What is Clove Witchcraft
Clove witchcraft focuses on using the powerful dried flower buds of the clove tree in magical practice. These small, nail-shaped spices pack incredible energy despite their tiny size. Witches have worked with cloves for centuries because they excel at protection, drawing money, stopping gossip, attracting love, banishing negativity, and enhancing psychic abilities.
Unlike some herbs that work gently and slowly, cloves bring fierce, fast-acting energy to magical work. When you need strong protection right now, cloves answer that call. When gossip threatens your reputation, cloves silence it. When negative energy lingers despite other cleansing efforts, cloves blast it away. This spice does not mess around.
The name clove comes from the Latin word for nail, referring to their distinctive shape. These dried flower buds grow on evergreen trees native to Indonesia. The trees bloom twice yearly, and workers carefully harvest the unopened flower buds before drying them in the sun. This harvesting happens at just the right moment when the buds hold maximum aromatic oil but have not yet opened into flowers.
Historical and Cultural Origins
People have valued cloves for thousands of years, originally growing only on the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. These islands were called the Spice Islands because they produced cloves, nutmeg, and mace found nowhere else on Earth. For centuries, Arab traders controlled the spice trade, keeping the source location secret to maintain their monopoly and astronomical prices.
In ancient China, people who visited the emperor had to hold cloves in their mouths to freshen their breath before speaking to him. This custom recognized both the antiseptic and purifying properties of the spice. Chinese medicine has long used cloves for warming the body, improving digestion, and treating infections.
Medieval Europeans paid incredible prices for cloves, sometimes trading them by individual buds rather than by weight. The spice was worth more than gold at times. Wealthy people demonstrated their status by cooking with expensive spices including cloves. The demand for spices including cloves drove European exploration and ultimately led to the age of discovery as sailors sought direct routes to the Spice Islands.
In magical traditions across cultures, cloves gained reputation for powerful protection. European folk magic used them to guard against evil spirits and ward off plague. African and African American hoodoo traditions incorporated cloves heavily in money drawing magic and love work. Asian magical systems recognized their yang energy that drives away cold, stagnant influences.
Pomanders made from oranges studded with cloves became popular during medieval times. People believed these aromatic balls protected against disease and evil. While we now know they actually did help by masking bad odors and potentially offering some antiseptic benefit, their magical protective properties were equally valued. The tradition of making pomanders continues today, especially during winter holidays.
Modern witchcraft inherited these diverse traditions, blending European folk magic, hoodoo practices, and Asian wisdom into contemporary clove witchcraft. Today practitioners from all backgrounds recognize cloves as essential magical ingredients worth keeping in every witch supplies collection.
Magical Properties of Cloves
Cloves carry multiple magical energies, making them incredibly versatile. Understanding these properties helps you use them effectively in spells and rituals.
Protection and Banishing
The primary magical use for cloves is fierce protection. These spices do not just shield you from harm like some gentle protective herbs might. Instead, they actively drive away threatening energies and create boundaries that negative influences cannot cross. Think of cloves as the aggressive guard dog rather than the peaceful fence.
When you burn cloves as incense or carry them in a charm bag, they create a protective shield around you that has actual force behind it. This makes them perfect for situations requiring strong defense such as dealing with hostile people, protecting against psychic attack, clearing out stubborn negative energy, or guarding your home from unwanted spiritual influences.
Cloves excel particularly at stopping gossip and protecting your reputation. When people speak badly about you or spread rumors, cloves can literally silence them or turn their words back on themselves. This makes them essential for anyone dealing with workplace drama, social media attacks, or community gossip.
Money and Prosperity
The second major use for cloves is attracting money and financial success. Remember that these spices were once worth more than gold. That historical connection to wealth translates into powerful money-drawing energy. Cloves do not just attract spare change. They help bring actual prosperity, better paying jobs, successful business deals, and financial opportunities.
Many traditional money spells include cloves as a key ingredient. You might keep them in your wallet to attract money, burn them while visualizing financial success, or add them to money oil used to anoint candles in prosperity spells. The hot, active energy of cloves speeds up manifestation, making them ideal when you need money relatively quickly.
Love and Attraction
The warm, stimulating energy of cloves also works well in attraction magic. They bring passion, intensity, and heat to relationships. While gentler herbs like rose create sweet romantic feelings, cloves add fire and desire. They work especially well for rekindling passion in existing relationships or adding sexual attraction to developing romances.
