Magical Almanac: Practical Magic for Everyday Living - Lauryn Heineman 2018
Magic Apple: The Fruit from the Tree of Life by Justine Holubets
Air Magic
An apple’s form itself is magic: the cross section reveals the pentagram-like pith. The apple is a hero of myths, sacred books, and fairy tales all over the world. It also refers to power and prestige. One of the monarchial regalia, the orb with a crown or cross was called an “apple” in Russian translations. The apple’s symbology is diverse: life and death, love and temptation, immortality and knowledge are just a few spheres represented by the modest fruit. The variety and controversy around it makes exploration exciting and rewarding for magical, spiritual, and soul well-being.
The Golden Apples of Beauty and Love
In the sacred books the Bible and the Qur’an, the apple was a fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Medieval art depicted this mysterious tree as an apple tree possibly because of the similarity of the Latin words mālum (“evil”) and malum (“apple”). The Old Testament conception of the Fall endowed the apple with a contradictive meaning of wisdom and the seductive female force that was hard to oppose. Solomon’s Song of Songs grants it with sensual meaning when the female speaker describes her lover as “an apple tree among the trees of the forest.
The eternal balancing between reason and passion is well presented in the tarot card the Lovers with its Eden scene: we see a nude couple, an angel above them, and the trees. A serpent coiled around the tree takes us back in time and resembles the mythological apple tree in the Garden of the Hesperides, guarded by the dragon Ladon. It grew from the earth goddess Gaia’s gift of branches to Hera on the occasion of her wedding. Its fruits were far from simple—golden apples of heavenly gifts of immortality, wisdom, and beauty. Considering its almost magical nutritional qualities, it is not surprising that apples of Slavic legends were known as “apples of youth,” granting eternal youth and beauty yet requiring great efforts to find and obtain them.
Following the ambition to be the best, the most beautiful, and obsessed with a desire to stop time and preserve their physical beauty, many forget about the other interpretation of beauty: a mark of divine gifts that come from within. The eternal light of kindness, compassion, and content felt inside, which the person inevitably radiates outward, attracting people with much more power and intensity than just clothes, cosmetics, or any artificial means of beauty. All these qualities are invisible and immortal gifts yet far more reliable and lasting.
The mythical golden apple reminds us of the side effects of love and beauty—in other words, the consequences of our choices. Paris was to give a golden apple with an inscription “to the most beautiful” to one of three goddesses. Ignoring the power and skill promised by Hera and Athena, he chose Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In return she rewarded him with the love of the most praised woman of that time, the beautiful Helen of Sparta. However, the result was far from a happy ending, triggering one of the most terrible and cruel wars in mythology, the ten-year Trojan War. Seeking passion, we sometimes make the wrong choices and naively think we are blessed by love; our blindness in following these momentary wishes, as in Paris’s case, quickly turns our relationships into discord and breakup. There are many love spells that employ the use of apples, from simple ones that involve putting them under the pillow to see the promised partner in a dream, to more complicated ones that involve interpreting peeled apple skin.
If you wish for a love spell, though, beware not to turn a golden apple of love into an apple of discord and provoke an epic Trojan War in your personal life. Instead, it is much more beneficial to try to master perhaps the most difficult art of knowing your wishes and making the right choices. I invite you to follow me in a special ritual to receive the rewards offered by the three immortal goddesses: power and career advancement (Hera), wisdom and intellectual self-realization (Athena), and adventure and passion (Aphrodite).
Ritual: Journey to the Garden of the Hesperides
It is possible to turn a short break into meaningful initiation. The best time to perform this ritual is during a holiday or break from your usual schedule. It should take seven to ten days or can be stretched to up to twenty-one days, depending on how quickly you finish each of the ten tasks. Perform the ritual in solitude or independently from family or friends. Ideally, take a physical journey to a new place that inspires you.
The main goals are to feel gratitude by channeling abundance; to develop a cyclic worldview, necessary for growth in magical practices; and to gather “harvest” for your work and efforts. The apple is one of the symbols of the harvest feast. In Slavic tradition, there is a Savior of the Apple Feast Day, celebrated on August 19, which is meant to remind us of gratitude to Mother Nature for her gifts. It is believed that eating an apple on this day with a wish in mind will help make it come true.
