Tag: Apple

Wishing You & Yours A Very Blessed Saturday!

LIFE

The snake is uncoiling
Hissing can be heard.
Something has penetrated
The soul of the bird
~
The energy rises
Up through the bones
The bird remembers
The time of the crone
~
The centres are whirling
The colours are bright
Making their way
Up to the light
~
Aware of the world
Layer on layer
The snake becomes
The deadly slayer
~
Bright light is blinding
There is a fire
The bird emerges
From the flames of the pyre
~
Death has come
And gone past
The seed has grown
Above ground at last
~
And so it begins
At the end
The wheel has turned
Once again my friend

 by Cerris

Pagan Poetry

More Witch and Wizard Comments

Pomona, Goddess of Apples

Pomona, Goddess of Apples

By

Patti Wigington

Pomona was a Roman Goddess who was the keeper of orchards and fruit trees. Unlike many other agricultural deities, Pomona is not associated with the harvest itself, but with the flourishing of fruit trees. She is usually portrayed bearing a cornucopia or a tray of blossoming fruit. She doesn’t appear to have had any Greek counterpart at all, and is uniquely Roman.

In Ovid’s writings, Pomona is a virginal wood nymph who rejected several suitors before finally marring Vertumnus – and the only reason she married him was because he disguised himself as an old woman, and then offered Pomona advice on who she should marry. Vertumnus turned out to be quite lusty, and so the two of them are responsible for the prolific nature of apple trees. Pomona doesn’t appear very often in mythology, but she does have a festival that she shares with her husband, celebrated on August 13.

Despite her being a rather obscure deity, Pomona’s likeness appears many times in classical art, including paintings by Ruben’s and Rembrandt, and a number of sculptures. She is typically represented as a lovely maiden with an armful of fruit and a pruning knife in one hand. In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Professor Sprout, the teacher of Herbology — the study of magical plants — is named Pomona.

Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

From

Patti Wigington

In the English ballad “Thomas the Rhymer,” young Thomas is cautioned against eating the Fairy Queen’s apples, because to eat the food of the dead would prevent him from ever returning to the land of the living.

For the ancients, the apple was considered a symbol of immortality. Interestingly, it’s also seen as a food for the dead, which is why Samhain is sometimes referred to as the Feast of Apples. In Celtic myth, an apple branch bearing grown fruit, flowers, and unopened bud was a magical key to the land of the Underworld. It’s also a symbol of the harvest, and is frequently found on altars during Mabon celebrations.

The apple is often found as a component in love magic, and the blossoms may be added to incenses and brews. In traditional folklore, apples are used as part of love divination — peel the apple in a continuous length, and when the first strip of peel falls off, it will form the initial of the person you are to marry. Cut an apple in half and count the seeds — an even number means marriage is coming, an uneven number indicates that you’ll remain single for a while.

Other names: Silver Bough, Tree of Love, Fruit of the Gods

Gender: Feminine Element: Water Deity Connections: Venus, Aphrodite, Diana, Apollo, Zeus

How To Create an Artificial Elemental

HOW TO CREATE AN ARTIFICIAL ELEMENTAL

 

You can create your own artificial elemental for

various purposes. An artificial elemental is basically a

thoughtform which has been strengthened with emotion. Refer

to the aura color chart in the previous lesson and decide

what color to make the elemental, based upon your intended

purpose. Apple green is a good choice for general purposes.

Then decide on a shape or outline. Do you want your elemental

to resemble some sort of animal? A simple circle or cloud is

a good place to start. With this in mind you can use ritual

to create your elemental. Creative visualization is good for

this. Visualize it glowing before you. A darkened room is

helpful for this.

 

Communicate with your elemental with telepathy, by

talking to it, or with creative visualization. Your

artificial elemental is closely linked to you and your

subconscious attitudes. It will generally not do things you

think it cannot do. As in any magick, results relate to

effort and belief. Another way of looking at an artificial

elemental is as an aspect of your personality (sub

personality) which has been detached from you.

Daily OM for August 15th – Sweetening a Sour Apple

Sweetening a Sour Apple

When a Bad Apple Spoils the Bunch

by Madisyn Taylor

When dealing with negative people we can choose not to respond to their behavior and allow our positive behavior be an example.

Because life requires that we interact with different personalities, it is not uncommon for us to encounter a situation where there is one person whose behavior may negatively impact the experiences of others. Someone who is loud and crass can interrupt the serenity of those who come together to practice peace. A disruptive worker can cause rules to be imposed that affect their colleagues’ professional lives. A team member who is pessimistic or highly critical may destroy the morale of their fellow members. And one “bad apple” in your personal life can be a potent distraction that makes it difficult to focus on the blessings you’ve been given and the people who love you.

There may always be people in your life who take it upon themselves to create disruption, foster chaos, stamp out hope, and act as if they are above reproach – even when, in doing so, they put a blight on their own experiences. But you don’t need to allow their negativity and callousness to sour your good mood. Often, our first impulse upon coming head-to-head with a bad apple is to express our anger and frustration in no uncertain terms. However, bad apples only have the power to turn our lives sour if we let them.

