The apple tree and its fruit have been the center of superstitions and magical folklore for centuries. The fruit is associated with love, divination, good health, and the fairies.
1. Does S/He Love Me?
To find out if someone is in love with you, take a fresh apple seed, say the person’s name over it, and drop it into a fire. If the seed pops and bursts, it means that the other person is bursting with love for you. If the seed just fizzles and burns away, seek love elsewhere.
2. To Cut Down an Apple Tree
Living apple trees should never be cut down. Doing so will anger the fairies and nature spirits will bring you nothing but misfortune and bad luck.
3. Halloween Night
Each person in the family should bury an apple in the ground on Halloween night. This is to feed the spirits of the dead and to gain their protection over the following year.
4. For a Good Crop
To make sure your apple tree bears a lot of fruit, place a piece of toast in a fork of the tree as an offering to the spirits.
5. Blooming Out of Season
If an apple tree blooms in the fall, there will be a death in the family.
6. Licked Love
In Pennsylvania it was believed that if you picked an apple, licked it, and gave it to the person you loved, that person would fall in love with you if he ate the apple.
7. Leave Some for the Fairies
Never clean up all the fallen apples from under the apple tree. Leave a few on the ground as an offering to the fairies and to keep them happy.
8. To See a Future Lover
Sit in front of a mirror at midnight with a lit candle before you. Eat an apple and when you reach the final bite, the image of your future lover will appear peaking over your shoulder.
9. To Stop a Fight
To stop two men from arguing, cut the letters HAON into the skin of an apple and throw it between the angry men. This was believed to have the ability to settle them down and end the conflict. If you are lacking an apple, smacking each on the nose with a rolled up newspaper also seems to distract them well enough.
10. A Challenge to the Devil
If you eat an apple without first giving it a shine, you are challenging the devil and bringing misfortune upon yourself, according to a superstition that originated in Surrey.