Cloves can also attract friendship and general popularity when used with that intention. Their magnetic quality draws people toward you and makes you more noticeable and interesting to others. This makes them useful for anyone wanting to expand their social circle or become more influential in their community.
Different Forms of Clove Magic
Cloves come in several forms, each useful for different types of magical work.
Forms of Cloves for Magic
- Whole Cloves: The most common form. These dried flower buds can be used whole in charm bags, stuck into fruits, burned as incense, or carried for protection. Whole cloves maintain their potency for years when stored properly.
- Ground Cloves: Powdered cloves work well in spell powders, scattered in spaces, mixed into oils, or added to incense blends. The powder form releases scent and energy quickly but loses potency faster than whole cloves.
- Clove Essential Oil: Highly concentrated and very powerful. Just a drop or two suffices for most purposes. Use it to dress candles, add to ritual baths, anoint charms, or diffuse for energetic cleansing. Always dilute properly before skin contact as pure clove oil can cause irritation.
- Clove Tea or Infusion: Steeping whole cloves in hot water creates an infusion useful for magical baths, floor washes, or drinking before divination work. The tea carries the magical properties in a gentler, water-based form.
- Clove Tincture: Cloves steeped in alcohol create a concentrated tincture that stores well and adds clove energy to various preparations. A few drops go a long way.
Working with Cloves Safely
While cloves are generally safe when used appropriately, their potency requires respect and some basic precautions.
- Essential Oil Caution: Never apply undiluted clove essential oil directly to skin. It can cause severe irritation and burns. Always dilute in a carrier oil, using just 1 to 2 drops per tablespoon of carrier oil.
- Pregnancy Warning: Pregnant women should avoid using large amounts of cloves medicinally, though normal culinary amounts in cooking are fine. The concentrated essential oil should be avoided entirely during pregnancy.
- Blood Thinning: Cloves can slow blood clotting. People taking blood thinning medications or preparing for surgery should check with healthcare providers before using clove medicinally.
- Fire Safety: When burning whole cloves as incense, use a heat-proof container and never leave burning items unattended. Cloves can spark and pop while burning.
- Allergic Reactions: Some people have allergies to cloves. Test a small amount first if you have never worked with them before.
For magical purposes, these safety concerns mainly apply when using cloves topically or internally. Most protective and prosperity spells use cloves in ways that avoid direct skin contact or ingestion, making them very safe for the majority of magical applications.
Clove Protection Spells
Protection forms the core of clove witchcraft. Here are proven methods for using this powerful spice to guard yourself, your home, and your energy.
Home and Space Protection
Clove Corner Protection
Place whole cloves in the four corners of your home or in each corner of a specific room needing protection. As you place each clove, state your intention for protection clearly. Imagine a shield of energy forming around your space. Replace the cloves monthly or whenever they lose their scent.
For extra strength, use nine whole cloves per corner instead of just one. The number nine carries completion energy and enhances protection magic.
Clove and Salt Barrier
Mix ground cloves with salt to create a powerful protective powder. Sprinkle thin lines across doorways and windowsills. This creates barriers that negative energy and harmful intentions cannot cross. The salt grounds and absorbs while the cloves actively repel.
Use about one part ground cloves to three parts salt. This blend also works buried at property corners or sprinkled around the perimeter of your land.
Protective Clove Pomander
Take a fresh orange and stud it completely with whole cloves, pushing them deep into the peel until only the crown shows. As you insert each clove, focus on building protective energy into the pomander. Hang this in your home, especially near entrances or in rooms that feel vulnerable.
The orange adds cleansing and joy energy while the cloves provide fierce protection. As the pomander dries, it continues working and fills your space with protective scent.
Personal Protection Methods
Clove Protection Charm Bag
Fill a small red or black cloth bag with nine whole cloves, a pinch of salt, and optionally a small piece of black tourmaline or obsidian. Tie the bag closed while stating your intention for protection. Carry this in your pocket, purse, or car.
The bag creates a protective field around you wherever you go. Recharge it monthly by holding it in your hands and visualizing it glowing with protective light.
Clove Oil Shield
Dilute clove essential oil in a carrier oil like jojoba or sweet almond oil. Use a ratio of about 3 drops clove oil per tablespoon of carrier oil. Before entering situations where you need extra protection, dab a tiny amount on your pulse points. The scent creates an energetic shield around your personal space.
