What is it about the apple? What caused this fruit to become such a sacred, magical and enchanting symbol in the mythologies and folk tales of the world? 

In America back in the 1800s there is the tale of Johnny Appleseed planting apples everywhere which paraells a story of today, but I will come back to that later.  

The apple incident with Isaac Newton.  Newton himself often told the story that he was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree. Although it has been said that the apple story is a myth and that he did not arrive at his theory of gravity in any single moment, acquaintances of Newton (such as William Stukeley, whose manuscript account of 1752 has been made available by the Royal Society) do in fact confirm the incident, though not the cartoon version that the apple actually hit Newton’s head. Stukeley recorded in his Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life a conversation with Newton in Kensington on 15 April 1726

“We went into the garden, & drank thea under the shade of some appletrees; only he, & my self. amidst other discourse, he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formerly, the notion of gravitation came into his mind. “why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,” thought he to himself; occasion’d by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a contemplative mood. “why should it not go sideways, or upwards? but constantly to the earths center? assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. there must be a drawing power in matter. & the sum of the drawing power in the matter of the earth must be in the earths center, not in any side of the earth. therefore dos this apple fall perpendicularly, or toward the center. if matter thus draws matter; it must be in proportion of its quantity. therefore the apple draws the earth, as well as the earth draws the apple”. 

Stuckeley W. 

One of the twelve labours of Hercules required that he obtain an Apple from the Nymphs who guarded the gardens of Hesperides, therefore gaining him immortality.  

The Hesperides in the garden. Here the apples are on a tree, and the dragon Ladon looks more like a single-headed serpent. London E 224, Attic red figure hydria, ca. 410-400 B.C. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, London

King Arthur and Merlin are said to have sailed to the blessed Isle of Avalon where they enjoyed eternal life.    Avalon is derived from the Welsh word for Apple, afal.  

  In Greek Mythology the Apple is associated with Aphrodite , the goddess of Love.    Also, in Greek mythology the root of the word Apple is associated with the Sun God, Apollo.   

  Apples feature frequently in fairy tales. A well-known example is the Brothers Grimm tale “Snow White”, in which Snow White’s evil stepmother offers her a poisonous apple which puts her to sleep. Another evil stepmother maliciously offers her stepchild an apple in another Brothers Grimm fairy tale, “The Juniper Tree”. In Le piacevoli notti (The Facetious Nights) by Giovanni Francesco Straparola, apples appear in four stories

The Celtic meaning of the apple tree deals with many things, including wholeness, purity and goodwill.  Druids recognised the powerful transformative qualities experienced when consuming the apple. It was thought the fruit could transport the eater to other worlds, typically of a paradise-like ilk. Further altered states could be induced by pressing the apples and allowing them to ferment over time, thus producing a “hard cider.”

In Chinese mythology, the Apple is a symbol of peace, whereas the blossom symbolises feminine beauty.  

In Christian mythology Eve offers Adam an Apple, a forbidden fruit which grew upon the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, and although Adam offered just a fruit, this later grew into an Apple.  Therefore, in mystic literature, the Apple Tree is symbolic of the “tree of life” or “tree of unity”, the other tree which grew in the Garden of Eden! Or paradise … The “tree of immortality” where Adam and Eve were permitted to eat.  

  The Apple Tree is sometimes symbolic of “The World Tree” which can be found in teaching of nearly all of ancient cultures, symbolising the ‘upper’ middle and lower regions of the cosmos’.  It is also a metaphor for Awareness, Enlightenment and Rites of Initiation.   
The Apple as we know is a circular fruit.  The circle is a symbol for “The All”, “The Eternal”  and “The Complete”.  However, many fruits are circular , such as the Orange, grapefruit, peach, why was the apple chosen?  Above all the other circular fruits to represent “The All”  along with everything that is contained within “The All”? 

The Apple was chosen because within the Apple is contained the five-pointed star and the seeded vulva  high symbolises the two aspects that are required for the physical realm.  

The five pointed star 

  Slicing an apple width ways a star will appear,  forming perfect symmetry, a five pointed star.  Five is a number which represents the unseen aspect of life and creation.  Within the number five contains the four elements

  The fifth quintessential element being Aether contained therein.     When five is viewed in this numerological manner it consists as 4+1 ; the four elements plus Aether. It is also represented as the five pointed star and abounds Egyptian art, the Chinese Representation is “da” which esoterically symbolises “the superior enlightened / illuminated” person.  Think abou “da Vinci” and his Vitruvian Man – five points contained within a circle.  

The five pointed star was also the secret symbol of Pythagoras and his followers.  

The Seeded Vulva 

  When an apple is sliced vertically the core portion has the shape of a woman’s vulva in which the seeds are contained.  The seeded Vulva symbolises the complimentary aspects of duality, which when joined together in a union of duality create life’ not only in the physical but the mental realm.   THE TWO REALMS WE NOW EXPERIENCE DURING OUR CURRENT INCARNATION.  

So, as you can see within the Apple, the core of knowledge is present.   The Five Pointed Star (the spiritual and invisible essence) and the Seeded Vulva (the material and visible essence).   

When these two are aspects are joined together something remarkable happens, L I F E.  This is why the Apple, contains within it the symbolism of spiritual and material aspects of creation.  

Another thought regarding the apple as it has been associated with temptation, the word temptation can also be interpreted to mean “test”     And as a test, the Apple is a test-ament to whom we really are.   the power of the spiritual and physical aspects of creation all rolled into “One”

So Why did you listen to that slimy serpent Eve and take a bite of that ‘apple’?

I know. I know! It probably wasn’t an apple. Or maybe it was. We don’t know for sure. But, just hypothetically speaking… what if it was an apple? There is a parallel to two HUGE discoveries of all time: Newton discovering the law of gravity (under an apple tree) and Steve JOBS (BIBLE) creating Apple Computers. Mentioned briefly above and remember I mentioned we would come back to this.   

As we have been told, In the beginning, Eve was enticed by the tree of KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. And today, we are once again enticed by the easily accessible knowledge that’s at the palm of our hands…. our iphone…. or ipad… or desktop.

  Potent DEADLY – This symbol is one of the oldest and most potent in Western mythology. Apple’s use of the logo is extremely powerful; their name and corresponding pictorial icon are synonymous. The simple logo design deftly carries the heft of centuries of meaning.  The forbidden fruit grants wisdom, just like Apple computers do. Of course, the sin of partaking in the tree of knowledge is also the original sin that accounts for the fall of man. If you’ve ever seen the Terminator movies, you know that technology will also be the fall of man! 

How appropriate.

Twig, 2015 

Sources 

 “Newton’s apple: The real story”. New Scientist. 18 January 2010. 

Apples of Hesperides
British Museum