What does an apple mean in Orthodoxy. Regina symbolism - apple, apple tree

Oddly enough, such a simple fruit - an apple - has a lot of meanings in the mythology and culture of different countries. For some nations, it means spring rebirth and joyful love, while for others it means discord and forbidden fruit. The dual nature of love between a woman and a man is also symbolized by this stone fruit.

An example is the apple of the ancient Roman goddess Ceres, which plunges people into a passionate frenzy. He is opposed by another symbol - a romantic and tender "apple tree in bloom."

Pictures of the birth of Christ show the baby Jesus taking an apple; Thus, he symbolically took upon himself the sins of the world. Therefore, the red apple that traditionally decorates the Christmas tree can be interpreted as an opportunity to return to paradise thanks to the birth of the Savior.

The apple was the forbidden fruit of the Golden Age. The attractive sweetness of the apple is associated with sinful temptation, because the word is like "evil, sinful, evil." Thus, in works of art from the Baroque era, death is like a skeleton with an apple in its hand: the price of the first sin is death.

AT folklore an apple means hope for a very successful marriage and strong family ties. Many winged "apple" expressions have entered the cultural fund of the Russian language.

The apple is the forbidden fruit

There is a famous saying that forbidden fruit is always sweet. According to the Bible, the apple gave people knowledge, the ability to distinguish between good and evil. But it also led the first people on earth to fall into sin.

Eve not only dared to pick and taste this fruit, but also to pass it on to Adam. The consequence was terrible - exile to earth from paradise. Nevertheless, the apple also represents heavenly bliss. Many researchers believe that the name of the legendary island of Avalon, translated from the Welsh (Welsh, Cymric) language, means "apple".

AT ordinary life, an apple, because its almost perfectly round shape is perceived as a cosmic symbol, therefore kings and kings are often together with a rod in their hand, symbolically representing the whole world "the state of an apple." In the ancient world, three rounds are depicted on coins, identifying known parts of the Emperor Augustus of the world - Asia, Africa, Europe and the "state apple" crowned with the figure of the goddess of victory.

Even the unattractive wild apple has found use in heraldry. Like a wild apple, a hard and sour canned wine is very well sour from both cruelty, evil is punished and the virtuous remains. Right here you can see the connection with the biblical legend, which says that the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, eaten by Adam and Eve, was an apple.

Apple is a symbol of eternal youth

The apple is often mentioned in legends and myths of various peoples as a symbol of unfading youth and beauty.

Many Russian folk tales also tell about the ability of such fruits to return and preserve youth.

The ancient Greek hero Hercules obtained these magical fruits from the nymph sisters of the Hesperides, which promised their owner eternal youth. In addition, the Scandinavian god Loki also did not want to grow old. And to prevent this process, he simply stole rejuvenating apples.

Usually Eve is depicted in this way - with an apple in her hand, offering Adam. Although the Bible does not name the fruit that Eve seduced in the Garden of Eden, the apple was the first fruit chosen by interpreters of Scripture. So the apple as a symbol has acquired both positive and negative meanings in relation to the concept of "knowledge". In art, the apple symbolizes the fall into sin, as shown in the mouth of a monkey or a snake. Jesus Christ, the image of the Savior is often held in the hand of an apple or pointing at it - a symbol of salvation.

According to tradition, the apple is the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Perhaps this is taken from the classical image of the golden apple of immortality, guarded by the Hesperides - a nymph in the garden of Hera. Hence comes the symbol of the fall of man and the allusion to the future mission of Christ as Redeemer. The alchemists noticed that the core of the cross section of the apple was pentagonal, giving them a clue about finding the fifth element. Thus, they used this fruit as a symbol of knowledge.

"Apple" symbolism in the culture of the Slavs

Among the ancient Slavs, the apple symbolized not only health, a happy marriage, fertility and prosperity, but also the secret of life and death. It was believed that this particular fruit helps to keep the image of the departed in the memory of the living. In this regard, the ancient Slavs always brought an apple to the grave of their ancestors.

After special prayers in the synagogues of the Jewish holiday table without fail, apples and halvah with honey, as a symbol of the upcoming "sweet" year. What role does the apple play in Bulgarian folk beliefs? From pre-biblical times, the apple has a very deep symbolic meaning. It has to do with love, fertility, life, sexuality, and sin.