Holding the knowledge of light and darkness, the Hesperides Apple Tree is close in meaning with the Qabalistic Tree of Life, an ordered structure of ten spheres linked with each other by paths. Without going deep into Qabala, we will use its form as a guide. Take ten carefully chosen ripe apples and place them at the position of the Sephiroth, so that you have your personal apple tree before your eyes. The last of Hercules’s labors, his search for the apples of the Garden of the Hesperides, is the basis for this spiritual journey. The myth offers perfect practical thresholds for the journey stages.
Each morning we start with a short meditation on the Tree of Life, slowly eating one apple at a time and concentrating on the daily aim. And each evening looking at the seeds left, we write down and reflect on the day’s experience in detail.
You will need:
10 apples
Diary for notes
Box for seeds
Day 1: Find the Garden
The location of the Hesperides garden was unknown, which was an additional challenge for the hero. After arriving at your destination, try to pause and feel the place—its nature, people, sounds, smells, and colors. Today your task is to release the tense feeling of constant control. Forget about the clock and watch the time from the sunrise-to-sunset dimension. Eat your first apple, feeling its taste, and try not to perceive it as a snack.
My destination was a resort city in the south of Turkey I have visited many times. After an extremely exhausting winter and burning out from work, I noticed how difficult it was to calm the fuss in my head. I spent the whole first day in the swimming pool, absorbing the warmth of the hot air, saturated with floral aroma and sea breeze, watching dancing sunbeams, playing with the hair of elegant palms, and flirting with the restless orange trees. I was immersed in a trance-like mood.
Reflect on the symbols of the myth. Watch the night sky and think about the guardians of the apples. Watch the shining Hesperides, the stars and planets, which brought you here and lead you; maybe you will see a shooting star that will show your heart the way. Think about the dragon, twined around the tree, the dangerous serpent of passions hidden in the magic crown with kundalini power. Are you ready for his sweet speech and the desires he might awaken in you?
Day 2: Meet a Nymph
Nymphs gave the hero a hint for the next step. Be open and ready to receive any information coming. Listen to and socialize with any person who approaches you. It’s the nymphs who send the message. For me, it was a woman with a piercing look whom I met at breakfast. With loose gowns, jewelry, and flower-scented perfume, she stood out from others at the resort. A traveler, hippie, and spiritual practitioner, she loaded me with a treasury of esoteric knowledge, which helped me to tune in to my magical goal.
Day 3: Consult Nereus
Hercules managed to catch and tame the enigmatic shape-shifter Nereus, who revealed the Garden’s location to the hero. This day is a challenge to learn the area’s culture, through the behavior, body language, and speech of people you came across during the day. Feel yourself a traveler and explorer; discover and compare, and understand yourself better.
For me it was conversations with the hotel’s owners, local business tycoons of the old city area: four brothers different in character yet one in their goal-oriented mind. I received plenty of curious conclusions on tourism from an old seller with a diploma in psychology. I enjoyed a discussion with a simple old man, the owner of a rock beach I visited every day, who, turning his philosophical look into the horizon, reminded me of Hemingway’s old man, looking out for his marlin. An exotic Turkish culture showed me its faces through the fascinating net of human stories, just as multi-identitied Nereus led me to reflect deeper on my own.
After the first three days, you may feel a slight shift through your entire body, as if you are not you and the reality around you is kind of surreal or Fae-like. Don’t forget to eat the apples and feel their taste, imagining how they nurture not only your body but your soul and your experience. Now that you know yourself, it is time to help yourself.
Day 4: Defeat Antaeus
Hercules successfully fought the fierce giants. One of them, Antaeus, could be defeated only by being lifted off the ground, from which he received his huge strength. As you eat your fourth apple, think about the energies you are getting from Mother Earth through the fruit, just like the giant received his power from the ground. The key challenge of today is to become the better version of yourself, disconnect from physical laziness, and feel the joy of victory over uncontrolled obsessions and physical dependences. My personal concern was a drive for food. It was hard, yet I restrained myself from grabbing all the delicious and generous plates of Turkish cuisine and focused instead on the long city walks, hourly swims in the sea, and yoga exercising on the morning’s empty beach.
