The Apple Tree - Wisdom and Lore

Folk and country lore refers often to the virtues of the Apple Tree.

The tree provides abundant fruit which can be stored for winter use, and has many uses in the kitchen, not forgetting its use in herbal remedies and as a remedy acting on our subtle energies. The Crab Apple, native to Britain, is the wild ancestor of all the cultivated varieties. This is the original stock which the cultivated varieties have been grafted onto. Sadly, the many old varieties of apple are lost to us, despite the efforts of many to save them.

The abundant apples which adorn the tree in Autumn, help us to understand the apple tree's significance to our lives. It teaches us how to give all, in total trust that all will be replenished and to open our hearts to the abundance in our lives. When we give all of ourselves freely and openly, as does the Apple Tree, our hearts are open to receiving more... holding back is a symptom of insecurity and greed.

The message is to value and celebrate all you have in your life. Many feelings of bitterness, irritation and anger result from feeling a lack of worthiness. These negative feelings create imbalance, which can significantly reduce the flow of the life force energy in your body. If you do not feel worthy to receive certain things, their route to you will be blocked, as you have believed it to be. By accepting and being thankful for what you have in the present, you open up your own channels of abundance. The Apple tree is there to give us all help in keeping our trust through times of lack, and teaches us that true power is built by giving, in open-hearted generosity. The spirit of the tree can help those who harm themselves by their miserliness.

Apples are a natural remedy for the heart, stomach and bowels, our main organs of giving and receiving. Our folk memory puts forth such phrases as "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", and not without good reason. The apple's malic and tartaric acids neutralise the acid products of indigestion. A very digestible fruit, it provides excellent baby food, aiding the digestion of other foods.