The apple is the sacred tree of Apollo, the apple of discord is the cause of the three goddesses Aphrodite, Athens and Hera to quarrel about what is best. In Christianity, the apple is the "fruit of sin", a symbol of original sin. For the ancient Celts, the fetus is closely associated with the future, with magical and secret knowledge, with the cult of Epona, the goddess of the mare, depicting a sitting and holding an apple in her hand.

The stone fruit did not bypass wedding celebrations either. They used not only the fruit itself, but also the branches of the apple tree. To accept an apple as a gift meant for the girl consent to the marriage. Apple tree branches often decorated the wedding festive table.

Apples in our life, myths and symbols
The apple tree is one of the oldest fruit trees. The homeland of the plant is Asia Minor, from where it was transported thousands of years ago to Palestine, and then to Egypt, Greece and Rome. Egyptian pharaohs baskets of apples were donated daily from orchards to temples, and apple trees also bloomed in ancient Roman orchards.
And today we will talk about apples, about the myths and symbols associated with them.

1.Apple - a symbol of the tree of life.
Apple tree(like a tree) serves as one of the symbols of settled life, peace, prosperity.
And in apple many saw an extraordinary fruit - fruit of the tree of life.
tree of life in the myths of many peoples it is the world tree, the axis of the world... It is here, under the world tree, that the gods decide human destinies.
Madonna under the apple tree

Whatever this tree was, its fruit among European peoples most often turned out to be Apple, translated from the Romance languages ​​" heavenly fruit».
In the Middle Ages, each Celtic clan in Ireland had its own sacred apple tree, under which pagan holidays were held.
The ancient Germans believed that apple trees enjoyed the patronage of the gods - even lightning did not touch them - and surrounded houses with apple orchards!

In China, the apple tree is a symbol of peace, and the apple blossom is a poetic emblem of beauty.
Jews during the New Year's meal eat an apple dipped in honey for well-being in the new year.
In the mythology of the Balts, the apple is a symbol of the sun, one of the incarnations of the goddess Saule.
Round form associated with ideas about Universe space; " blush» apple - c beauty and health, sweetness and aroma - with pleasure.

In the interpretation of dreams, the apple is identified primarily with love and family. If you see this in your sleeping apple, it is considered a good sign, especially in a purely sexual aspect. If you eat it, you will enjoy health and happiness. Eat a red and sweet apple, a bold love adventure, and if it is sour and unripe, quarrels and misunderstandings in the family or with your beloved. If they give you apples, you'll get busy. You dream of ripe apples on a tree, you will have a close-knit and large family.

If you see a blossoming apple in a dream, you have pure, innocent, platonic love. If we pay attention to Bulgarian traditions and folklore, we find that the apple is present as a symbol of fertility, love, marriage and children. In folk concepts, it was intuitively understood that the most sure sign love between two young people was the exchange of an apple, as, for example, in Thrace, a sign that a young boy loved a girl put his apples in a dance.

2. Apple is a super fruit
What kind of apple is it

Full of ripe juice

So fresh and so fragrant

So ruddy golden

Like honey poured!

You can see the seeds through...

Apples from our garden

The fruit itself was used in lust to please. If a boy or girl bites into an enchanted apple, they can go crazy for about 40 days. Even without magic, an apple was a sure sign that someone was serious about marriage. In traditional folk culture, the apple is a symbol of marriage. For this reason, it is present in all important points preparation and development of the wedding - decoration of the wedding tree, wedding banner and wedding ring. Breeders eat the apple to have children.

It can also replace the bride's bloody shirts after the first wedding night: when the bride is honest, instead of a shirt, she shows an apple, and wedding girls collect coins. As a symbol of fertility, the apple also plays a different role. The groom must eat an apple in order to have children. The idea behind this custom is that the apple has an erotic power that will make a young child conceive a child.

The apple is not only a favorite fruit, it is extremely healing. Even Hippocrates prescribed apples against intestinal diseases, ailments of the heart and kidneys.
Apples have: antiallergic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumor properties.
Do not contain fat, cholesterol, sodium - excellent for the figure and blood vessels;
vitamin composition: vitamins a, b9, b2, b1, pp, c,
In 100 g of an apple, 11.8 g of carbohydrates - gives energy about 80 calories;

Source of iron(perfectly absorbed from apples, due to the content of vitamin g - “appetite vitamin”).
Source of potassium, manganese, zinc, copper and other useful substances;
Enriched with pectin(reduces the likelihood of colon cancer, the formation of stones in gallbladder).
Reduces the need for insulin in diabetes; strengthens blood vessels.

