Michael and Jaspenelle

Oimelc

If today be sunny and bright, Winter again will show its might.
If today be cloudy and gray, Winter soon will pass away.

In northern climates, the first days of February look nothing like Spring, but if you look closely you can see the small but sturdy signs of changing seasons begin to appear. Maybe it rains more often then it snows, or the days are noticeably longer, maybe the winds bite is a little less harsh, or the sun a little warmer. Whatever the sign is, it hints that Spring is just around the corner.

Oimelc falls on February 1st, approximately half way between Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. It literally means “ewe’s milk”, and refers to the ewes are nursing their newly born lambs, another indication of the coming of Spring. It is sometimes called Imbolc, Brighid, Lupercalia (not celebrated until the 13th) or Candlemas (though this refers to a Catholic holiday.)

As with many of the Pagan sabbats, Oimelc’s history is firmly rooted in Celtic tradition, though it also borrows some Roman and Christian ideas. Lupercalia was an ancient, possibly pre-Roman, festival where all evil spirits were driven out of the city and spirits of health and fertility were invited in. Old hearth fire were extinguished and new ones lit, old candles were also replaced and blessed. Many of Lupercalia’s customs were integrated into Catholicism when the Roman Empire converted, minus the orgies of course.

In Celtic culture, this was a time of weather divination, usually done by observing the hibernation patterns of snakes, many believe that this custom evolved into the secular Groundhog Day. The snake was a creature revered for its sacred wisdom. The snake was one of the many animals associated with the goddess Brighid, to whom this day is also given to, Là Fhéill Bhrìghde. She was such a powerful deeply ingrained symbol to the Celtic tribes, the Christian missionaries chose to make her a saint rather then try to remove her from importance.

Brighid was the keeper of the sacred flame and guardian of home and hearth, though she is said to have had two sisters, Brighid the Physician and Brighid the Smith. Most people see these three women as aspects of the same goddess, one of poetry, healing, and smithcraft.

In Scottish legend is the said that one the eve of Oimelc, the Cailleach (Old Woman Winter) takes a journey to a sacred well on a magical island. As dawn breaks , she drinks from it and is transformed into Bride (another spelling of Brighid), the beautiful maiden whose white wand turns the bare earth green again. Again, many people see the Cailleach and Bride and Brighid as one and the same, often referring to her as a triple goddess, at once maiden, mother and crone.

All these celebrations have led to very diverse Oimelc celebration among modern Pagans. This is a time many will reevaluate personal relationships and habits to decide what needs to be discarded in their lives. Renewal of old pledges or commitments to new ones are done at this time as well.

This emotional purging is often accompanied by physical purging, either by beginning Spring cleaning or decluttering altars and other spiritual supplies. Many Pagans make or purchase their candles for the year around this time and consecrate them on Oimelc as they are an important symbol of this sabbat.

On a personal level, I rarely do much on Oimelc. It has taken me a long time to be able to connect with this sabbat as most other Pagans I know connect it more with a goddess then a seasonal transformation. As I have become acclimated to life in the Inland Northwest though I have started to see the unique beauty in this time of year.

To me, Oimelc represents a hidden transformation. I feel the coming of Spring in my heart more then see it in the land. The increasing daylight lightens my mood and renews my energy so that I can work on projects that have probably taken a back burner during the drearier days Winter. I take time on Oimelc to meditate on what I would like to see grow in my life and in my community. If we listen closely we can hear the land whispering of the changing seasons. The Vernal Equinox is only seven weeks away and Oimelc celebrates the anticipation of Spring.

Oimelc: in our home

(Collecting reeds with our friend Sal to make Brighid’s Crosses.)

Activities:

• Burning Winter Solstice greens
• Candle making and consecrating
• Candlelit purification procession
• Ritual: initiations, dedications
• Spring cleaning
• Visiting a spring or well
• Writing poetry

Crafts:

• Bread Making
• Brighid’s Wheel
• Candle Making
• Knitting and Weaving

Decorations:

• Candles
• Cauldron
• Colors: red, white
• Hibernating animals
• Seasonal plants and foods
• Suns
• Woolen items

Oimelc: feast

We went over to some friends this year for Imbolc, so I just made bread and dip to share. Otherwise I would have made red (tomato) and white raviolis with cheese filling, roasted herbed potatoes and granitas from pluots I froze this summer. Maybe next year!