Day 5: Fight Kyknos
Kyknos was another giant, bearing the features of his father, Ares, the god of war and passion. Today is the day of adventure, and it is good to eat a big sweet apple to receive more energy. After yesterday’s difficult task, you have to reward yourself. Seek out any cultural event, excursion, tour—everything that brings pleasure to your senses. In Turkey, I watched a spectacular dance performance with powerful music and historical and creative elements; it was an excellent source to boost my energy level.
Day 6: Escape the Altar of Sacrifice
No initiation can occur without some challenge or danger. A tired Hercules, after falling asleep in a faraway land, was captured by locals and was doomed to a ritual sacrifice. Savoring today’s apple, be ready for temptations that will be generously offered from everywhere: delicious food, original souvenirs, or promising relationships. Today you arrive at the center of the Tree, at the stage of Eden, so wait for the trial of choice: to go or not to go, to buy or not to buy, to taste or not to taste. Following your simple desires will become your challenge. You may consume the fruit of temptation and act according to the desires of your ego, as vacations are usually a free time to indulge. However, keep in mind that succumbing recklessly to temptation may destroy your health, budget, or heart. Be mindful of your goal of spiritual transformation and refuse to surrender to every impulse, avoiding being one of many victims on the altar of passions.
After this second stage, you should feel composed, stable and confident in your ability to control your body, senses, and passions. You are one step closer to your final destination, four stages left. Four apples are now at your tree, and it is time to look around and see if you might help others.
Day 7: Release Prometheus, Part 1
Hercules freed the bound Titan Prometheus from his tortures. Today is the day of surprises. It is not the day of initiating but passive waiting; keep your eyes wide open for an opportunity to do a good deed while going about your vacation schedule.
While walking, I helped a lost couple with directions. They appeared to work for a cultural TV channel and were looking for interesting travelers to prepare content on Turkey. They were extremely out of time, and our occasional meeting saved them.
Day 8: Release Prometheus, Part 2
Usually, helping others comprises two aspects: emotional and practical. The first one is sharing a word, a smile, advice, or information; the second is participation in the business of the other party or offering your service. At the beach I received a request for a tarot reading from a local visitor who turned out to be a scientist with plenty of projects and who felt released and inspired after the analysis of his intellectual property perspectives.
Day 9: Gather the Apples
After reaching the garden, Hercules relied on the help of Atlas, the Titan holding the sky on his shoulders. Atlas fetched the apples while Hercules replaced him for a while. Today you are most likely to meet your own guide who would serve as a mediator and will bring you the golden apples. Don’t forget to think of your desire when eating your apple. It might be a day full of wonders. Today’s apple should have a real magic taste.
Atlas is associated with strength, wit, cunning, and geography. At the end of my journey I met a new person who interestingly resembled a classical hero in terms of his athletic appearance, easygoing spirit, and rich traveling experience. Together we dived, swam, explored the hidden caves along the shore, and jumped from the rocks. I felt myself a sister of my beloved joyful sea nereids, rewarded for my spiritual efforts during the journey.
Day 10: Offer the Apples to the Goddess
In one version of the myth, after Hercules’s successful deed, his patroness Athena returns the apples to the Hesperides. The journey is over, and it is time for review. Eat the last apple, feeling gratitude for your experience. Look through your notes and observe the material things you might have obtained throughout the journey, as they can serve as hints too. Including a wonderfully refreshed attitude and friendship, I received a small silver serpent for a present, which seemed relevant to the guardian dragon of the Garden. I perceived it as a sign of my successful connection to the spiritual realm.
To complete the ritual, take the seeds left from the ten magic apples and sacrifice them to the elements: bury them in the ground or throw them in the sea or from the cliff. You return the apples to where they belong, to nature, where other heroes will travel to in search of their own golden magic fruits.