Post by bluefedish on Aug 26, 2010 22:21:01 GMT -5
Element: Water
Powers: Love, Healing, Garden Magick, Immortality
Ritual Uses: 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. 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”. Apple is a symbol of immortality. A branch of the apples which bores buds, flowers and fully-ripened fruit, was kind of magickal charm which enabled its possessor to enter into the lad of the Gods, the Underworld, in Celtic mythology.
The apple is used for love spells, the blossoms are added to love sachets, brews and incenses. They are infused in melted pink wax, and then strained out to make candles suitable to burn for attracting love. Apples are also used in love divinations, which were so popular among unmarried women in Europe for many centuries. Simply cut an apple in two and count the number of seeds. If they are even, marriage will soon occur. If on of the seeds is cut it may be a stormy relationship. If town are cut, widowhood is foretold. However, if an uneven number of seeds are found the woman will remain unmarried in the near future.
In Norse, as well as other people ate apples to gain immortality through wisdom, and the wood of the apples tree can be made into charms for longevity.
Selected Source:
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
Powers: Love, Healing, Garden Magick, Immortality
Ritual Uses: 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. 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”. Apple is a symbol of immortality. A branch of the apples which bores buds, flowers and fully-ripened fruit, was kind of magickal charm which enabled its possessor to enter into the lad of the Gods, the Underworld, in Celtic mythology.
The apple is used for love spells, the blossoms are added to love sachets, brews and incenses. They are infused in melted pink wax, and then strained out to make candles suitable to burn for attracting love. Apples are also used in love divinations, which were so popular among unmarried women in Europe for many centuries. Simply cut an apple in two and count the number of seeds. If they are even, marriage will soon occur. If on of the seeds is cut it may be a stormy relationship. If town are cut, widowhood is foretold. However, if an uneven number of seeds are found the woman will remain unmarried in the near future.
In Norse, as well as other people ate apples to gain immortality through wisdom, and the wood of the apples tree can be made into charms for longevity.
Selected Source:
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
