Apples and Love

Apples are often associated with beauty, purity and love. To see apples falling off trees can signify a sort of romance or art within ourselves and some of us may experience a sense of longing when we see apples fall to the ground. Fruits are magical and creative and are also associated with various mythologies and rituals.

Christopher A. Faraone's Ancient Greek Love Magic spoke about apples used in eros magic to make a woman lust after the man who throws them. Faraone says there is evidence that apples were thrown near brides during weddings. The idea was that a thrown apple would elicit sexual desire. Just eating an apple would, too, since it was customary to eat apples on a wedding night. Apples also portray a certain innocence, curiosity and temptation and appear in many religious traditions, often see as mystical or forbidden.

An example is popular Christian tradition where Adam and Eve were both tempted to eat an apple from the forbidden tree in the Eden, which may have been the result of Renaissance painters adding elements of Greek mythology into biblical scenes. In this case, the unnamed fruit of Eden became an apple under the influence of story of the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides. As a result, in the story of Adam and Eve, the apple became a symbol for knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man into sin, and sin itself. But apples are often used to regain ones strength and to heal and have been used in famous quotes, poetry and biblical texts often relating to commitment and love such as Psalms 17:

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who surround me

Ancient love spells have also been associated with apples and are still used today. Apples were said to be the key ingredient for magical formulations connected with love and marriage. It was so powerful that all parts of the fruit could be employed for a profound effect.
If you wanted to discover the identity of your lover for example then you would peel an apple in one long strip at midnight and then throw it over your left shoulder with your right hand. Then, when it fell to the ground it would form the initial of their Christian name. The Apple pips could be used to find out where he or she lived.

Other apple tricks and spells for love:

“On the early Friday as may be,
Take the fairest apple from the tree,
Then in ink on white paper
Write own name and true loves
The apple shall be cut in two
And shall be placed on paper
With two sharp pins or myrtle wood
Join the halves until it seems good
In the oven let it dry
And wrapped the leave of myrtle lie
Under the pillow of the dear
Yet let it be unknown to him/her
And if it is a secret
She/he will show their love for thee!”

OR

Walk in a circle, squeezing an apple core so hard between the finger and thumb that a pip shoots out, while reciting;
“Pippin, pippin, paradise,
Tell me where my true love lies
East, West, North or South
Piling, brig or Cocker-mouth”.

Some interesting facts on apples and love:

-In China the Apple stands for peace and its blossom for adoration.

-Gypsy tradition had a young woman eat half an apple before midnight and the other half after, if she wanted her true love to appear in a dream.

-At her wedding to Zeus, Gaia supplied Apples to Hera, signifying long love and union.

-Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, offered Apples to woo Aphrodite and win her love.


REFS:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/loveapples.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_(symbolism)

http://scripture-for-today.blogspot.com/2010/07/psalm-17-keep-me-as-apple-of-your-eye.html

http://www.squidoo.com/love_symbols

The Wizards Book of Spells – Beatrice Phillpotts