Apples are useful for gout: they reduce the formation of uric acid;
Apples help purify the blood, and clean the teeth;
More phytoncides are contained closer to the skin - which means that it is better not to peel apples from it.
Apple juice is used to make apple wine, and by fermentation and champagne cider. Brandy obtained from the distillation of cider is called Calvados.

Source: "Bulgarian customs and rituals" - Lilia Stareva; "An apple as a symbol of fertility and love in folk culture" - Bilyana Popova. The legendary Reich Achilles, a descendant of Dia himself, was immortal in addition to his heel. His mother, the goddess Thetis, ensured his immortality by clutching small Achilles in the sacred water of the river Styx - but he had to keep it behind him. But because the gods decided that this valiant Reich would perish at Troy, they sent the arrow of the Trojan prince Parid on his deadly heel - since then, the weak points of every plan or person have been considered the Achilles' heel.

3. Apple is a symbol of temptation, the Forbidden fruit
European tradition (but not the original text of the Bible) considers the apple fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The apple was a forbidden fruit, but Eve dared, tried it herself, and passed on the "knowledge" to Adam. The result was the expulsion from paradise and the whole long journey of mankind.
Adam and Eva Dürer

But the Bible text does not specifically mention what kind of fruit led Eve into temptation.
The word "pomum" (lat. "fruit") has undergone a change, it began to denote not any fruit, but an apple. Fig, pomegranate, peach and quince were depicted in art, in addition to the apple, but our apple was unknown in the Ancient East.
The tradition of depicting an apple as a symbol of the fall appeared in the Renaissance. It is believed that in Greek mythology, and in the Song of Songs, it is not about apples, but about pomegranates.

The daughter of Ariadne, the daughter of King Mina, helped the River Teza in Crete not to perish in the labyrinth when he went to kill the legendary monster Minotaur. Her thread helped to reliably find the path of the Greek hero from the tangle of daylight corridors. This parable is used in situations where we are following a certain leash or path that will lead us to a goal.

The highly skilled weaver Arachnis insisted on competing with the weaving of Pallas Athena. Their work was comparable, but Arachova scorned the gods and therefore her victory was not satisfied. She wanted to hang herself, but Athena did not allow her and condemned her and all subsequent generations to an eternal hanging and weaving figure, turning the weaver into a spider. The Greek expression for a spider - arachno - has survived to this day, arachnophobia, on the contrary, is frightened by spiders.

4.Apple - a symbol of love, beauty and perfection
Since ancient times, an apple among the peoples of Europe was considered a symbol of perfection(the ball is the most perfect geometric shape) and a divine gift - like a fruit that grew in paradise, like the food of the gods.
During the wedding of Zeus with the Hero, Gaia gave her an apple - a symbol of fertility. In Athens, newlyweds shared and ate an apple on entering the bridal chamber; handing over the apple was considered a sign of love.
In legends, fairy tales, not only the benefits of fruits are emphasized, but their external charm and mysterious essence, which gives people health, beauty, eternal youth.

Hereki, by the way, cleared the kingdom of King Augiash, the son of God Helios, in one day sowing great herds. An unimaginable work, led by his wisdom, brought the streams of neighboring rivers into barns and washed away the dung. Today this concept means a very dirty environment.

Danaus, king of Libya, had 50 daughters, the beautiful Danaowen, with whom 50 sons of the king of Egypt fell in love. The daughters always protected the Egyptian and ended up using rage. They bowed to their husbands, but at night they killed them with the daggers that their father had given them. Only one of the girls saved her husband and founded together famous family. Dananovsky still kills his kills because they are tempted to carry water in leaky containers until they are full. We currently reject Danish gifts, they are unpleasant, dangerous or haunting things.

5.Apple - a symbol of eternal youth and immortality
Apples in many myths are associated with paradise or the Garden of Eden.
In Celtic mythology, the island of the blessed Avalon takes its name from the Welsh afal, apple. On Avalon, lost among the distant "western islands", there lived beautiful women who treated sailors who accidentally fell to them with wonderful apples of immortality.

According to Irish belief, the apple - a magical fruit - provides immortality. If it is cut in two, we will see a five-pointed star - pentagram, symbolizing the five states from birth to death, and then a new birth.
There was a legend that there is an apple tree, on the silver branches of which apples grow, which have the property of immortality, giving youth. And the heroes of legends and fairy tales are trying to get these apples.
Apples of the Hesperides
At the edge of the world, along the banks of the Ocean River, the ancient Greeks placed a garden with golden apples, which give eternal youth, Hera instructed them to guard dragon Ladon and sisters to the Hesperides.



