What is the origin of the belief that garlic wards off vampires?

ankhsunamun1

'Apotropaic Magic', comes from ancient Greece and means to 'ward off' or 'repel' evil. Other items include the wild rose and hawthorn plants... May 15 12, 6:28 AM

star_gazer

Why Does Garlic Repel Vampires? So, should we all be mixing heads of garlic with our Halloween pumpkin stew? Can it ward off the undead vampire princes of the night? The reputation of garlic as a vampire repellent goes back long before Stoker's relatively recent gothic creation. Why should this be? It's true that garlic has long been associated with health and life in general, however why should it ward off vampires specifically rather than all undead monsters? There are many competing theories as to the origin of the vampire story. Many have to do with disease. A recent theory tries to associate vampirism with rabies. This works well in general however it fails to explain convincingly the position of garlic in vampire lore. Instead it relies on the idea of rabies sufferers becoming fixated on its smell - an idea that could just as likely apply to the smell of coffee, not a known anti-vampire tool! Another theory is that vampirism can be seen as symbolic of mosquito bites - and garlic is known in folklore as a natural mosquito repellent. Mosquitoes suck blood and in doing so spread disease. So do vampires. Some of the symptoms of malaria - exhaustion, fever, anemia - are reminiscent of the reputed effects of being bitten by a vampire without being totally drained or turned. Garlic is a known insect repellent which reportedly works well against mosquitoes, perhaps people saw the similarity with vampires, especially when in their bat form. This would fit well with the vampire folklore and gothic fiction and is my personal favourite theory. Of course, the $64,000 question is: does it actually work against vampires? Would it really protect us from the undead? Let's hope we never have to find out.. http://www.garlic-central.com/vampires.html May 15 12, 9:35 AM