Indian clove: what it is for in umbanda and candomblé

The clove ritual bath serves to attract prosperity, ward off discouragement, and purify the body of dense energies. In Umbanda, clove is an herb of Oxalá and Oxum and is also used in smoke cleansing (defumação) and in the three cloves kept in the wallet.

Tradition classifies clove as a Fire herb. The bath requires attention to the quantity, because clove oil irritates sensitive skin, and the step by step below provides these precautions.

Clove: the spice of Oxalá and Oxum

Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is the dried flower bud of a tree originating from the Molucca Islands, in Indonesia. In Afro-Brazilian tradition, it does not belong to a single Orixá of fixed leaf, like basil or sword-of-saint-george; it is an imported spice that was assimilated by ritual work through the marriage between its qualities and the profile of two Orixás. See the complete profile of clove in our herb catalog.

In Umbanda, clove is mainly associated with Oxalá and Oxum. The link with Oxalá, Orixá of peace, purity, and creation, comes from the axis of purification and spiritual elevation: the penetrating aroma of clove "cleans" the field and prepares the environment for the sacred. The connection with Oxum, mistress of fresh waters, gold, and prosperity, appears in magnetism and attraction, especially in prosperity baths made with sweet herbs.

Colors: white (Oxalá) and gold/yellow (Oxum) | Day: Friday (Oxalá) or Saturday (Oxum) | Element: Fire | Regent Orixás: Oxalá and Oxum | Scientific name: Syzygium aromaticum

An important traditional caveat: this regency of Oxalá and Oxum is an Umbandista reading. In Candomblé, especially in the ketu nation, clove appears less as a "herb of a fixed orixá (orisha)" and more as an aromatic element of strength, used in purification baths and in cleaning preparations. Treating the regency as an Umbanda reading, and not as Candomblé dogma, is what separates well-founded knowledge from guesswork.

Why clove is a Fire herb

The classification of clove as a Fire herb is not an empty metaphor; it speaks directly to the plant's chemistry. The warm and penetrating aroma comes from eugenol, a compound that represents about 70 to 85% of clove's essential oil, alongside eugenol acetate and beta-caryophyllene. It is the same eugenol that, for more than two thousand years, made clove a popular remedy against toothache, due to its anesthetic and antiseptic action.

This "hot" energy is what Afro tradition reads as the capacity to penetrate, move, and unblock. Where there is financial, emotional, or spiritual stagnation, the heat of clove is used to reactivate the flow. Hence its three most consecrated ritual functions:

• Magnetism and attraction to strengthen personal axé and attract good energies.
• Deep purification to clear dense fluids from the body and the environment.
• Mediumship development to prepare the field for the work of gira and meditation.

The inclusion of clove in terreiros is part of a larger phenomenon. The babalaô and researcher Pierre Verger, in Ewé: the use of plants in Yoruba society, showed how botany and the sacred are inseparable in the Afro-Brazilian tradition: each leaf carries axé and ritual purpose. Clove, which arrived in Brazil through Portuguese trade in the 16th century as a luxury spice, was naturally incorporated due to its aromatic strength, not as exoticism, but as another element of the sacred pharmacopeia that the people of santo knew how to reread and resignify.

Indian clove ritual bath for prosperity

This is the most sought after use of clove. It is important to make it clear from the start: the bath does not guarantee money nor does it solve problems in any timeframe. It is an energetic preparation and a gesture of faith that prepares the emotional field and opens paths so that your action in the material plane meets less resistance.

What you will need

• About 12 Indian cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick (optional, reinforces the sweetness of Oxum)
• 2 liters of water
• 1 spoonful of honey (optional, sweet offering to Oxum)

How to do it

1. Boil the water. When it reaches a boil, turn off the heat and add the cloves, bay leaf, and cinnamon.
2. Cover and let infuse for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain and let it cool down.
3. Take your normal hygiene bath first.
4. Pour the lukewarm infusion from the neck down, slowly, visualizing your goals with gratitude. If you are going to use the honey, dissolve it in the water before pouring.
5. Do not rinse. Dry yourself with a clean towel, without rubbing.

