Cultivation of apples goes back to the Middle Stone Age in central Asia. The wild ancestor of today's apples still grows in the region. Before the 14th century, the Proto-Germanic word for apple (aplaz), applies to all fruit.
Apples need to cross-pollinate to bear fruit, and insects such as honeybees are well suited to the task. Apple blossom honey has a delicate sweet taste progressing to notes of spice. In early Germania farmers and orchard owners might also be beekeepers.
Apple Mythology
In Christianity, the apple symbolizes temptation and fall from grace as Eve, beguiled by the Devil disguised as a serpent, gives Adam a forbidden apple. A piece sticks in his throat, causing the familiar Adam's apple. The Lord is not amused and kicks them out of Paradise.
In Greek myth, the Earth goddess Gaia gives golden apples to Hera as a wedding gift. The apples are protected by Ladon, an enormous serpent. In some versions Ladon has 100 heads. Daughters of Atlas, the Hesperides, also guard the apples.
The Eleventh Labor of Heracles (Hercules, Herakles) involves the theft of these apples. Depending on the version he slays the beast, subdues the daughters and runs off with the apples. Or, he holds the world on his shoulders while Atlas gets the apples for him.
In Norse mythology, golden apples keep Odin and other deities eternally young. Goddess of eternal youth, Iðunn, keeps the apples in an ash wood box. In Norse myth apples are also connected to the Vanir, a subgroup of the Aesir, relating to fertility, wisdom and prophecy.
In popular legend, Swiss archer Wilhelm (William) Tell is a peasant in the 13th century. Under duress from authorities he tries to shoot an apple from his son's head with an arrow and succeeds, becoming a national hero.
In history William Burroughs is an American beat poet in 1951 AD. Under influence of alcohol he tries to shoot a cocktail glass from the head of his girlfriend with a pistol and kills her instantly. He gets a 2-year suspended sentence and goes to South Africa for drugs.
In ancient Mediterranean mythology the apple tree is a symbol of love and happiness. The tree and its fruit are associated with Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus. In secular art, the apple represents love and sexuality.
In Greek myth the apple is used with evil intent. Eris, Greek goddess of discord, starts legendary strife between three goddesses and the Trojan War when she throws down an apple labeled "To the fairest".
Aphrodite bribes Paris of Troy into giving her the apple with a promise of hooking him up with Helen of Sparta, the most mortal woman in the world. He takes Helen to Troy and thus begins incites the famous war.
In German folklore, apples are linked to the ancient goddess Frau Holle (Hulda). Frau Holle has various diverse aspects, one of them a domestic goddess. In the Germanic Frau Holle fairy tale, apples beg to picked from a tree, with different results.
In an Irish folktale, prince Connla is infatuated with a fairy, who gives him an apple which regenerates when eaten. Connla dreams of her. She takes him to the otherworld, with magic apple trees bearing the fruit of eternal youth.
He can have all he wants, but cannot return to the earthly realm. In a Druidic myth King Bran is likewise seduced to the otherworld by a beautiful fairy with a musical apple branch.
Apple Magic & Spiritual Qualities
The apple has been linked to witchcraft due to the five-point star shape of the seed pods when the apple's cut crossways. In mythology apples have rejuvenating powers.
The fruit is a symbol of immortality. In folk medicine a thin apple slice on a wound or cut can speed healing.
In potions and spell recipes the apple attunes to the attraction of love. The apple tree is feminine in nature. Apples and apple juice are favorites of elves, imps and other creatures of Faerie.
Bedecked with pale fragrant blossoms in May, apple trees are brides of the season. Apple flowers are white to pink. Apple blossom petals are lucky to scatter at a wedding or romantic events as they symbolize harmony, happiness and love.
Apple wood can be used in love spells, or to make a magic wand. It helps in the enhancement of talents and skills, or to open channels of visionary magic.
In aromatherapy, fragrance of apple or apple wood relates to revitalization, fertility, youthfulness, protection, harmony, abundance, love, romance, and fruitful relationships. Apple represents rural or rustic living and a connection to the natural and mystic world.
Writers such as Clark Heinrich purport the mythological apple is a symbolic substitution for the psychoactive Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) mushroom. The apple's link to knowledge describes the visionary experience of some shamans and users of psychedelic mushrooms.
Apple Natural Health Benefits
Apple is considered one of the healthiest fruits. Phytochemicals and fiber in apples have antioxidant effects to protect a cell's DNA.
Apples contain pectin, which may lower cholesterol. The pectin in apples as well as abundant dietary fibers can improve bowel function, slow gastric emptying and reduce absorption of glucose and cholesterol.
The compound fisetin, found in apples, has been shown to have positive effects on memory, and for people with Alzheimer's. In natural health and beauty, extracts of apple smooth and soften skin for a more youthful look.
With natural antioxidant properties, apples can repair and fortify skin against external stresses like weather and pollution, and strengthen hair and nails. The proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" originates in 19th century Wales.
Apple Seed Poisoning
Apple seeds contain amygdalin, which is a cyanogenic glycoside composed of cyanide and sugar. When amygdalin is reduced by enzymes released as the seeds are chewed, it turns into hydrogen cyanide (HCN).
HCN is highly poisonous. 10 - 20 seeds are toxic to humans. The compound makes them taste awful.
The taste is meant to dissuade over-zealous herbivores from chewing them. Unbroken, they pass through the animal's digestive tract to sprout in the fertile soil at the other end.
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