Stopping Gossip and Negativity
Stop Gossip Spell
Write the name of the person gossiping about you on a piece of paper. If you do not know who it is, write "All who speak against me" instead. Fold the paper away from you three times to push the energy away. Place the folded paper in a jar with nine whole cloves.
Fill the jar with white vinegar to sour their words and make them difficult to speak. Seal the jar tightly. As you close it, say firmly "Your words have no power over me." Store the jar in a dark place. The gossip should stop within a week.
Turn Back Negativity Spell
If someone sends you negativity, jealousy, or ill will, create a small mirror packet. Take a piece of reflective material like aluminum foil or a small mirror. Place a pinch of ground cloves and black pepper on it. Fold it toward you twice while saying "What you send to me returns to you." Keep this hidden in your space, reflective side facing out toward where the negativity comes from.
Clove Money and Prosperity Magic
Cloves excel at drawing money and creating financial opportunities. Their historical value as expensive trade goods gives them natural connection to prosperity.
Wallet Prosperity Spell
Keep three or five whole cloves in your wallet or purse to constantly attract money. Choose three for steady income or five for variety and new opportunities. Replace the cloves each new moon to keep the energy fresh.
As you place them in your wallet, say "Money flows to me easily and frequently." Every time you open your wallet, the scent reminds you of your prosperity intention.
Money Drawing Candle Spell
Take a green candle and carve symbols of money into it or simply write dollar signs. Anoint the candle with oil, rolling it from bottom to top to draw money toward you. Roll the oiled candle in ground cloves until coated.
Place the candle on a plate and surround its base with whole cloves arranged in a circle. Light the candle and visualize money coming to you from expected and unexpected sources. Let it burn completely if possible or burn for set periods daily until finished.
Business Success Spell
Mix ground cloves with cinnamon and a pinch of basil. Keep this powder mixture at your workplace in a small container. Once weekly, sprinkle just a tiny pinch around your work area or at the entrance to your business while visualizing success and customers.
This combination brings quick results, attracts customers, and helps business dealings succeed. The cloves speed manifestation while cinnamon attracts success and basil brings prosperity.
Money Multiplying Jar
Take a jar and place a dollar bill or coin inside as a seed. Add nine whole cloves, a cinnamon stick, a bay leaf, and a pinch of basil. Seal the jar and shake it daily while stating "This money multiplies and grows."
Keep this jar somewhere you will see it regularly. As you receive money, add small amounts to the jar occasionally to keep feeding its energy. This creates a money magnet in your home.
Quick Money Attraction Ritual
- Take seven whole cloves on a Thursday during the waxing moon
- Hold them in your hands and charge them with your need for money
- Place one clove in each corner of your wallet or purse
- Keep three in your pocket or somewhere you carry daily
- As you place each clove, say "Money comes to me quickly and easily"
- Carry these cloves until your need is met, then bury them with thanks
Clove Love and Attraction Spells
The passionate, warming energy of cloves makes them powerful for love magic, attraction, and relationship strengthening.
Attract Love Charm
Create a pink or red cloth bag and fill it with rose petals, cloves, and a piece of rose quartz if you have one. Add a written statement of what you want in a relationship. Carry this charm to attract love that matches your needs.
The rose brings gentle love while cloves add passion and speed up manifestation. Together they create balanced attraction that brings both romance and desire.
Rekindle Passion Spell
If passion has faded from an existing relationship, write both names on a red candle. Anoint it with oil and roll in ground cloves. Light the candle during intimate time together or when your partner is away if you want to work without them knowing.
As it burns, visualize the fire and excitement returning to your relationship. The hot, stimulating energy of cloves literally heats things back up.
Make Someone Notice You
If you want someone specific to notice and become attracted to you, try this. Take a photo of them or write their name. Place it face up with whole cloves arranged around it in a circle. Place your own photo or name on top facing down so the two images or names face each other.
Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon over everything for sweetness. Leave this setup on your altar or in a private space for seven days, adding one fresh clove each day while visualizing them becoming drawn to you.
Banishing and Cleansing with Cloves
Cloves do not just protect against negative energy. They actively banish and clear it away, making them essential for cleansing work.
