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Premixed Remedies: The Vinegar of the Four Thieves

Lately, with all these awful threats of plagues in the news, I have been spending my free time reading medical reports and ancient history books that discuss the times of the great plagues.

The last great plague of 1664-1665 covered all of Europe, Turkey, India, and China. It is estimated that at least one-half of the population of those areas died. The people knew the disease was somehow related to the rats and mice, because as the rodents died off, so did the people. They just didn’t understand it was the fleas leaving the dead carcasses of the rodents and finding human hosts that were spreading the disease.

The latest insect-carrying virus that could prove to be a nightmare plague is the West Nile Virus. When we welcomed in the year 2000, the West Nile Virus was almost unheard of. After all, it only concerns people living around the Nile River, right? It is now in almost every state of the union. It kills over 2% of those who get infected. Thousands upon thousands of dead birds, dogs, horses and chickens are being found infected with this exotic killer. Mosquitoes carry it from mammal to mammal to mice to people to pets, and from pets back to people. Thousands of people here in the USA were infected last year. A simple mosquito bite is no longer an unimportant little red spot. A quick research project is to look at a map posted on the web displaying infection rates; it is quite sobering.

In reading personal accounts of the different plagues, I noticed some important points. There were usually 3 completely different expressions of the plague: bubonic (swelling glands), pneumonic (lung congestion with flu-like symptoms), and septicemic (pathogenic bacteria in the bloodstream). Often nurses, doctors, and those who buried the dead never contracted the plague. The survivors telling their stories never agreed upon a preventive, yet I noticed several different authors mentioning vinegar and smoke as a possible defense against the plague.

I read of one old couple who served the sick and never got ill. They strongly believed their immunity was the result of the use of herbal vinegar, which they put on their hair, clothes, and even a vinegar-drenched rag placed in front of their faces when they were attending the sick. They lived to tell their stories and to promote their preventive.

Many families survived by staying in their homes at all times and creating acrid smoke in their homes every 3rd day. They thought the smoke was purifying the air of disease. The smoke was made by burning a variety of things, from gunpowder to Rosemary. They suspected that the rats and mice might be carrying the disease, and by creating the strong odor, they believed it would drive the rodents and fleas from their homes.

Burning Rosemary, which is a pleasant odor, proved to be so effective in ridding homes of pests that its use has continued down through the years. Even as late as World War II, rosemary incenses were burned in the hospitals of France to “cleanse the air.”

The most famous and interesting story of healing coming out of the great Black Death plague was the story of the four thieves and their amazing concoction that came to be known as The Vinegar of the Four Thieves. History records that the four thieves were arrested for stealing from the homes of the many dead victims. After their arrest, they were taken from prison and forced to bury the dead with the promise that if they lived, they would go free. One of the thieves was an herbalist, whose herbal wine vinegar purportedly kept the four thieves alive all during the Black Death. As their resistance to the disease became obvious, others started using their vinegar tincture—reportedly with great success. They lived to credit the vinegar potion for their survival.

The old records document several recipes that are very much alike. I looked up each of the herbs comprising the tincture and marveled at how effective the tincture would be in place of today’s insect repellents. Of course, superstition was rampant during those times, and disease was not understood, so the old history books confuse superstition with herbal healings. Common sense and more recent medical understanding have made it possible to comprehend why this herbal vinegar worked so well.

Rosemary, being a strong antiseptic, was one of the choice herbs. Wormwood and Rue are the bitterest of herbs. Both are antiseptics and vermifuges (kill worms). Wormwood has been used internally but can cause convulsions. Lavender and peppermint are high in volatile oils, hence excellent ingredients for a very good insect repellent, as well as being pleasant smelling. Sage, among other good things, is a lymphatic, which is an important fact to remember in case of a bubonic-type disease outbreak. Of course, garlic, as the king of herbs, is a wonder drug. Within its paper-thin wrapping is found a host of beneficial properties, far too many to list. But it does have specific properties that are antiseptic, antimicrobial, antibiotic and, antifungal—chemicals that kill parasites. If I were ever lost in a sick, hostile world, I would not take medicine; I would take garlic. Always keep a sack in your kitchen, and go to the library to learn how to use it.

The Vinegar of the Four Thieves is a super-strong insect repellent. It should be diluted with water to half strength if you spray it directly on your skin. This repellent can be used many ways. Splashed on your socks or shoes will discourage ticks, chiggers, and mites. An herbal cloth kept in your pocket and rubbed on your skin ever hour or so would be very beneficial during outdoor work or recreation. Or, a nightly bath with a little herbal vinegar and oil will keep it on your skin for many hours and could prove helpful for families who live in the country or while out on camping trips. It should only be used externally.