Hercules managed to steal these apples - this was his twelfth feat.

The arrows of love are also called Amor, after the Roman name of this god. Eros was the god of love, the son of the Goddess Aphrodite, who shot people with his golden arrows. Whom he chose, he hit where he hit, he fell in love. Now we understand Erotic love arrows as a symbol of "inherent" love.

Hades, Dee's brother, was the god of the underworld, the dead and the soul, and he also ruled over the dark forces. Entrance to underworld guarded Kerberos, passing the River Styx with a dead Ferriman. In the realm of the shadows of Hades, sinners suffered and served their punishments after their death, and there were also three divine judges. In rare cases, a person could return to earth, but not for long. For modern people, the empire of Hadji partially merges with the Christian hell.

A Magic apple tree in Scandinavian Asgard guarded by three wise Norns (deities who determine fate at birth).
Only goddess of spring Idunn allowed them to collect wonderful apples.

From her inexhaustible casket (basket) the beautiful Idunn handed out golden apples - and the gods of Asgard kept eternal youth (Penrose's painting).

This is the golden apple of the goddess Eris, who reprimanded the three Olympian goddesses through it at the wedding of King Peleus in the Pelion mountains. The apple was marked "the most beautiful" and Atana, Artemis and Aphrodite wanted to take possession of it. Among them were passionate disagreements, chosen by the Trojan Prince Parid. Currently, a bone of contention is any thing that is the cause of a dispute.

Oedipus was the founder, brought up in Corinth, but he learned in the Delphic martyr that he would kill his father and marry his mother. To minimize the chance of meeting his parents, he became an outcast. On the way to Tebu, he protected the old man and thus unknowingly killed King Laya. Thebes suffered from the Sindh monster, a lion with wings and a woman's head. He married a widow to Lai and had four children with her. He then learned that Lajos and his wife were his true parents. His mother-wife committed suicide, Odipius himself blinded himself and was expelled from Thebes.

6. Apple in myths and fairy tales
Fairy tales
Rejuvenating apples the king from a Russian fairy tale saw in a dream and sent three sons after them. Luck smiled on the younger - Ivan the Tsarevich. He saddled a falcon, flew "to a certain kingdom, the thirtieth state" of Helen the Beautiful, and picked apples in the garden.

In another tale, a young man was led to an apple tree on which three apples hung: one shriveled - an apple of wisdom, another, bulk - an apple of wealth, and a third, green and unripe - an apple of happiness. The young man chose yellow and wrinkled, because he guessed that if you are a wise person, then you can arrange your wealth and happiness.

In Russian folk tales, an apple predicts fate, shows the world

“An apple rolls on a saucer, poured on a silver one, and on a saucer all the cities are visible one after another, ships on the seas and shelves in the fields ...” (“The Tale of a Silver Saucer and a Liquid Apple”).

In many fairy tales, the apple tree saves from trouble.
In the fairy tale Swan geese”, a girl who tasted the fruit of a wild apple tree was saved along with her brother by covering them with branches of a tree.

In myths
A young hunter lived in Greece - Atalanta.
Many wooed Atalanta, but the proud girl did not want to get married. She set a condition for suitors - to overtake her in running. However, she always managed to overtake the applicant. Only cunning Hippomenes managed to get Atalanta's hand: starting to run, he threw three golden apples under the beauty's feet one after another, and, picking them up, Atalanta fell behind.

7. Apple - a symbol of discord
At the heart of the expression apple of discord”is an ancient Greek myth: the goddess of discord Eris, offended that she was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, stole one of the apples of the Hesperides. And with the inscription the fairest” threw at the wedding feast. A dispute arose between the three goddesses: Hero, Athena and Aphrodite.
Zeus gave the apple to Hermes and told him to lead the goddesses around Troy, on the slope of Mount Ida. There should have been a dispute Paris, son of King Priam of Troy.
Judgment of Paris
Each of the goddesses began to convince Paris to give the apple to her. They promised Paris great rewards.

Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful Helen, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, as his wife, and Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite.
Since then, the apple has been an attribute of Venus (Aphrodite) and the three Graces (her maids).