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BREAD: focaccia
This year I added 1/4 cup chopped dried tomatoes that I packed in oil this summer. I also infused some of the oil with basil and oregano and used that as well.

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BREAD DIP: Sun-dried Tomato and Basil

• 8 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp dried basil (2 tbsp fresh if you have it)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne

Put everything into a blender and pulse till smooth. Let sit for 6 hours or overnight.

I hope you all have a most blessed and joyful Oimelc, Winter is drawing to a close and the wheel turns to the warmth of Spring.

Bagels

I have had a craving for bagels for a couple days. The thing is, most store bought bread gives me hives, so my craving had to wait a day, then overnight, then through this morning’s boiling and baking. But finally, I have my bagel, a Potato Bagel Star in fact. (I added some flax and whole-wheat flour to the recipe and topped a few with chia seeds, the rest with poppy or sesame seeds.)

So, I raise my glass of wild sweet orange ice tea to holding out for a craving, and bread in general, and to summer, whenever it decides to arrive. (I suppose we have to get through Spring first don’t we?)

Winter Solstice

Brightly burns our fire tonight.
Magic dances with candlelight.

Hold my hand and join in song.
Raise the Sun King bright and strong!

Dark is giving way to light.
Brightly burns the fire tonight.

Winter Solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year. It falls around December 21st of each year. It is a festival day in many cultures often calling for bright lights and fires, freshly cut evergreens, feasting with loved ones and singing and dancing. These festivities serve to rekindle the human spirit in the heart of winter.

In many modern Pagan traditions, Winter Solstice, is a celebration of the rebirth of the sun. Many still hold vigils awaiting the dawn, heralding the sun as the God reborn from the sacred womb of the Goddess. In other traditions a great battle is waged between the Oak King and Holly King where the Oak King triumphs returning to the world to longer warmer days.

It is a near certainty that Winter Solstice was of significant importance to ancient people, especially Proto-Celtic tribes. The evidence of this is obvious in the layouts of the stone monuments of New Grange in Ireland and Stonehenge in Britain. Each of these sites was carefully built to line up with the solstice sunrise. It can be suggested that the marking of midwinter was important for ancient communities because the people needed an approximate idea of how long their stored provisions had to last.

The most common alternate name for Winter Solstice is Yule a term originating from ancient Norse and Germanic tribes. It began as a celebration marking a 60 day time beginning at the lunar midwinter, but by the late Viking Age, it had become a great solstitial midwinter festival that amalgamated the traditions of various midwinter celebrations across Europe. On the the eve of Yule a huge log was lit in honor Thor, god of thunder, and feasting would continue until it burned out, which could be up to twelve days! A portion of the log was saved to be used in the lighting of the next year’s log. (more…)

Samhain

The Festival of Samhain was an ancient Celtic festival, falling on October 31st. A day which also marks Catholic All-Souls-Day and the secular Halloween, both strongly colored by the Celtic festival. Unlike most of the other sabbats, Samhain is not dictated by astrological events and therefor always falls on October 31st. Beltane is it’s counterpart laying directly opposite to Samhain in the Wheel of the year.

Samhain marks the end of the planted harvest and the beginning of the meat harvest. In days long past this time was vital, with the first snows nearing it was time to cull the herds and preserve their meat for Winter; without which the communities survival would be in question. Our ancestors knew this and so lived in harmony and with intuitive knowledge of the weather and changing seasons.

The Celtic year was split into two parts, and Samhain marks the start of the dark half, or Winter, which will transition into summer at Beltane. Now is the time for Old Wild Mother Earth to slip into a deep slumber, there she will gather strength till the Spring planting. This rest period is important, if not vital, not only for Her but also as a lesson to us. We must all take a break from time to time, as to regain our energy. With our renewed energy, the fruits of our labor will be even better.

