GARLIC (Allium sativum): Origin: native to Asiatic Siberia. Garlic has been symbolic of courage and strength since remote antiquity. It was mentioned by Homer and used by Odysseus to keep the sorceress Circe from turning him and his men into pigs. Garlic was dedicated to Mars the Roman god of war. Roman soldiers traditionally ate garlic before battle in the belief that to do so provided courage. Romans also believed that if a man chewed garlic during a foot race, no one would pass him. Romans believed, too, that a magnet would lose its power if rubbed with garlic. Garlic has been used as a charm against evil eye, and especially to ward off witches and vampires. After introduction of garlic into South America, the Inca Indians believed that bulls would not charge anyone carrying this plant. The English word, garlic (i.e. gar lic), means spear-like leek. Garlic is known in India as the “slayer of monsters.” It was used by German miners into the 19th century as protection against evil. Garlic that appears in dreams symbolizes good luck, the discovery of hidden treasure, but also means that the dreamer will have a domestic quarrel. Widely used among traditional cultures of east and west as protection against plague, and as a powerful charm against evil eye, witches, and vampires. Ancient Greece garlic offered to Hecate, goddess of the underworld; used to protect against evil eye. Roman beverages prepared with garlic and coriander to induce feelings of affection. Throughout the centuries there has been widespread use of garlic to protect against evil. Boiled garlic used to treat ringworm. Slices of garlic placed inside shoes along the soles of the foot thought to cure whooping cough. A widespread tradition that cloves from garlic planted on Good Friday boiled in milk and poured over the patient, thought to cure any disease. This widely consumed bulb is a close relative of leeks, onions, and shallots and according to some accounts is native to Central Asia. Garlic poses an interesting problem to food historians. The Biblical book of Numbers (11:15) presents the statement: “We remember the fish, the leek, and the garlic” – foods remembered by Jews during the Exodus from Egypt. Our research conducted during 1968-1969 found no evidence that garlic was used in Egypt prior to the Greek-Roman Period; further, there appears to be no ancient Egyptian word for garlic! Throughout ancient Greek and Roman texts garlic has been recognized for its medicinal and therapeutic properties. Pliny the Roman wrote:
[garlic] keeps off serpents and scorpions by its smell … the ancients gave it raw to madmen … it relieves hoarseness if eaten alone, or when mixed in a gruel of peas or beans … when cooked in honey and vinegar it expels tape-worms … its drawbacks are that it dulls the sight, causes flatulence, injures the stomach, and creates thirst.
The Greek traveler and historian Herodotus visited Egypt in c. 454 BCE – well after codification and standardization of the book of Exodus – and claimed that the workers who built the pyramids at Giza (at an earlier time) were provided garlic, radishes, and onions by the construction overseers. Garlic has been symbolic of courage and strength since remote antiquity. It was mentioned by Homer and used by Odysseus to keep the sorceress Circe from turning him and his men into pigs. The ancient Greeks placed cloves of garlic at crossroads in order to feed Hecate. Garlic was dedicated to Mars the Roman god of war and Roman soldiers traditionally ate garlic before battle in the belief that to do so provided courage.
The Gerarde herbal only briefly mentioned garlic and mentions that a distilled preparation of garlick was capable of breaking kidney stones and provoking urine.
The Culpeper herbal opens the section of garlic commenting on the offensiveness of breath of those who have eaten garlick and its uses to it promote urine; treat the bites of mad dogs and other venomous creatures. Garlic kills worms in children, thins tough strands of phlegm, reduces lethargy, and serves as a preventive and remedy for plague, sores, and foul ulcers. Garlick is useful when removing skin blemishes, eases ear pain, ripens and breaks skin pustules. A special quality attributed to garlic is to counter the ill effects of drinking corrupt and stinking water; it is useful in treating jaundice, the falling sickness, cramps, convulsions, and for the treatment of hemorrhoids. Culpeper cautions about the overuse of garlic as suggested by the hot/cold-wet/dry allopathic treatments of his time. He warns against its consumption by persons suffering melancholy since they will experience strong fancies and strange visions. In sum, Culpeper champions the external applications of garlic but cautions against eating or drinking decoctions prepared using plant. As a final caution he wrote:
Let such as [who] live their heads or brains, either forbear such things as are obnoxious to the brain, as Garlick, Leeks, Onions, beware of surfeiting and drunkenness.
Garlic has been used as a charm against evil eye, and especially to ward off witches and vampires. Wreaths of garlic cloves suspended on the doors of homes are perceived in many cultures as a way to protect against evil – and with the rise of Hollywood vampire movies – the superstition that garlic thwarts the intent of vampires continues on into the 21st century. A garlic wreath decorated the front door of my Greek mother-in-law’s apartment in Cairo, Egypt, and we never encountered any visits from vampires or the un-dead! There is an Islamic tradition that after Satan left the Garden of Eden, garlic arose inside his left footprint and an onion grew inside the right. After introduction of garlic into South America, the Inca Indians believed that bulls would not charge anyone carrying this plant. The English word, garlic (i.e. gar lic), means spear-like leek. Garlic is known in India as the “slayer of monsters.” It was used by German miners into the 19th century as protection against evil. Garlic that appears in dreams symbolizes good luck, the discovery of hidden treasure, but also means that the dreamer will have a domestic quarrel. It is said that in Cuba, 13 cloves of garlic worn on a cord around a child’s neck for 13 days will protect against jaundice. An old English tradition holds that onion juice can treat childhood deafness. During World War I external applications of garlic were applied for their presumed antiseptic properties
(Summarized from: Gerard, J. 1597, pp. 141-143; Culpeper, 1653, p. 82, also p. 395; Thiselton-Dyer, 1889, p.110, 294-295; Colin, 1962, pp. 44-45; Lehner and Lehner, 1962, p. 103; Priestley and Priestley, 1979, pp. 65-66; Rätsch, 1992, p. 81; Vickery, 1995, p. 151; Grivetti, 2004, pp. 95-96).
See also: http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/garlic06.html
http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Alli_sat.html