An Apple a Day

The Humble apple. Pyrus Malus N.O Pomacae. The oldest known evidence of apples is to be found in the excavated remains of Swiss lake-dwellings, completely charred but still showing the seed-valves nd the grain of the flesh. It exists in its wild state in most countires in Europe and also in the region of the Caucasus. The crab-tree or wild apple is native to Britain and is the wild ancestor of all the cultivated varities of apple trees. It was the stock on which were grafted choice varieties when brought from Europe, mostly from France. Twenty-two varities were mentioned by Pliny: there are now about 2000 kinds cultivated.

'Malus the Appyll tree is a tree yt bereth apples and is a grete tree in itself...it s more short than other trees of the wood wyth knottes and rinelyd Rynde. And makyth shadowe wythe thicke bowes and branches: and fayr with dyurs blossomes, and floures of swetnesse and lykynge: with good fruyte and noble. And is gracious in syght and in taste and vertuous in medecyne...'
-Bartholomeus Anglicus 'Encyclopedia' 1470

The peculiar winy odour is stimulating to many. Pliny, and later, Sir John Mandeville, tell of a race of little men in 'Farther India' who 'eat naught and live by the smell of apples'. Burton wrote that apples are good against melancholy and Dr John Caius, physician to Queen Elizabeth advises the patient to 'smele to an old swete apple to recover his strengthe'.
In Shakespeare's time, apples when served at dessert were usually accompanied by caraway as we may read in Henry IV, where Shallow invites Falstaff to 'a pippin and a dish of caraway' In a still earlier Booke of Nurture, it is directed 'After mete pepyns, caraway in comfyts'. The custom of serving roast apples with a little saucerful o Carraway is still kept up at Trinity College, Cambridge.

From pagan tradition, we learn that the apple is feminine and sacred to Venus, and is said to have powers of Love, Healing, Garden Magic and Immortality.
August 13 was Diana's festival in Greece (Venus' in Rome) and on this day a ritual meal was prepared, part of which consisted of apples still hanging on their boughs.
Wiccan alters are often piled high with apples on Samhain for the apple is considered to be one of the foods of the dead. For this very reason Samhain is sometimes known as 'Feast of Apples'
The apple is a symbol of immortality. A branch of the apple bore buds, flowers and fully-ripened fruit (sometimes known as the silver bough) was a kind of magical charm which enabled its posessor to enter into the land of the Gods, theUnderworld, in Celtic mythology.

An Apple Love Spell

Take an apple 'before it falls from the tree' and write upon it with a sharp knife the following:
Aleo + Deleo + Delato
As you do this, say the following words;
I conjure thee, apple, by these names which are written on thee, that what woman (or man) toucheth and tasteth thee, may love me and burn in my love as fire melteth wax
Then give the apple to whom you will.

Unicorns live eneath the trees of apple and ash.

Finally apples are rich in vitamin C and soluble fibre (pectin) which helps the body to eliminate cholesterol and so protects against environmental pollutants, the pectin joins up with heavy metals like lead and mercury and helps the body to get rid of them. Apples also contain malic and tartaric acids, which aid digestion and are especially helpful in dealing with rich, fatty foods. the Vitamin C in apples helps to boost the body's own immune defences. Apples are also an important weapon in the fight against constipation because of their soluble fibre. Even the smell of appleshas a calming effect and has been shown to lower blood pressure. The sugar in apples is mostly fructose, a simple sugar that is broken down slowly and thus helps to keep blood-sugar levels on an even keel.

Why apples? Because apples hanging on a tree makes me happy. Because I always wanted boughs of apples at my 'wedding', because I always imagined the Knight in 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' languishing beneath a wintry apple tree, because if I were Eve, I would have eaten it too and walked out, because I love their simplicity and beauty, and because I am a passionate advocate of whole-food dietary choices, and I do truly believe that a history behind what you're eating makes the whole experience so much richer and enjoyable. Now I've made myself hungry, but as it's a cold day, I think some stewed apples with a few caraway seeds served with a nice soy custard will go down well for lunch.
:-)