Historically Samhain was an important festival celebrated for three days in the royal court in Tara (in modern day Ireland.) All hearth fires were extinguished and a ritual fire was started on the Hill of Tara, signaling people to gathered on hilltops all across Ireland and light community bonfires. Sometimes two bonfires were lit and people and livestock passed between then in a purification and protection rite. At the end of the Samhain celebrations a burning ember was taken home by each family to relight their own hearth fires. This was a common flame binding together the entire community. (more…)

Autumn Equinox

The cool down of Autumn have finally arrived and so has the peak of the harvest season. Fat pumpkins lay in fields, apple branches bend low with heavy yield and the Earth’s bounty overflows the garden and farm. This harvest begs to be enjoyed, but also preserved. Winter’s icy days draw near.

Technically speaking an equinox is a day when the Sun will spend an equal amount of time above and below the horizon. This happens twice a year, in Autumn and Spring. Autumn Equinox is the tipping point into the dark half of the year. Today we are also entering into the sunsign of Libra, her scales are a perfect echo of the light/dark balance of this equinox. Historically speaking, nearly every culture has some form of harvest festival, many celebrated still today.

Megalithic people of ancient Britain and Ireland obviously placed some kind of importance on both the solstices and equinoxes. Otherwise they would not have build stone structures like Stonehenge and Loughcrew Cairn to determine their dates. Their methods of celebrating these days has been long lost to history though.

The ancient Celts constructed a wickerman around this time of the year as well. It was ritually burned to represent the plant spirits returning to the earth to rest until Spring. An incarnation of this ancient idea has been reborn in recent years in the Burning Man Project, a yearly festival celebrated in the Autumn in Nevada. A giant wickerman is constructed and burned at the height of the week long festival.

The Mayans constructed a sacred pyramid called Chichen Itza, which acted in a similar way to the stone structures of the Megalithic people of Britain and Ireland. On the day of the Autumn Equinox a “serpent of light” descends the pyramid until it joins this a huge stone rattlesnake head at its base. (This serpent is actually seven isosceles triangles that are formed from the sunlight hitting the pyramid stairs.)
(more…)

Backpacker Jerky Stew

This is the dehydrated stew we are taking camping with us. I dehydrated all this stuff myself but I suppose you could buy it all pre-dried if you don’t have a dehydrator. The veggies can vary in it depending on what you have. The batch I made for this weekend’s camping trip also has zucchini and extra potatoes in it. Just add extra water if you intend on adding more of course, basically you want to just cover the ingredients in water to rehydrate.

For my fellow ounce counters, the dry weight of this is 5oz (not including the carrot.)
Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups water
• 1 cup dried tomato pieces
• 1 cup jerky pieces
• 1 cup dried potato slices
• 1 cup dried green beans
• 1 cup dried corn
• 1 tbsp dried bell pepper
• 1 tbsp dried onion
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• Fresh carrot, sliced (optional)
• 1 cup dried brown rice

Instructions:

1. In a camping pot combine 4 cups of water and all ingredients, except carrot and rice. Let sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate. You can do this while you are starting the fire. Once you get the fire going boil the remaining cup of water.
2. Mix one cup boiling water with your rice. Cover and let rehydrate for 15 minutes. While rice is rehydrating put your stew on to cook, after 15 minutes add rice to stew. You can add the carrot here if you wish.
3. Cook for 30 minutes to one hour, until jerky is tender.

I’m going to be serving this with my whole-wheat cornbread while we camp (I can post that recipe if you wish, it is cooked in cast iron.) Oh you can also do this stew in a crockpot at home and simmer it on low for 6 to 8 hours. It is nice to have in your cupboard for an easy meal.

Blessed Lughnasadh!

Blessed Lughnasadh!

Lughnasadh is going to be quite different for us this year since we now have Damian! His grandpa Tolman will be here to visit. I want to make an effort to celebrate all the sabbats with Damian but this one might wait till next weekend. I like that cross-quarter days are flexible like that! Heck my solstices and equinoxes kind of are too.

This year I am going to share my seasonal feast recipes with you. All my recipes are all very loose and leave a lot of room for personal taste. I rarely follow instructions except if I am making bread… even then I tend to switch to whole wheat.

