Onion: a syrup made by steeping a chopped onion in honey is a good cough and cold medicine for children ...

Common Names: Onion

Botanical Name: Allium cepa

Family: Alliaceae

Plant Type: Annual

Parts Used: Bulb, leaves

Flowering: April to June

Description: Onion has slender grass-like leaves and reaches about 2 feet in height when flowers appear in late summer. Leaves are narrow, long, and with parallel edges arising from the small underground bulb. Flowers, varying in color, depending on the species, from white to pink, appear at the top of a leafless stem and eventually become bulblets which drop to the ground and propagate.

Cultivation: Onions can be grown from seed, sets, or seedlings. Plant them in the spring for a fall harvest, or the fall before if you live in warmer areas. They prefer rich, well-drained soil with plenty of sun.

Harvesting: When half of the tops have bent over, bend the remainder with the back of a rake. Dig when bent tops begin to yellow. Dry on screen wire in a shaded airy spot until tops are brittle. Cut tops at 1" and store bulbs in cool dry dark area with good ventilation. If mild onions are grown, do not anticipate keeping qualities beyond late August unless cool dry conditions are available. A warm garage is not adequate.

Culinary Uses: Food is warmed by the addition of onions, so that other flavors are brought out. You can use onions in just about any way imaginable: raw, fried, baked, sautéed, stewed, pickled, stuffed...and in just about every cuisine: Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, American... Add onions to soups, stews, stuffing, bread, meat loaf, veggie dishes, stir fries, or alone. Red onions are the sweetest and their flavor frequently does not hold up well in cooking; white have the strongest flavor, and yellow are your "workhorse" onions. Use the greens sliced as a garnish, in salads and Mexican cuisine.

Onion Magick

Protection. Exorcism. Healing. Money. Prophetic Dreams. Lust

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Mars

Element: Fire

Deity: Isis

Purify your athame or sword by rubbing the blade with a cut onion.

To cure baldness, rub your head with onion juice and lie out in the sun.

Rub warts with a piece of onion and throw it over your right shoulder. Walk away without looking back.

Take a small, white onion, stick it full of black-headed pins, and place in a window - this will guard against the intrusion of evil into your home.

Never throw onion skins and peelings onto the ground; if you do, you throw away your prosperity. Instead, burn them in the fireplace or cookstove to attract riches.

Herbal Healing with Onion

Medicinal Uses: Onions contain smaller doses of the same compounds that make garlic an effective healing agent. Onions help lower cholesterol and high blood pressure; and increase the production of HDL cholesterol which helps clear clogged arteries. The irritating quality that makes you cry when you cut up onions can be used effectively medicinally; gently but firmly, it will encourage blocked sinuses and inflamed respiratory tissues to free themselves up, as well as discouraging whatever infections may be causing or contributing to these conditions.

Healing Combinations with Allium

Allium combines well with elder (Sambucus), yarrow (Achillea) or echinacea (Echinacea).

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