magickal properties of apples – Wicca Now – Everything You Need To Know About Wicca

Hi, my loves and welcome to WiccaNow. Recently I’ve been sharing guides to all my favourite herbs and plants, like this post all about the magickal benefits of yarrow, another all about sunflowers, a guide to basil and most recently a post all about the magickal properties of aloe. Today I want to continue with this by sharing my guide to the magickal properties of apples with you! Apples are an ancient symbol of life, death and rebirth and wisdom. They represent immortality and are closely linked with the underworld. The magickal properties of apples include love, protection, fertility and longevity. The medicinal benefits of apples include weight-loss, a lower risk of heart disease and the potential to improve memory loss in older people along with many others. Disclaimer: Any medicinal benefits given here are a product of my own research and as such should not be taken over the advice of trained medical professionals. If you are ill, please go and see a doctor. Always make sure that anything you consume is 100% safe. If you are pregnant, consult your doctor or midwife before consuming something you haven’t tried before. If you enjoy learning about plants and herbs, check out this gorgeous plant magick grimoire we've created. It's filled with everything you need to know about our favourite 29 magickal herbs and plants and is beautifully illustrated. Check it out below or keep scrolling to learn all about the magickal properties of apples! History of Apples Apple trees, the most common of which is known as Malus Domestica, are cultivated all over the world and produce one of the most commonly consumed fruits worldwide. They are members of the Rosaceae family which also includes roses, pears, plums, cherries and even strawberries. Apple trees originated in Central Asia from a wild species called Malus Sieversii, which still exists today although currently it is considered vulnerable for extinction. Apples were grown for thousands of years in both Asia and Europe. They are thought to have been domesticated between 4000-10,000 years ago somewhere in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kazakhstan. From these extremely early days, apples were taken down the silk road trade route and brought into Europe. Researchers have found apple seeds in Northeastern Italy which have been carbon-dated back to around 4000BCE. It’s unclear whether these seeds came from foraged wild fruit or whether apples were already being planted and cultivated in plantations. Because apples are such long-lasting fruit when stored correctly, they became an extremely important food group within Asia and Europe. They ripen towards the end of autumn which means that the weather used to be cold enough to allow them to be stored and consumed throughout the winter. Apples were introduced to the Chiloé Archipelago (a small group of Islands of the coast of Chile) in the 1500s by Spanish explorers. They thrived in their new environment and were introduced into North Ameria during the 1600s by colonists. The first known apple orchard in North America was planted in 1625 in Boston by a Reverend named William Blaxton. Today, apples grow all over the world and thousands of varieties are being cultivated for different purposes from cider production, to cooking apples to apples produced purely for consumption. Fun Facts about Apples In 2018 86 million tonnes of apples were produced worldwide. Around ½ of this amount was produced in China. There are over 7,500 different apple cultivars.Crabapples were found in the Americas before the common apple was brought by European colonists however the fruit was extremely sour and wasn’t readily eaten. Crabapples make excellent jelly though because they contain a lot of pectin. Crab-apples are much, much smaller than regular apples and are almost inedible unless they are cooked. Magickally, you could use them the same way that you do regular apples. Apples are often connected to the faery world in stories. Falling asleep under an apple is meant to transport you there, although you might not come back for years. Throwing the unbroken skin of a whole apple over your shoulder is meant to spell out the first letter of the name of your future partner. Catherine the Great loved apples so much that she had then individually wrapped in silver paper and sent to her palace in Russia. Every single apple tree grown from a pip is unique and will have different traits to its parent plant. Most apples these days are grafted so that they always retain their sought after traits i.e. they are clones of the original tree.Art often shows that the fruit Eve ate in the original garden of Eden was an apple. This is unknown however and the type of fruit she eats is never mentioned in text. A golden apple basically started the Trojan war. It was awarded as the prize to the most beautiful Greek Goddess. Paris was chosen as a judge and picked Aphrodite after she promised him the most beautiful woman in the world as a reward for picking her. This was Helen of Sparta. Her abduction and marriage is what led to the Trojan war. A bio artist named Joe Davis plans on making a literal “tree of knowledge” by inserting Wikipedia entries into the DNA of an apple tree. Medicinal Uses of Apples Apples are often thought of as an extremely healthy fruit, we even have the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. The truth of this is unproven, but apples do have some pretty great health benefits. While eating an apple is probably the easiest way to reap the health benefits of this fruit, there are other forms of apple which also have benefits such as apple cider vinegar. This is a Malus sieversii apple, the wild apples that all domesticated apples are thought to have some from. Apples are nutritious and surprisingly one apple contains around 14% of your daily Vitamin C intake. They are also a good source of fiberThey may help with weight loss. They contain high amounts of fiber and water, two things which make you feel fullerApples might help to lower the risk of heart disease Might lower cholesterol May lower the risk of diabetesMay promote good gut bacteria through probiotic activityContains compounds that may help to fight asthmaMay help to maintain bone density May help to prevent memory loss due to ageMay help to reduce symptoms of hay feverMay help to keep your teeth healthyA chemical in apples may help to prevent hair loss if applied to the scalpMight help to improve muscle strength Magickal Properties of Apples Apples have been used for centuries in magick and rituals. Apples are a common addition to a Samhain altar because they are considered to be the food of the dead. Samhain is actually sometimes referred to as “The Feast of Apples”. When cut in 1/2, an apple contains a pentagram and some Wiccan traditions consider apples to be a symbol of the soul. Check out this post about witchcraft symbols if you want to know more about the pentagram (it’s definitely not a symbol of the devil). According to legend, if you ever find an apple branch which has buds, flowers, maturing apples and ripe apples on it all at once you may have found the entrance to the underworld. This apple branch is known as the Silver Bough according to Celtic mythology. This is how the Silver Bough might look... Holding an apple in your hands and warming it while infusing your intention of love into it is a very simple love spell which harnesses the magickal properties of apples. When you have infused it with your intention, give it to the person you are interested in. If that person eats it, the love you infused into the apple will be returned to you. You can do a simple healing spell by cutting an apple into 3 separate pieces and then rubbing the affected part of your body with the pieces. Once you have completed this, bury the apples away from your home. The best time to perform this spell is during a waning moon. Never do this instead of seeking medical advice or treatment. Any magickal workings should be in conjunction with treatment from an actual train professional. If you have a garden and want to increase the health of it magickally, bury 13 apple leaves after harvesting your apples to ensure the health of your garden for the next year. Apple wood makes an excellent wand (read more about witch wands here) but always choose a branch that needs to be pruned anyway and then say thanks to the tree for it’s wood so that your wand starts out with the best possible energies. Apple seeds are great for protection and apple blossoms are particularly good when added to love charms. Planting an apple tree in your garden is thought to bring prosperity to your home. Apples are often used in fertility magick and are an ancient symbol for fertility according to many Norse myths. Other Magickal Properties of Apples Love Attracting FaeriesLongevityHealingWisdomBeautyDivinationPsychic connectionsProtectionProsperityFertility Magickal Correspondences of Apples Deities - Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo, Venus, Dionysus Magickal Associations of Apples Zodiac - Capricorn, Taurus Planet - Venus Element - Water Gender - Feminine Crystals - Rose quartz, amethyst, morganite and aquamarine So, my lovelies, I hope this guide gives you all the information about the magickal properties of apples that you were looking for! May your heart be filled with love, your health abundant and your wisdom great. Until next time, Blessed be, Amaria xx