Speaking of whole wheat, Lughnasadh celebrates the grain harvest so how about we start with a bread recipe:

BREAD: Baguette

• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup bread flour
• 3 cups whole wheat flour

- In a large bowl combine honey and warm water, stir in yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes, until foamy.
- Add salt. Add flours 1 cup at a time until dough starts to come together. Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed in the rest of the flour until smooth (about 10 minutes.)
- Place dough in an oiled and turn to coat the surface. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
- Punch down and form into long slender loaf (approx 21 inches long and 3 inches wide.) Place diagonally on a lightly greased large baking sheet and let rise uncovered for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- After loaf has risen make 3-6 diagonal slashes on it with sharp knife and lightly brush top with cool water. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack. (If you can wait long enough for it to cool, warm baguette smothered in fresh butter or preserves, yum!)

APPETIZER: Bruschetta
There is about a dozen different ways to make this, but this is the way I grew up with, more or less. The ingredients are very flexible and can (and should!) be done to taste.

• 6 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced (I use a garlic press)
• a handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 baguette (homemade)
• Olive oil

- Toss together tomatoes, garlic and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside to allow flavors to meld.
- Slice baguette into 1-inch pieces and toast. Drizzle with olive oil. (Alternately you can cut the garlic cloves in half and rub them against the toast before drizzling.)
- Top with tomato mixture and serve.

MAIN DISH: Grilled Chicken Salad

• 4 grilled chicken breasts, sliced
• Homemade raspberry vinaigrette
• 1 head lettuce, torn up - I like red leaf or romaine
• 2 cups spinach, torn up
• 2 cucumbers, seeded and diced
• 1 cup corn
• 2 or 3 or 4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 cup mozzarella, cubed or shredded

- Make vinaigrette. Mine uses about 8 tbsp olive oil, 3 tbsp raspberry vinegar, 1 to 2 tbsp local honey, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, salt and pepper. Still all that in a jar and shake. Viola vinaigrette. (I make my own raspberry vinegar but I have seen it in some stores, you could use any fruit vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, or balsamic for that matter.)
- Marinate chicken breasts in some vinaigrette for 30 minutes to and hour. Or you can be inpatient like me and stick some vinaigrette and the chicken in a ziplock and hit with with a rolling pin a few times until it flattens. Force marination.
- Grill chicken and slice. I like it left warm but you could certainly chill if that is your thing.
- In a large bowl toss together your chicken and your other ingredients with more vinaigrette. (Alternately, you could layer it lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, cheese.)

DESSERT: Grilled Peaches

• Peaches, 1 per person
• 2 tsp brown sugar per peach
• Melted butter, enough to brush your peaches with
• Vanilla ice cream

- Cut peaches along the seam all the way around and twist off the pit. Brush cut sides with butter.
- Cook, cut side down, on a hot grill until fruit has grill marks, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Brush tops with butter, turn over, and move to indirect heat. Put 1 tsp of sugar in each peach where the pit was.
- Cover grill and cook until sugar is melted and fruit is tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

If you celebrate Lughnasadh what do you intend of filling your family’s bellies with? Even if you don’t what are you having for dinner? Some local foods too I hope!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

This recipe makes about 8 pancakes, enough to feed Michael and I, though I ate a double batch all by myself the other day. I have a feeling that may have been a craving though…

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp safflower oil

1. Sift dry ingredients into a medium bowl (I usually add 2 heaping tablespoons of flaxseed here too, it is a very loose recipe, sometimes I only use whole wheat flour as well.) Add wet ingredients and mix until smooth, you can add a little water if you like flatter pancakes (like I do.) You can also fold in blueberries, banana slices or chocolate chips here if you want.

2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little oil in it. (I always use a 10-inch cast iron skillet to make pancakes I find it cooks them most evenly and makes them that perfect brown color.)

3. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into pan and cook until bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the batter. Flip and cook until a bit of steam comes from the side of the pancakes. Pancakes should be golden.

You can also put thinly sliced bananas in the pan and pour batter over them.

4. Serve warm with butter, maple syrup and jam.

Golden Squash Soup

Have you heard Into the Night by Santana and Chad Kroeger? Sexy Rwar!

