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Apple Blossoms


Apple Blossoms

Apples and their blossoms can be associated with abundance, fertility, love and immortality.

Image by Raimund Linke/Photodisc/Getty Images

For the ancients, the apple was considered a symbol of immortality. Interestingly, it's also seen as a food for the dead, which is why Samhain is sometimes referred to as the Feast of Apples. In Celtic myth, an apple branch bearing grown fruit, flowers, and unopened bud was a magical key to the land of the Underworld. It's also a symbol of the harvest, and is frequently found on altars during Mabon celebrations.

In the English ballad "Thomas the Rhymer," young Thomas is cautioned against eating the Fairy Queen's apples, because to eat the food of the dead would prevent him from ever returning to the land of the living. This story reminds us that apples, and their blossoms, are associated with the realm of the Fae.

The apple is often found as a component in love magic, and the blossoms may be added to incenses and brews. In traditional folklore, apples are used as part of love divination -- peel the apple in a continuous length, and when the first strip of peel falls off, it will form the initial of the person you are to marry. Cut an apple in half and count the seeds -- an even number means marriage is coming, an uneven number indicates that you'll remain single for a while.

Use the fruits of the apple tree in divination, or brew the flowers into a tea. Use the tea to wash your face and hair in, to bring love your way. In some Druid traditions, apple blossoms are pressed to release oils, and the oils are used in blends to bring health and prosperity. A seventeenth-century herbal recommends mixing apple blossom extract with a bit of rose water and some pig fat as a cure for rough, dry skin.

Pomona was a Roman goddess of orchards, and is associated with abundance and bounty. To bring fertility and abundance into your life, hang garlands of apple blossoms around your home - particularly over your bed if you're trying to conceive.

Other names: Silver Bough, Tree of Love, Fruit of the Gods
Gender: Feminine
Element: Water
Deity Connections: Venus, Aphrodite, Diana, Apollo, Zeus

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