Healing Magick / Herbal Magick

Chives for Good Cheer


Allium, also known as chives, is a blessedly easy plant to grow anywhere and everywhere—on the kitchen windowsill or in a garden patch. A member of the onion family, this is a lovely case where the entire plant—bulb, leaves, and flowers—can be eaten. Plant the bulbs 6 inches (15 cm) apart, water, and you can pretty much ignore them after as all they require is water. A plus is that this relative of the onion has insect-repellant properties, so you can plant rows of this beside veggies and fruits and the bugs will stay away. Allium propagates quickly, so you can dig up mature bulbs and separate them and replant. One tip to remember is that chives do lose their flavor when dried, so use them fresh.

The flowers are a lovely surprise to add to salads for their edible beauty and many a kitchen witch uses chives in all manner of dishes as it is good for weight management and is a plant of protection for both home and garden. Chives were used by practitioners of old in amulets to ward off evil spirits and mischievous fairy folk. Freshly cut bunches were also hung beside the sickbed to speed healing, especially for children. If you see a home surrounded by rows of allium, you know its occupants hold to the “old ways.”