Anyhow, soup…

Golden Squash Soup
servings 4

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 3/4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 6 oz can coconut milk
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Peel and cut up squash in a 1/2″ dice.
2. Heat 2 tbs broth in a medium soup pot and saute the onions until tender. Add garlic and ginger and saute for another minute. Stir in turmeric and curry powder. Mix well.
3. Pour in remaining broth and add the squash. Turn heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes (or until the squash is tender.)
4. Pour the soup mixture into a blender and add coconut milk. Blend until smooth. Return mixture to the soup pot and add cilantro, salt and pepper. Reheat and serve hot.

The Apple

With the Autumn Equinox approaching, my thoughts turn towards the harvest, especially the Apple Festival in Greenbluff coming up. Michael and I have a little tradition of going out there with friends each year to picking apples, drinking fresh cider and go on a hay ride or two.

As far as apples go though, I admit that I have not always been too keen on apples. As a child I much preferred strawberries and other softer fruit. I still do not like eating apples raw and unsliced. Living in Washington State though has softened me to them a little. Anyhow with the Apple Festival near, I have been researching apples a little. I am the type of person who always likes to have tidbits of info to share, in and our of circle. This article in the sum of the information I have gathered.

General Info
The apple tree is in the species of Malus domestica of the rose family Rosaceae. It is one of the mostly widely cultivated tree fruits in the world. It is also one of the oldest fruit trees to have been cultivated. The petrified remains of apples have been found in tombs dating back as far as 5000 years. Though the modern apple came from a single variety in Asia, there are now about 7,500 varieties of apples in the world.

The fruit of the apple tree is, of course, the apple, which is full of nutrients and can be stored for long periods of time, this made it ideal for winter storage. The apples was an important stable in Europe and Asia because of this (and later in North and South American with the arrival of Europeans.)

The apple has long been valued for its healing properties, I doubt we would say “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” if it were any other way. Modern research suggests that many vitamins and antioxidants in apples can help reduce the risk of cancer (particularly colon, prostate and lung cancer) by preventing DNA damage. There are also some studies that suggest that a certain group of chemicals found in apples might help protect the brain from neurodegenerative diseases, such are Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Folklore
The long history of traditions and legends associated with the apple can most likely be tied to the fact that it has been a stable of the human diet for so long. Sometimes it seems the apple is about as polarized in legend as the raven.

• To many Christians, the apple is often named as the forbidden fruit which Adam and Eve shared, leading to their expulsion from Eden. Naturally, this point is hotly debated by religious scholars, particularly since the word “apple” has been used as a generic term for many fruit, including berries and nuts, as late as the 17th century.
• In Norse folklore, the Apple is the tree of immortality. A sacred orchard was kept by the goddess Idunn. She fed the apples to the other gods keep them forever youthful. To the Norse, the apple represented long life, wisdom and love.
• In Greek folklore, Gaia gave Hera an apple tree when she married Zeus. That tree is kept in the Garden of the Hesperides, guarded by the dragon, Ladon.
• In Silesia (now modern day Poland) sleeping under the apple tree or with an apple under your pillow was said to induce dreams.
• In Celtic folklore, the apple symbolized life, death and rebirth as well as healing and youth. It was said that the apple tree was the bridge between the realm of the living and the dead.
• In Arthurian legend, the isle of Avalon (or Avallach) is believed to mean “Isle of Apples”. It is ruled by the Fairy Queen, Morgan le Fey.
• Irish folklore, the god Óengus gave three miraculous apple trees as a wedding gift for the one of the Milesians. One was in full bloom, one shedding its blossoms, and one in fruit.
  It was also said that if a woman should peel the apple skin in one continuous ribbon and throw it over her shoulder, it would land in the shape of her future husband’s initials.
• In Druidism, “tuiloc” (mistletoe) is a sacred plant. Because it was often in apple trees, this also made apples sacred. They also had a sacred apple tree from which the Silver Bough was cut and from it hung silver apples which sounded like bells and could lull because into a trance-like state. It was said that the Druids could make contact with the other world through these trances.
• In South West England the Apple Wassail is a traditional form of wassailing still practiced in some cider orchards, it is sometimes called “howling”. It is thought that this practice originated from Pagan practices as offering to the Gods for a fruitful harvest. On Twelfth Night, men would go to the cider orchards with their wassail bowls and sliced of bread. Bread was laid at the roots of each tree and a cider libation was also poured over the tree roots. The ceremony is said to “bless” the trees to produce a good crop in the forthcoming season. Sometimes certain songs were sung (this is thought to be one of the origins of Christmas Caroling.) A few of the traditional ones are (from Wikipedia):

