Garlic to the Rescue

Above is a recent photo from my garden, featuring garlic scapes, the flower stalk a garlic bulb sends up about three weeks before the bulb can be harvested. Garlic has a long history, even stranger than its convoluted scape shapes.

According to old Christian myths, garlic is demonic, springing from Satan’s left footprint, upon his first step on earth after being kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  Being left-handed, I take umbrage that the left side is associated with the devil. The meaning derives from Latin where “sin” is related to both the left side and being evil.

Eastern European folklore, on the other hand, had the opposite view, believing garlic gave them protection against evil spirits.  This stance carried over into vampire lore, where garlic was used to ward off werewolves and dastardly bloodsuckers.

In one Korean foundation myth, a female bear, after eating nothing but 20 cloves of garlic and Korean mugwort for 21 days, was transformed into a woman. She gave birth to a son who founded the nation of Korea.

According to  Pliny, garlic and onions were invoked as deities by the Egyptians They also fed their slaves, building the pyramids, garlic on a daily basis to ward off illness and increase strength and endurance. The slaves were true believers in garlic’s restorative power, even going on strike to get their daily ration increased.

The slaves weren’t alone. For thousands of years, people have touted garlic for its health properties. As a performance enhancer, ancient Greek athletes would take copious amounts of garlic before a competition. Roman soldiers ate garlic to inspire them and give them courage. The traditional Palestinian bridegroom wore a clove of garlic in his buttonhole to ensure good luck in the bedroom on his wedding night.

Cultures around the world, since the beginning of recorded history, have touted garlic for its medicinal properties, using it to treat many conditions. Sanskrit records show its medicinal use 5000 years ago, and China, for at least 3000 years.

It can be no coincidence that hundreds of cultures over thousands of years, many with no contact with one another, all came to similar conclusions about the beneficial role that garlic plays in treating disease, particularly for pulmonary and respiratory complaints. Research today is tending to validate those claims.

In addition, garlic has long been promoted to fight infections. It was observed that garlic merchants, during outbreaks of bubonic plague in the Middle Ages, died less often. In response, people wore masks as we are doing again today – but soaked theirs in garlic steeped vinegar.

 In 1858, Louis Pasteur came up with a plausible explanation, when he discovered that garlic contains an antibiotic oil called allicin that could have boosted the immune system against the bacterium that caused the plague.

After that in Europe, garlic’s antiseptic property was claimed to help control outbreaks of cholera, typhoid fever, and diphtheria. And in this country, for protection during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, individuals wore necklaces of garlic, when going out in public.

President Trump is a champion of unorthodox cures. Since he won’t wear a mask, perhaps he would be willing to replace his extra-long tie with a garlic necklace, the highly regarded accoutrement during our last pandemic.

It would likely be more efficacious than the hydroxychloroquine cure he tried to foist on us.

xxx