The Wisdom of the Apple Tree

Our folk memory and country lore is rich with reference to the virtues and wisdom of the apple tree. This beautiful tree provides abundant food which can be stored for winter use, and has many uses both in the kitchen, as a herbal remedy and as a remedy acting on our subtle energies. Apples have a long history of being used for divination, especially to foretell the future in matters of love and prosperity. The methods of divination are varied and include such things as counting the apple pips; burning the pips (after naming each one with a young man's name and watching which ones explode in the fire) ; pressing the named pips with the finger to see which sticks the longest; apple bobbing; throwing the peel over the left shoulder to see it forms the initial of an individual when it lands; and putting an apple under your pillow to dream of your sweetheart. All of these games and folk customs are survivals of much older ceremonies in honour of the Apple. Many of these customs are particularly performed at Samhain, the time of the year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, a doorway between the seen world of matter and the unseen world of spirit. If you wish to work with the energy of the Apple tree, you can aid the process by focusing on Apple trees and working with apple wood, eating more apples, drinking apple juice and the occasional glass of cider. Dry apple peel and drink it as a tea. Try cultivating Apple trees from the pips for some very special trees which you are closely linked with. Sit with Apple trees as often as possible, get to know their vibration, make friends with them. (From the Wisdom of the Apple Tree).