“Here’s to thee, old apple tree,
Whence thou mayst bud
And whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel–bushel–sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!”
(South Hams of Devon, 1871)

“Stand fast root, bear well top
Pray the God send us a howling good crop.
Every twig, apples big.
Every bough, apples now.”
(19th century Sussex, Surrey)

“Here we come a wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wandering
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too,
And God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
And God send you a happy New Year.”
(Somerset, 1871)

Some deities associated with the apple in legend and lore are:

• Celtic: Cerridwen, Morgan le Fay, Olwen
• Norse: Freyja, Idunn
• Greek: Aphrodite, Dionysus, Gaia, Hera
• Roman: Cupid, Pomona, Venus
• Middle Eastern: Ashtarath, Astarte, Ishtar, Shekinah

Modern Paganism
Different circles and families have their own unique traditions too, like Michael and I going out to the Apple Festival each Equinox. I know a lady who buries a few apples each Samhain with her children. She tells them it is to honor the fey and spirits. She also uses it as a stepping stone to talk to her kids about family ancestors and the cycle of life.

There is one thing I have heard mentioned more often then anything else when it comes to the apple and it has little to do with folklore and more to do with the appearance of the apple.

When you cut an apple in half on it’s equator, it’s seed casings are revealed. The arrangement of these form a five-pointed star. This symbol, the pentagram, is an ancient symbol for occult knowledge and the love goddess, Venus. The seed pentagram turns into a pentacle when you factor in the circular shape of the apple’s flesh. The pentacle often used as a the symbol of protection, the earth, sacred knowledge and sometimes the Goddess (it represents a lot of other things too but that is for another essay.)

Magical Uses
Apple wood is often used to make magical items like wands, besoms, pendulums, wreaths and pentacles. This is probably because of its ties to primarily female deities and many Pagans tend to be more Goddess oriented. I personally use a lot of apple wood because I have easy access to it, I love its energy vibration and it looks beautiful.

Apple blossoms have five petals (again like the pentagram), are white or pale pink and being a flower, associated with female energies. To many this ties them with the love goddesses Venus and Aphrodite, and makes them good for love spells and sachets.

Apples often adorn festive harvest altars along side of pumpkins and corn. Cut crosswise they can be used and natural or impromptu pentacles and representations of Earth and fertility. Of course if you celebrate a particular deity who is linked to the apple it makes sense to place them on your altar. Sometimes they are made into apple dolls. A great tutorial for making apple dolls can be found here.

Apple juice is often used as a substitute for wine in circles, particularly when underage people are present. I see no problem with the substitution, though I find it to be something that is almost only done in the United States (probably because of the stigma attached to alcohol.)

Rituals and Meditations
I have these on my grimoire (which is membership only) but I will post a couple of them on my blog later this week. This article was written for my grimoire but I love to share too much to keep it all hidden.

Recipes
If you have a tried and true apple recipe to share, let me know!

• Apple Pie in a Jar
• Apple Sweet Potato Bake
• Autumn Jam

Miscellaneous Tidbits

• Herbalists have long used apple juice fasts to flush out gallstones.
• The Chinese associate the apple with Yin (female energy.)
• In astrology the apple is associated with the planet Venus.
• Apple wood is one of the nine woods traditionally placed in the Wiccan balefire.
• In the modern Reclaiming tradition, (which, from what I understand is heavily influenced by Celtic and Arthurian lore) the dead journey to the Isle of Apples to await rebirth.

Sources

• Druidry.org
• Sacred Spiral
• Wikipedia