wear it, garlic guards against foul weather as well as monsters (vampires ring a bell?), and it also shields you from the blows of your enemies.

When evil spirts are about, bit into garlic to send them away, or sprinkle powdered garlic on the floor. It was also placed under children's pillows to protect them while asleep and brides once carried a clove of garlic in the pocket for good luck and to keep evil far from her on her big day. Rubbed onto pots and pans before cooking in them garlic removes negative vibrations which migh otherwise contaminate the food. When a magnet or lodestone is rubbed with garlic, it loses it magical powers.

Thought it would be fun to write about the many uses of garlic throughout time!