Smoke Cleansing
Burn whole cloves on charcoal discs to create cleansing smoke. Walk through your space with the smoking bowl, letting the smoke reach every corner. The penetrating scent of burning cloves drives out stagnant, negative, or unwanted energies.
This works especially well when other cleansing methods like sage have not fully cleared stubborn negativity. Cloves bring more aggressive energy that pushes darkness out rather than gently encouraging it to leave.
Banishing Floor Wash
Create a floor wash by steeping cloves in hot water along with lemon juice and salt. Let it cool, strain out the cloves, and add this mixture to your mop water. Wash floors from back of the house toward the front door to push unwanted energy out.
This traditional method clears negativity from your home while leaving fresh, protective energy in its place. Use after arguments, when someone negative has visited, or whenever your home feels heavy.
Banish a Person or Situation
When you need to remove someone toxic from your life or end a difficult situation, write the name or describe the situation on paper. Place the paper in a jar with cloves, black pepper, and vinegar. Seal tightly and shake while stating firmly that this person or situation must leave your life.
Bury the jar off your property or dispose of it at a crossroads. As you walk away, do not look back. This sends the energy away from you decisively.
Cloves in Divination and Psychic Work
Cloves can enhance psychic abilities and support divination practices through their stimulating, clarifying energy.
Psychic Enhancement Tea
Brew tea using one or two whole cloves, star anise, and a bit of cinnamon. Drink this before tarot readings, scrying, or other divination work. The spices open psychic channels and sharpen mental focus.
The warming energy helps you stay alert during long divination sessions while the clarifying properties of cloves help you receive clearer messages.
Clove Pendulum Questions
Create a simple yes-no divination system using cloves. Hold a clove between thumb and forefinger like a pendulum. Ask yes or no questions. If the clove remains still, the answer is no. If it begins to feel warm or tingle, the answer is yes.
This method works because cloves have such active, responsive energy. Your subconscious mind can influence how you perceive the sensation, creating a simple divination tool requiring nothing but a single clove.
Dream Divination
Place a few whole cloves in a small sachet under your pillow to encourage prophetic dreams. Cloves stimulate the mind even during sleep, making dreams more vivid and memorable. Keep a journal nearby to record dreams immediately upon waking.
Traditional Clove Spell Recipes
Here are proven traditional recipes using cloves that have been passed down through generations of practitioners.
Protection Powder
- 3 tablespoons ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons black salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dragon blood powder (optional)
Mix all ingredients together while focusing on protective energy. Store in a jar. Sprinkle across thresholds, in corners, or around objects needing protection. This powder creates fierce barriers against negativity.
Money Drawing Oil
- Base oil (olive, jojoba, or sweet almond) - 2 ounces
- 7 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick broken into pieces
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- Small piece of pyrite or lodestone
Combine all ingredients in a bottle. Let sit for at least two weeks in a warm spot, shaking daily. Strain if desired. Use to dress money candles, anoint your wallet, or add drops to cash register area in businesses.
Love Drawing Incense
- 2 tablespoons ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons dried rose petals
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
- 1 tablespoon dried lavender
- 5 drops rose essential oil
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly, then add essential oil and blend well. Burn small amounts on charcoal discs during love spells or to create romantic atmosphere. The cloves add passion while rose brings tender love.
Powerful Clove Combinations
Cloves work wonderfully on their own but combining them with complementary ingredients amplifies their power and adds nuance to spells.
Cloves and Cinnamon
This classic combination appears throughout folk magic traditions. Together they create fast-acting money magic, speed up spell manifestation, add passion to love work, and provide protection. The two spices complement each other perfectly, with cinnamon accelerating what cloves attract.
Cloves and Black Pepper
Mix these for maximum banishing and protection power. Black pepper adds sharp, penetrating energy that breaks hexes and drives away evil. Combined with cloves, this creates an aggressive protective barrier perfect for serious situations.
Cloves and Bay Leaves
Bay leaves bring wish manifestation and success energy. When combined with cloves, they help wishes and goals manifest faster and more completely. Write wishes on bay leaves, then burn them with cloves to send your intentions powerfully into the universe.
Cloves and Salt
This fundamental combination appears in countless protection spells. Salt grounds energy, absorbs negativity, and purifies. Cloves actively repel and banish. Together they create both defensive and offensive protection, catching what gets through while driving threats away.
