A clove is a flower that never opened: the dried bud of an evergreen tree from the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, the original Spice Islands. For centuries those few islands were the only place on Earth where cloves grew, and the spice was worth its weight in gold. Wars were fought over it. Its name comes from the Latin clavus, a nail, which is exactly what each one looks like, and that small sharp shape and fierce warm scent have shaped its folklore ever since. Cloves pin things down, drive things out, and draw good things in. At Plentiful Earth we carry whole cloves from one ounce to a full pound, sweet clove oil, and a cinnamon-and-clove prosperity votive.
What Is the Spiritual Meaning of Cloves?
Cloves mean protection, prosperity, and the silencing of harmful talk. Their best-known folk use is to stop gossip: cloves are burned on charcoal or pressed into a red candle to halt rumors and slander. They are carried for protection and to keep hostile people at a distance, added to money workings to draw wealth, and strung into garlands or pushed into oranges as pomanders, a custom that began as protection against sickness. In friendship magic, two people each keep a clove from the same handful. Traditional correspondences give cloves to Jupiter and the element of fire.
What You'll Find Here
Whole cloves. Dried Syzygium aromaticum buds in one-ounce, two-ounce, and one-pound bags, for charcoal incense, candle dressing, mojo bags, spell jars, and pomanders.
Sweet clove oil. A two-dram fragrance oil for dressing candles and anointing charms for protection and prosperity.
Abundance votive. A soy votive scented with cinnamon and clove, the classic money-drawing pair.
How Do I Use Cloves?
To stop gossip, stud a red or white candle with whole cloves, name the situation, and let it burn; or drop a pinch of cloves onto lit charcoal and carry the smoke through the rooms where the talk has reached you. For money, add three cloves to a green sachet with cinnamon and a coin. For a protective pomander, push cloves into a whole orange until it is covered and let it dry for a few weeks. Clove oil is strong and can irritate skin, so keep it for candles and objects. Our herbs are sold for ritual and craft use.
Explore Related Collections
Find more of the spice cupboard in dried herbs, and burn cloves on charcoal from resins and charcoal. For the workings cloves are known for, see protection, prosperity and abundance, and banishing, along with red candles, money candles, and ritual oils. Our guide to the magical uses of cloves goes further into gossip-stopping, protection, and money work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do cloves mean spiritually?
Protection, prosperity, friendship, and stopping gossip. They are a warm, fiery herb ruled by Jupiter in most herbals.
How do cloves stop gossip?
In folk magic cloves are burned as incense or pressed into a candle while naming the rumor you want ended. The nail shape is read as pinning tongues shut.
Can I burn whole cloves?
Yes, on a lit charcoal disc in a heat-safe burner. They smolder with a sweet, spicy smoke. Use a pinch at a time.
What is a clove pomander for?
An orange studded with cloves, dried and hung in a room or closet. It began in medieval Europe as protection against illness and bad air, and it is still made for protection, luck, and winter holidays.
Are these cloves for cooking?
They are packaged and sold for ritual, incense, and craft use, not as a food product.