Aphrodite forced the wife of King Menelaus, the beautiful Helen, to fall in love with the young man ... And the Trojan War.
Eris got her way. The apple of discord sowed enmity between the inhabitants of Olympus. It led to the unleashing of the bloody Trojan War, in which both gods and people were involved.

The bond between son and mother is now called the Oedipus complex. God the Lord, half goat, half man, protector of flocks, shepherds and all nature, played magic whistles - not only the whole herd, but also the people behind it. Mr. belonged to Dionysus' merry party. But when he was in a bad mood, it was not good to disturb him - he could have nightmare or a panic of fear and terror. Even today, panicky people behave like hypnotized people without their own will.

Pandora was an artificial girl created by Hephaestos on the orders of Dius himself, who was angry with Prometheus when he gave fire, knowledge and learned crafts. Pandora were given best qualities and gifts from the gods, but was charged with sowing hatred and evil. She was beautiful as a picture, but she hurt where she could. In her house, all the evil was hidden in a large pot. Pandora opened the container and placed evil among the people. Evil and disease kept Zeus silent so that they would not be noticed upon arrival. People don't open Pandora's cabinets to avoid unpleasant surprises.

A small digression, not about apples.
Raspberry- red berry of Mount Ida. On this mountain, in the thickets of raspberries, the award by Paris apples Aphrodite, who here, along with Athena and Hera, stood naked before Paris, so that he would decide which of them was more beautiful.
That's why raspberry became symbol odious, piquant place or event. And now " raspberry" and " raspberry retain this meaning.

8. Bullseye- another catch phrase, meaning the perfect hit accuracy.
Shot at the bullseye William Tell- legendary hero Switzerland, who lived at the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries, a skilled archer.

The Austrian governor Gessler behaved like a tyrant. When Wilhelm Tell did not obey orders, Gessler, as a punishment, forced him to shoot in Apple on the head son of Tell. Tell coped with the task, but admitted that if he had hit his son, he would have killed Gesler with another arrow.
There is a drama by Schiller and Rossini's opera William Tell.

9.Apple - a symbol of knowledge
Adam and Eve committed the sin by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge, and that fruit was an apple. People were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

But, having lost their serene existence, they acquired knowledge and looked at the vast world with wide eyes, with understanding, because the forbidden apple grew on the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
Since Apple - symbol of knowledge.
Medieval scientists - alchemists believed that the apple symbolized learning process and the fantastic fifth element. Indeed, in the core of a cut apple, medieval sages saw a five-pointed star, expressing the mystical quintessence.


By famous legend, Law gravity was discovered by Newton, who watched the fall in the garden apples.
At that time, he was trying to understand what forces keep the Moon in its orbit. The fall of apples in the orchard led him to the idea that the same gravitational force acts on the apple, only at a small distance.

Apple
AppleInc.(apple - English "apple") - a well-known American corporation, a manufacturer of computers, phones, software.
The sign of Apple Corporation - an apple bitten on the right side - is one of the most recognizable in the modern world.

BUT Mac- personal computers manufactured by the company.
Why is it an apple?
different versions:
Such a bike: Steve Jobs loved apples of the Mackintosh variety (in Russia, the variety is known as Autumn Red-sided, Autumn Khoroshevka). And when the employees were looking for the name of the company for a long time, he threatened that if by the end of the working day no one "created" a decent name for the company, he would call the company his favorite apple. Looks like the employees failed...
Or:
The idol of Steve Jobs was the British mathematician Alan Turing, the scientist is sometimes called the "father of artificial intelligence and informatics". Turing killed himself by biting into an apple he had stuffed with cyanide.

10. Apple - a symbol of power
One of the signs of the monarch's power is a power, a "sovereign apple"
An apple, because of its round shape, is perceived as space symbol, therefore, kings and kings, along with the scepter, hold in their hands representing the whole world "sovereign apple"(state).

Previously, the sovereign apple was crowned with the figure of Nike, the goddess of victory. In the Christian era, Nike took the place of the cross, even the astronomical symbol of the Earth is a circle with a cross on it.
……………….
Apple in art
Many artists have turned their "paradise" gardens into apple trees.
The famous Florentine Sandro Botticelli on canvas" Spring"The action takes place in a heavenly garden under the crowns of apple trees.

German painter Lucas Cranach the Elder, in the picture Golden age” also depicts an apple orchard.

In the painting by the English painter Burne-Jones "The Head of the Gorgon Medusa" under the apple tree are Perseus and Andromeda, and consider the reflection of the Gorgon in the well.