If you can exercise patience and choose not to respond to their words or actions, you will significantly limit the effect they are able to have on you and your environment. You can also attempt to encourage a bad apple to change their behavior by letting your good behavior stand as an example. If your bad apple is simply hoping to attract notice, they may come to realize that receiving positive attention is much more satisfying than making a negative impression. While you may be tempted to simply disassociate yourself entirely from a bad apple, consider why they might be inclined to cause disturbances. Understanding their motivation can help you see that bad apples are not necessarily bad people. Though bad apples are a fact of life, minimizing the impact you allow them to have upon you is empowering because you are not letting anyone else affect the quality of your experiences. You may discover that buried at the very heart of a bad apple is a seed of goodness.

Spell A Day – New England Healing Charm

Spell A Day – New England Healing Charm

 

If you are lucky enough to have an apple tree in your garden or local park, you can perform a healing spell. To start, braid 24-inch red, white, and black threads together while thinking about the illness you want to be rid of. Visualize braiding it into the threads. Go out into the garden and using your right hand, tie your left hand to an apple tree with the thread. Be sure to leave a loose loop. Slip your hand out of the loop and walk home without looking behind you, being aware that you are leaving the disease behind. The apple tree will transmit the negativity into the earth, where Mother Earth will absorb and transform it.

by: Anna Franklin

Llewellyn and GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast

Crone’s Corner – APPLE DIVINATION

Crone’s Corner – APPLE DIVINATION

If a girls peels an apple in one long piece at midnight on Halloween, and then tosses the peel over her left shoulder or into a bowl of water, she will be able to read the first initial of her future partner’s name in the shape assumed by the discarded peel.

* If a girl peels an apple at midnight on Halloween and hangs the peel on a nail by the front door, the initials of the first man to enter will be the same as those of her unknown lover.

* If a group of unmarried boys and girls each attach an apple to a string and twirl the apple over a fire, the order in which the apples fall off the string indicates the order in which they will all be married. The owner of the last apple to drop will remain unmarried.

* In a group of unmarried boys and girls, each person marks an apple and places it in a large bucket of water, along with unmarked apples. Without using their hands, the teens attempt to take bites out of the apples floating in the water. The teen is fated to marry the person whose apple they bite. Another variation of this custom consists of hanging the apples from strings tied to a tree.

 

GrannyMoon’s Morning Feast Archives

Cauldron of Cerridwen Brew

Cauldron of Cerridwen Brew

(caution)

Items Needed:

Acorns*

Barley

Honey

Ivy*

Hellebore*

Bay

Boil water in a cauldron over an open fire. Place all ingredients into the cauldron. Sit before it and entrance yourself by watching the flames. Smell its mystic scent and receive wisdom. (Do not drink. Why? It’s poisonous, that’s why)

Trees & Their Magickal Uses

　** Almond

* Business

* Clairvoyance

* Divination

* Loans

* Money

* Wisdom

** Apple

* Healing

* Love

* Perpetual Youth

* Prosperity

** Ash

* Protection

* Sea Magic ( when performing spells far away from the ocean.)

** Apricot

* Love

** Aspen

* Protection

** Balsa

* Psychic Awareness

** Birch

* Fertility

* New Beginnings

* Protection

* Purification

** Cedar

* Healing

* Longevity

* Prosperity

* Protection

* Purification

** Cherry

* Love

** Coconut

* Chastity

* Healing

* Purity

** Cypress

* Past Life Workings

* Protection

** Elder

* Healing

* Prosperity

* Protection

* Spirituality

 

** Elm

* Protection

** Eucalyptus

* Healing

** Fig

* Energy

* Fertility

* Health

* Strength

** Hawthorn

* Cleansing

* Love

* Marriage

* Protection

** Hazel

* Divination

* Love

* Marriage

* Protection

* Reconciliation

** Hemlock

* NOT RECOMMENDED FOR USE

** Juniper

* Protection

** Lemon

* Chastity

* Divination

* Healing

* Neutrality

** Lime

* Chastity

* Divination

* Healing

* Neutrality

** Linden

* Protection

** Maple

* Divination

* Love

* Money

** Mulberry

* Divination

* Knowledge

* The Will

* Wisdom

** Oak

* Healing

* Longevity

* Money

* Strength

** Olive

* Fidelity

* Fruitfulness

* Marriage

* Money

* Peace

* Security

** Orange

* Love

* Marriage

** Palm

* Strength

** Peach

* Divination

* Love

** Pine

* Exorcism

* Fertility

* Fortune

* Health

* Money

* Prosperity

* Purification

** Rowan

* Protection

* Strength

** Walnut

* Healing

* Health

* Protection

** Willow

* Blessings of the Moon

* Easy delivery of babies.

* Enchantments

* Healing

* Protection

* Psychic Awareness

* Wishing

** Yew

* NOT RECOMMENDED FOR USE

Daily Feng Shui Tip for Wednesday, June 13th

lifetime, let’s make sure that fortune and luck make that same journey. These days we wish the couple wonderful fortunes by tossing birdseed that then nurtures the surrounding soil and offers nourishment to our feathered friends. Feng Shui says that this act will also infuse their marriage with comfort and joy. Likewise, blowing bubbles filled with the blessings of water energy will impart a sense of prosperity and peace. The lively tree energy of flower petals are believed to keep a couple’s commitment strong while throwing confetti infused with metal energies will also help a couple to bend but never break. Consider the couple and then choose the appropriate send-off as they begin their own happily ever after!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com