Garlic is held in high regard as a nutritious product but it has gained a reputation as a protective charm across many European countries, particularly the Balkans which have a long history of vampires in folklore and stories. Garlic is one of a few known protective wards for fighting vampires and keeping them from homes. It is still viewed as a good luck charm in Kosovo today.
History Of The Garlic Luck Charm
Garlic is a powerful, strange and flexible plant. It has a number of nutritious and protective properties including warding off blood-sucking insects but is also used medicinally to fight infection. This may partially account for why garlic is used to scare vampires when factored with its pungent aroma and antibiotic properties. Amongst vampire hysteria in the Balkans around the 17th or 18th-century, garlic was spread on doors and windows, placed in the mouth and worn as necklaces and draped over doorways. Kosovo was part of Serbia until 2008, so it is best perhaps to look at garlic’s history in Serbia where garlic is snacked upon regularly and held in very high regard as a good luck charm and protective natural product to understand why it is still held in such regard in both Serbia and Kosovo.
Why Garlic Brings Luck
Garlic is medically powerful but also plays a key role in vampire folklore. Though vampires are best associated with Romania and the Transylvania region in particular, obsession with vampires occurred throughout the Balkans leading many to hysterically hoard anti-vampire items like crosses, stakes and garlic. Garlic, the most peculiar of these wards, was smeared across homes to keep vampires away. In Kosovo, garlic is still draped over doorways to prevent bad spirits from entering the home. Combined with the fact Kosovans consume garlic regularly for its health protective benefits, this has made garlic a fairly ubiquitous charm observed across the country.
How To Use The Garlic Charm
Garlic is a very flexible natural product. It keeps for long periods of time, is tasty to use in cuisine, grows easily in colder environments and is cheap and easy to get hold of. Using garlic as a charm is simple, keep a garlic bulb on your person at all times and consume garlic regularly. Drape garlic wreaths on the doors of your home to ward bad spirits and keep vampires out!
How The Garlic Charm Is Made
Garlic is considered both a vegetable and a herb. It is closely related to the onion from the Alium genus and has been used for thousands of years for its medical benefits and strong but appealing taste. Garlic is native to parts of Asia but it’s relatively easy to grow almost anywhere as a hardy plant. The simplest way to make a garlic charm is to grow it! Garlic is easily sewn from the bulb itself, a piece of garlic as we eat it is the bulb, simply place this in the ground and water it and it should grow! Garlic bulbs multiply, it’s easy to grow your own small crops of garlic from just one garlic bulb.
How To Make Garlic Charm At Home
Garlic is a common plant that is easy to grow. To make garlic charms, you can buy garlic or grow your own. Garlic is cheap and flexible, you can eat it raw if you like the strong taste or use it to cook. Garlic wreaths are sewn together into long strands which can be draped in houses for good luck.
Interesting And Fun Facts About The Pujok Charm
- Garlic has many proven medical benefits which are lucky for health
- Garlic’s history as a charm dates back to 17th and 18th-century vampire hysteria
- Grow your own garlic from garlic bulbs to take advantage of its good luck and health effects when eaten