GARLIC

GENERAL INFO
The garlic production and purchase have gone sky-high. The demand for garlic has increased now that society is learning more about the useful properties garlic provides for the human body health-wise.

NAMES/MEANINGS
The garlic bulb you buy is not called a clove. The whole garlic bulb is called a head or a knob of garlic. The garlic head is referred to as a bulb because when it grows up from the ground, the part you see is the green stems and leaves. (A bulb of cloves) The part you get out of the ground is a ball referred to as a bulb. There are twenty-two kinds of garlic out there to purchase. Here are a few to name: Asiatic Hardneck, Asian Tempest, Pyongyang, Creole Hardneck, Glazed Purple Stripe Hardneck, Marbled Purple Stripe Hardneck, Middle Eastern Hardneck, Porcelain Hardneck, Purple Stripe Hardneck, Rocambole Hardneck, Turban Hardneck, Artichoke Softneck, Silverskin Softneck

HISTORY/ORIGINS
Garlic is found in Central Asia, China, Pakistan, S.W. Siberia, the United States, and many other countries. Garlic once upon a time was used as a form of monetary payment in Egypt. The workers and slaves of the great pyramid were paid and fed garlic in return for work. Many upper-class families, kings, and queens could not handle the strong effects of the garlic, and it would make them sick to their stomachs. The only ones that could eat it and be satisfied were the lower-class families. They enjoyed the garlic bulb.

HORTICULTURE
Garlic is easy to grow; there are a few steps involved but simplistic. You can start a crop in late fall and still have great results. There are two types of garlic. You have what is called a soft neck and a hard neck. When at the grocery store, you are most likely going to find soft-neck garlic. It is the easier of the two to grow and the most common one to find. This bulb has a milder garlic flavor. It produces more cloves and has a longer shelf life than hard neck garlic does. Most chefs use hard-neck garlic since it has a stronger flavor, and it is easier to peel the shelling off of it. Softneck garlic grows so much faster than hard necks and does so much better in warmer climates. Hardneck garlic flourishes in colder parts of the countries and world. The best time to plant hard neck garlic is right after the first frost. It is the start of late fall and the beginning of winter.

The best way to plant the garlic is to break the bulbs into cloves and plant them four inches apart in rows. Space your rows out 18 to 24 inches between each other. Cover the cloves with about two inches of soil. Garlic can grow in practically any soil, but it is more productive with well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Plant the pointed ends facing up. Mixing your soil with mulch is a great way to retain moisture and regulate the temperature of the soil. Keep your garlic garden watered, remove weeds regularly, and during spring, start feeding the garlic manure or fertilizer. You should cut the scapes when they start to curl towards the leaves. It helps the bulbs grow much bigger. From about midsummer, normally from July to early August, the leaves will start to become discolored. Usually a yellow or brown. It means the garlic is almost ready to harvest. Stop watering the plants and wait until a third of the plant looks withered or is changing brown before you start pulling up the garlic bulbs. Remove any dirt and be careful not to damage the outer layer of the garlic.

To cure the garlic, bundle or braid the stems and hang them in good air circulation and minimal sunlight. It takes about three to six weeks to cure the garlic bulbs. When the garlic is ready, cut the roots and store them in a cool, dry place. Keep in mind soft-necks have a longer shelf life, approximately eight months. Hardnecks are good for close to six months or less.

CULINARY
This extraordinary protection bulb can be incorporated magickly in holiday foods with thyme, rosemary, and cinnamon. Sing an enchanting invitation as preparations are being done, and send your family members home for another safe and happy year. They will never know the difference. You, although, you will know you have given them many incorporated blessings and protections.

MEDICINAL
The disease-prevention department has learned that garlic helps with heart health, diabetes, cancer, infections, and so much more. For thousands of years, garlic has been used for medicine, as aphrodisiacs, and made into a skin salve or cream. Garlic has also been added to antibiotics.

MAGICKAL
Garlic was hung up over door frames in medieval times to protect the people staying inside from evil, protected the pregnant women from evil nymphs, and ward away the evil eye. When you use this herb in potions and spells, remember the uses that garlic has and provides. Intentions can be placed upon it for interference or healing in what part of a friend or target’s body needs. Intentions are everything and must be clearly expressed. Egyptians used to worship the garlic as they would a god or goddess. There are many different ways garlic is and has been used in magical workings. One of the ways it is used is as an offering to the gods. Many love garlic and beer. Garlic is incorporated into some types of beer. Some witches grow garlic near their front doors. It has also been suggested to leave some at crossroads. For those that work with Hekate, she likes garlic. Garlic is used in diverting evil. Some witches have used garlic to deter their bosses at work from encounters with them as much as possible.

ITEMS NEEDED
The spell below will be in honor of Mother Hekate.
You will need an offering dish, thirteen garlic cloves – peeled, lavender incense, an incense plate for the ashes, a purple candle, and something to light the incense and candle.

SPELL
To walk with Mother Hekate
Hail Mother Hekate. I request to take your hand as your witch daughter/son. I come to you to guide me in my path. To lead me on my journey with you. Show me the way. I request that you assist me with my discoveries and show me the knowledge I long for and need on this magickal discovery of my newborn life calling. I do this in honor of you, you are the mother of all witchs, and you are the one I should be learning from. Lead the way, mother, for I shall follow you. You have the wisdom I seek to be able to venture out with one day. I ask to hold your hand, mother Hekate, as I know, you shall not lead me astray and bring me forth to the path I should be on. You know the ancients ways I request and long for and to know. You know how I should apply the ancestor’s ways of doing their ways today. I wish to walk the magickal ancestor’s ways of doing mystical magick.
As I will this, so mote it be.

ELEMENTS
Fire, Earth, Hekate, Heart chakra.