Recipe

• 2 tablespoons Rosemary
• 2 tablespoons Peppermint
• 2 tablespoons Wormwood
• 2 tablespoons Sage
• 2 tablespoons Lavender
• 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped garlic
• 2 quarts of apple cider vinegar

Directions

Combine 12 tablespoons of the premixed herbs and 2 quarts of vinegar in a sealed glass jar, and steep in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks or so, shaking daily. Then, strain out the used herbs, and retain the herbal liquid mixture.

Add several cloves of crushed garlic, and close lid. Let soak for three days, and strain out the garlic fiber and discard.

This liquid tincture needs to be stored in a cool place, like the refrigerator. It can be preserved for a very long period of time by canning. To do so, fill canning jars with boiling liquid tincture to within one-half inch of top. Cap with rubber seal canning lid, tighten ring, and turn hot jar upside down; leave it undisturbed until it cools to room temperature. This will cause the jar to seal. Don’t forget to date and label it.

From our Reading and/or Experience...

• This is for external use ONLY. DO NOT use it internally.
• DO NOT use on broken skin.
• The Vinegar of the Four Thieves can be used to benefit anyone: men, women (including before, during or after pregnancy, and while nursing), children and animals.
• It can be used as often as you would like, and in any external application you choose.
• Storage is not a critical issue with this herb mixture. However, we keep ours in a dark, dry and cool place (refrigerator is very good).

From our Mailbox

I found the 4-Thieves vinegar insect repellant good for use on my horse, dogs, and myself in mountainous bee/hornet/yellow jacket/biting fly country...

~Tina

I purchased the Vinegar of the Four Thieves from you a few months back. I bought it for use around my home, but the main reason for my purchase was a mission trip to the Amazon basin. I just wanted to let you know that the product worked very well there also... Thanks.

~Chris

The Vinegar of the 4 Thieves is now a necessity for our family! I just came home from a week vacationing with friends in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I ordered the mix of herbs and "brewed" my bug juice. I also warned my friends that I was going to smell like salad but hoped I wouldn't be bug-bitten! You see, bugs must view some kind of invisible, neon sign over my head saying, "Bite this one!!" and the biting flies and mosquitoes have a wonderful time dining on me in Michigan. I have tried all kinds of commercial bug repellents, going for the highest percentage of DEET possible for relief. Nothing has ever worked until I found this! I am now a believer in the Vinegar's properties and have made some other believers as well. No bug bites!! I also can say that I DIDN'T smell like a salad after the spray dried on my skin! No offensive odor to drive my dear friends away! There's also no greasy feel afterward as with the commercial products. My dear husband and kids are also converts-they only got bitten when they didn't get themselves sprayed or spent time in the lake without re-treating themselves afterwards! One friend sprayed one leg and not the other--the bare leg had welts all over from mosquitoes and nothing on the "treated" leg. I am so thankful to you for offering this mix and recipe--maybe I'll even make it for gifts!!

~Amy

I made a batch of the Vinegar of the 4 Thieves. I thought I could spray it around the yard to get rid of mosquitoes but that didn't work. But now with the cold weather and us living near a lake, huge water bugs sneak in the cracks in my garage door. I started spraying around the borders of the doors and now have no more bugs. Thanks!

~Bonnie

We ordered the vinegar of the four thieves this past spring and it has worked great on our 2 daughters this summer. Thanks.

~James M.

First of all, thank you for everything you do! I have had such great success with Mamas Red Raspberry Brew and Vinegar of the Four Thieves. They really have been such a blessing to our family! My periods have been so much better since drinking Mamas Brew. Since my emergency cesarean section with baby #4, they had become very unpredictable and troublesome. I have been drinking the tea for about 3 months and now they are about 3 days long and medium to light! And when your cycle is going right, you feel better all month long!

~Rebecca F.

Hi! Just wanted to tell you one of the ways we used the Vinegar of the 4 Thieves. Our 12 year old son just bagged his first buck (YEAH! 11 points, 200 lbs-HUGE!!) My husband and our older boys were processing it, and out come the yellow jackets. After my husband got stung, I quickly ran and got a couple of jars of the Vo4T and sprayed it all over him AND the deer carcass. No more insects trying to get into the deer. Thank you!

Anchored in Jehovah,
~John and Caryn V.

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