The tradition suggests repeating for three consecutive days. If you want to better understand the logic of Oxum's baths, see our herbal bath guide for Oxum.

Important: prosperity in the Afro tradition is flow, not guaranteed wealth. Clove attracts movement and activates intention; it does not replace effort, planning, and work. A ritual without action in the material plane is just smoke.

Smoke cleansing with clove for protection and mediumship

Smoke cleansing is the oldest way to use clove in the terreiro. The hot smoke from the burned bud cleanses dense fluids from the environment and, according to Umbandista tradition, helps to "prepare the field" before the gira, meditation, or a spiritual ritual work.

How to do the smoke cleansing

1. Light a charcoal in an incense burner or clay plate.
2. Over the ember, place the dry cloves alone or combined with other protection herbs, such as arruda, guinea hen weed, or alecrim.
3. Pass the smoke through the rooms of the house, from the back toward the street door, following the Umbandista logic of "sweeping" the heavy energy out.
4. Finish by smoke cleansing yourself, leading the smoke toward the body with your hand.

For commercial smoke cleansing, clove usually goes along with canela and coffee: cinnamon pulls the clientele, coffee moves things, and clove protects and fixes. It is a classic shop combination, done in the morning before opening.

Caution: always smoke cleanse in a ventilated environment. Pregnant women, small children, and people with asthma or respiratory allergies should avoid the dense smoke of any burned herb; clove is no exception.

The three cloves ritual (and what it really is)

You have probably already heard: carrying three cloves in your wallet to attract money and ward off envy, "as long as the aroma persists." It is one of the most popular folk practices in Brazil and here honesty matters. This practice is a popular tradition, a belief of faith from the Brazilian imagination, and not a foundation of terreiro or a liturgy of Candomblé.

This does not make it less valid for those who have faith; it makes it more honest. The clove does indeed have historical use as an amulet of protection against the evil eye, and the gesture of renewing the cloves works as a concrete reminder of your intention to prosper. What Joia Mística does not do is promise "money in seven days," like so many sites out there. A folk practice is not a contract with a delivery deadline.

If you want to do it, the ritual is simple: choose three whole cloves, place them in a clean wallet on the first day of the month and change them when the smell disappears. The old cloves go to the soil of a garden, never to the trash. Do it with clarity in the request and lightness in the heart.

Contraindications: when to be careful with cloves

The external ritual use of cloves (ritual bath, smoke cleansing (defumação), amulet) is safe for the vast majority of people. The warnings apply especially to internal use (teas, infusions) and for the concentrated essential oil, because of the eugenol.

• Pregnant and lactating women: consult a health professional before any internal preparation with cloves.
• Excessive internal use: eugenol is an irritant in high concentrations; avoid overdoing it in teas and infusions.
• Pure essential oil: it is caustic and should never go directly on the skin without dilution in a carrier oil.
• Sensitive skin: in the ritual bath, use the natural bud in infusion, always strained and warm.

Ritual is care. Caring for the body is part of the axé.

Frequently asked questions about cloves

Where to buy Indian clove and herbs

At Joia Mística Laroyê, you can find clove and the items that combine with it in ritual:

• Indian clove selected for baths, smoke cleansings (defumação), and simpatias
• Smoke cleansing herbs rue, guinea hen weed, rosemary and cinnamon to combine with clove in the incense burner
• White candles of Oxalá and yellow candles of Oxum see the ritual candles and colors guide
• Ritual honey pure for Oxum's prosperity baths
• Ready-made prosperity baths prepared with axé by mãe Joice Mística
• Complete line of sacred herbs check the herbs catalog and the clove sheet

Visit the shop in Extrema, Minas Gerais (R. Benedito Zingari, 460) or talk to us via WhatsApp. We serve those who are starting with care and those who already walk with foundation.

References

• Wikipedia: entry on eugenol, the main chemical compound of clove essential oil
• Wikipedia: entry on Pierre Verger, photographer and researcher of the ritual use of plants in the Yoruba tradition