Herb of the Day! Garlic!

*yes I know I have been inconsistent with having daily posts. >.< Being a stay at home mom has made this a little more difficult than I first imagined. Especially since I want to maintain a high quality to the information on these. So I ask for a bit of leeway in my post consistency. *

Garlic for me is about as personal as I can get to an herb in my craft. I say that because of my patron Goddess being Hecate, and offerings of garlic left at cross roads are a favored gift to her. But there is so much more to garlic than just a common ingredient in Italian food. Lets take a deeper look at this wonderful plant called the Stinking Rose.

Historically speaking Garlic has been around for over 5,000 years. Cultivated not only by the Chinese and Egyptians, but also by ancient Babylonians. And it was only brought over to the States on the 2nd trip here by Christopher Columbus.
The Egyptians held garlic in a very high regard. Not only did they swear oaths over cloves of garlic, but they also paid pyramid builders in garlic and gave it to the slaves building them to eat to maintain their strength.
Moving on from Egypt to Rome it's strength inducing properties carried on as well. Being eaten by the Roman soldiers to inspire and bestow courage and strength in battle against their foes. And again as I started this post about, it is a favored offering to the Goddess Hecate. Being left at a crossroads for her as a supper. Invoking her powers over the spirits of those beyond the veil. Protecting yourself or others from their grasp, or unwanted attention. Although some who follow Hecate may invoke her powers as a dark goddess for hexes or other forms of this magic.
Moving north towards Europe Garlic moves more from giving strength to bestowing protection. Many people used this herb to protect themselves and even cure themselves from ailments of every kind. From the common cold to even the Plague. Even carrying it in their pocket , probably even with a sprig of Rosemary (See what I did there. If you didn't, check out my previous post on Rosemary.) to keep these illnesses at bay. It was also thought to be good to divert the attention of the evil eye and negative energy.
Now the bit that I'm sure everyone is wondering about, Vampires. I haven't gone to far into the actual research of this connection. That would have to be it's very own post. And I may go about it another time as a follow up to this one. But I have made my own theory as to why Braum Stoker and all of the legends connect Garlic to these creatures of the night.
Garlic has many protective properties magical and medicinal. It also has been connected to the planet Mars which has connections to the blood and fiery energies. This allowing it a strong connection to obviously a person's blood and circulatory system, but also to their heart. Garlic has also been scientifically proven to improve heart health and lower cholesterol. So it would seem safe to say that with vampires need for blood these properties would be a deterrent.
Many vampiric legends have connections to blood drinking parasites and insects. These carry diseases such as Malaria that have symptoms similar to those who were afflicted by vampires feeding off of them. Garlic has bug repellent qualities, so it would make sense for the wearing or carrying of garlic practical as a form of protection. So with all of these together, it only makes sense that Garlic would be a solid candidate as a form of protection from vampires.

Magical uses for this little herb are incredible! They run the gamete from protection to spell removal to even banishing.
The most commonly available use for Garlic is to hang chains or wreaths above, on, or near doorways to keep out negative energies and spirits trying to enter your home. Hanging it over your bedroom door though is to invite love and happiness into your life. Placing it by the window of your child(ren) will protect them from having nightmares. This can also be done by placing a clove underneath their pillow.
If you are having a hard time with unwanted affection by another, stick 2 pins in a clove of garlic and bury it in a cross roads. When the person is lead across the path with the garlic, their feeling will dissipate as they cross.
Stuffing a clove of Garlic into the mouth of a poppet and sewing it shut will stop gossip and keep it from spreading further.
If a spell has gone awry, burying the remaining spell components along with a clove of garlic will negate the spell affects.
Garlic can also be used in love potions or even just added to food to enhance loving feelings between yourself and another person.

As usual, if there are any questions or requests for more spells or recipes with this or any herb, please feel free to drop me a comment below. As above as Below.

Sources:
http://www.witchipedia.com/herb:garlic
http://www.witchipedia.com/god:hecate
http://www.pagansworld.org/tag/garlic/
https://moodymoons.com/2016/10/23/12-magical-ways-to-use-garlic/
http://herbalriot.tumblr.com/post/67559344804/what-are-some-magickal-uses-for-garlic
https://www.spookyisles.com/2013/06/learn-the-natural-and-supernatural-powers-of-garlic/
http://www.garlic-central.com/garlic-lore.html