Cloves and Rose
For love magic, pairing spicy cloves with gentle rose creates balanced attraction bringing both passion and tenderness. Rose softens the aggressive energy of cloves while cloves add fire to rose romantic sweetness.
Starting Your Clove Practice
Beginning to work with cloves requires minimal investment and can start immediately with what you probably already have in your kitchen.
First Steps with Clove Magic
- Purchase Quality Cloves: Buy whole cloves from the spice section of any grocery store. Choose ones that still have strong scent when you squeeze the jar. Fresh, potent cloves work better magically.
- Sense Their Energy: Hold a few cloves in your hand. Close your eyes and pay attention to what you feel. Notice any warmth, tingling, or other sensations. Get familiar with their particular energy signature.
- Start with Simple Protection: For your first spell, do something basic like placing cloves in the corners of one room or carrying three in your pocket for protection. Simple spells build confidence and teach you how cloves work.
- Keep a Spell Journal: Record what you do with cloves and what results you get. Note the phase of the moon, your intention, what form of cloves you used, and what happened. This helps you learn what works best for you.
- Try Different Forms: Experiment with whole cloves, ground cloves, and if possible clove essential oil. Notice how different preparations affect your spells and which forms you prefer for different purposes.
- Learn Combinations: Once comfortable using cloves alone, start combining them with other ingredients like cinnamon, salt, or herbs. See how combinations change and enhance the energy.
- Build Your Practice Gradually: Do not try to do everything at once. Master protection work with cloves before moving to money magic. Then explore love spells, banishing work, and finally divination enhancement. Steady progression builds solid skills.
Trust Your Intuition: While these traditional methods have proven effective for generations, your own intuition matters most. If you feel drawn to use cloves in a way not described here, try it. Personal gnosis and direct experience create the most powerful magic.
Proper Storage and Care
Storing cloves correctly maintains their potency for both magical and culinary uses.
Whole Cloves: Store in an airtight glass jar in a cool, dark place. Whole cloves maintain potency for several years when stored properly. The spice section of your pantry works perfectly. Check scent annually and replace if they become weak or lose their characteristic smell.
Ground Cloves: Lose potency faster than whole. Keep in airtight containers and replace every six months to a year. For maximum freshness and power, grind whole cloves yourself as needed using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Clove Oil: Essential oil should be stored in dark glass bottles, tightly sealed, in a cool place. Never refrigerate as temperature changes can affect quality. Properly stored clove essential oil lasts for several years.
Charging Your Cloves: Before use, you can charge cloves with additional energy by leaving them in moonlight, holding them while visualizing their purpose, or storing them near crystals that enhance their particular magical properties.
Final Wisdom on Clove Magic
Clove witchcraft offers powerful, fast-acting magic accessible to every practitioner regardless of experience level or budget. These small, potent spices pack incredible energy despite their tiny size and humble appearance as common kitchen ingredients.
What makes cloves so valuable is their versatility combined with their strength. They protect fiercely when you need defense. They attract money quickly when finances grow tight. They add passion to relationships that have cooled. They banish stubborn negativity that gentler methods cannot budge. They enhance psychic abilities and support divination. Few ingredients offer such range of useful applications.
The accessibility of cloves cannot be overstated. Every grocery store carries them. They cost just a few dollars. You need no special initiation or training to begin working with them. Their magic responds to clear intention and focused will rather than complex ritual or extensive knowledge. This makes clove witchcraft perfect for beginners while remaining valuable to experienced practitioners.
Remember that the fierce energy of cloves works best when directed with clear intention and strong will. These spices respond to bold, decisive energy rather than hesitant, uncertain approaches. When you work with cloves, be confident. State your intentions clearly. Direct their power with authority. They will respond to that clarity with rapid, tangible results.
Your journey with clove magic can begin this very moment. You probably have cloves in your kitchen right now. Take three from the jar. Hold them in your hand. Feel their energy. Decide what you need most - protection, money, love, or banishing. Carry those three cloves with that intention and see what happens.
That simple action starts your practice. As you experience results, you will naturally want to learn more, try different spells, and explore the full range of what cloves can do. The magic builds organically from experimentation and direct experience.
The power of cloves has served countless generations of practitioners across cultures and continents. Now that power waits for you to claim it. These small brown spices hold fierce protection, rapid manifestation, and transformative energy. Will you reach out and work with them?