Ogham Tuesday: Apple/Quert

I’m delighted that there are so many ogham trees here at my home, including a lovely old crabapple. She grows on a slope and her shape is a bit gnarled and unkempt. When she’s in bloom, I stand under the branches and I can feel in my bones the soft buzzing of so many tiny bees!

A couple of years ago, she yielded crabapples that made the best apple butter I’ve ever tasted. 

We planted a bunch of other apple trees (mostly dwarf varieties) on the same slope and hope to have a bit of an orchard eventually. I’m learning how much I don’t know about caring for these trees such that they’ll bear a harvest we can share. And I think it’s interesting to realize: an apple tree can go years and years, producing fruit (or not) as it likes for wildlife and its own propagation, without any help from me. However...

If I want any of its harvest for myself, I need to make sure I’m putting in as much work as the tree.

The old saying goes, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” and it’s not bad advice. Apples are great for us in so many ways (unless you’re allergic like Beth, poor thing). It makes sense that health and healing would be correspondences. 

This ogham brings up the issue of choices as well. With the influence of Apple, we don’t just avoid the unhelpful choices; we embrace the choices that are consistent with our goals. In a sense, those choices are what our dreams grow on and what produces success. An apple a day won’t keep the doctor away if you don’t eat it, right? 

Keywords include: Health, repair, choices, sweetness, mystery, envy, adoration, fruitful, opportunity, benefit, desire, reward, consequences, variety, vitality, blossom, wholeness, respite

Guidance might be: 

• Look for ways to support today the results you expect from your future self. Daily, weekly, and monthly habits are like compounding interest!

• When an apple tree is properly pruned, a bird can fly right through the canopy without touching any branches. The empty spaces matter. Leave some room for opportunities to spread their wings. 

• Crabapples are no good for eating raw, but they cook up beautifully. Consider whether something you thought you could benefit from NOW actually needs more time and effort from you. 

Cautions and questions might be:

• Are you actively choosing actions that are congruent with your best interests? What consequences do you think you face if you aren’t? 

• What can you ADD to your routine that will increase pleasure and success? 

• It can take 3-5 years for an apple tree to bear fruit. Is your desire or dream strong enough to be patient? To be repaired? 

What connections do you see? 

Blessings,

Nicole

~ Nicole (Nikki, sometimes Saffron Hare) is founder and general manager at Nine Fires Press. Her Druidic practice has included solitary, small-group, and congregational worship, with a focus on liturgy and seership. She is studying for her Master Gardener certification, rehabbing an underground home in the Midwestern US, and loves to fall in love with bad ideas.