FOUR THIEVES VINEGAR
"Old-time Root Doctors tell us they have used FOUR THIEVES VINEGAR for their own Personal Protection, to Rule, Control, and Foment Dissent among Enemies."
-- The Lucky Mojo Curio Co. catalogue
The label shown here is from the 4 oz. bottle of Lucky Mojo brand Four Thieves Vinegar. Like the rest of the Lucky Mojo line, this product contains genuine herbs, not synthetic fragrances. The ingredients in Four Thieves Vinegar include garlic, Cayenne Pepper, Black Pepper, and other herbs and essences. Lucky Mojo labels are adapted from vintage packaging and in many cases the images are as traditional as the ingredients themselves.
The primary purpose of Four Thieves Vinegar is to provide personal protection from disease and magical attack, especially if the attack is ongoing and looks to continue for a time. In addition, it is used to strengthen you and weaken your enemies while you work to drive away unwanted people or to make a family quarrel and fall out among themselves.
Drink it by the teaspoonful, use it in salad dressing, or even add a spoonful to your bath water for personal protection. Sprinkle or dash it against an enemy's doorsteps or serve it to an enemy as a condiment to protect yourself while you lay other tricks get them out of your life.
Recipes for this formula vary quite a bit. I was taught -- in the Ozarks, during the 1970s -- that it must have four spices in the vinegar, one for each thief, and that is the way i prepare it.
According to John M. Hansen (), the original recipe for Four Thieves Vinegar dates to the 15th century in Italy and consists of garlic steeped in soured red wine. Based on his own family's experience, John says that, "As an inoculation against epidemic diseases it actually works. Its use in magic came about much later; as with many other substances it became useful in the magical arts."
Barbara Griffith () presents a variation of the formula which she says is "from a 1965 reprint of an old Southern cookbook, "Housekeeping in Old Virginia," originally published 1879."
Says Barbara, "In the chapter on the sick room, the following recipe is given for 'Thieves Vinegar.' No instructions were given as to its use - you were supposed to know:
'A handful of sage and the same of mint, tansy, rue, rosemary, lavender, and thyme; one ounce of camphor. Put in demijohn, and fill with good vinegar. Set in the sun two weeks with a piece of leather over the mouth, and then stop nightly. - Mrs. D. R.'"
That is a wonderful variation, and again demonstrates the antiquity of this recipe. However, because it includes Rue and Camphor, the "Old Virginia" version would not be suitable to use as a salad dressing, but would make an excellent body-wash and rub-down in the sick-room.