"Apple" the image is reflected in literary fairy tales

In Pushkin's "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Bogatyrs", an apple made the beautiful princess fall asleep for a long time:

What kind of apple is it

Full of ripe juice

So fresh and so fragrant…”

Pushkin knew that the apple is a philosophical image, a symbol of temptation, life and death.

Basket filled with apples and roses- an attribute of the Christian martyr Dorothea. Dorothea in 303 was condemned to death by a Roman governor for refusing to renounce her faith in Christ. One of Dorothea's executioners, Theophilus, mocking faith, asked the saint to send him apples and roses from Christ's heavenly gardens.
Dorothea in a painting by Zurbaran

After the execution of Dorothea, a cherub appeared before the astonished Theophilus with a basket filled with apples and roses. Struck by the miracle, Theophilus was baptized.

Heraldry
The apple is part of many coats of arms.

Rossosh(Voronezh region)

The confluence of the Chernaya Kalitva and Dry Rossosh rivers is reflected by a blue forked cross. The golden apple shows a large number of apple orchards around the city.
Zyablikovo(Moscow area)
In the center of the white stripe is an image of a chaffinch on a branch. Below is a picture of a yellow apple.

The finch symbolizes the name of the municipality, from a village that existed in the 17th century. The apple symbolizes those who were here in XVII-XVIII centuries apple orchards.
believed that it was necessary to ensure health at Christmas and New Year wash your face with water in which an apple lay.
For the future health and beauty of the children, the pregnant woman had to hold on to the apple tree and look at its branches or fruits.
In Bulgarian beliefs, Archangel Michael took the soul to heaven only with an apple.
Kustodiev Apple orchard. 1918

Apple Spas- popular name for the holiday Transfiguration of the Lord, August 19.
Apple Spas is also called " the first autumn”, meeting autumn. It is believed that the nights after August 19 become colder.
Before the Savior, it is not allowed to eat apples, but on this day, apples are plucked and consecrated.

In the old days on Apple Savior, they baked pies with apples, cooked apple jam and treated each other to them. In the evening, everyone sang the sunset with songs.
The bulge on the front of the neck in men is called the Adam's apple.
Most apple blossoms are pink at first and gradually turn white as they open.
To grow 1 apple, you need the "energy" of 50 leaves.
The height of the trees can reach more than 12 meters.
Some apple trees live over 100 years.

China is the leader in apple cultivation.
Kazakh name of the former capital of Kazakhstan - Almaty- translated as " apple tree».
In Russia, the city is called Alma-Ata, which translates as "Father of Apples" (from "apple" - "Alma" and "father" - "ata").
Initially word " Apple" meant " any fruit”, which is reflected in a number of languages:
Orange- it. Apfelsine, Chinese apple»,
Tomato- it. pomo d'oro, " Golden Apple»,
Potato- fr. pommes de terre, earth apple.
How to put a whole apple in a bottle

How to make an inscription or drawing

Stick a cut-out pattern on a ripe apple

Apple in feng shui - a symbol health and harmony in the house. It is related to one of the meanings of the Chinese character world, which can also be translated as Apple.

Apple- a feng shui symbol associated with life extension- that is, health. Therefore, an apple made of metal, crystal or stone is used as gifts.

Big apple
It is known that "Big apple"-nickname New York.
New York tour guides say that " Apple" became a symbol of New York, because the first tree planted by the first settlers was an apple tree.
According to another version, the expression arose among jazz musicians who had a saying: “ There are a lot of apples on the tree of success, but if you managed to conquer New York, you got a big apple».

Another version:
A French immigrant, Evelyn (Eve) de Saint-Overmond, set up a salon - a place of parties, gambling and witty conversations. But in fact it was an elegantly furnished brothel.
Evelyn called the seductresses in the institution - "Eve's apples, which are impossible to resist." Regulars began to talk about love affairs as a "taste for Eve's apples."
And the “Big Apple” began to be called New York, in which there were many brothels.

apple day
In the US (February 20) and the UK (October 21 or the nearest weekend), unofficial holidays, “apple days”, are held.
In England, on this day, fun competitions are held to peel the longest strip of peel from an apple.

Some apple games are also present at Halloween parties. One of the favorite English games where an apple is hung from a rope in a doorway and the players have to eat the apple without using their hands is not an easy task!
In Cornwall, on Halloween night, it was customary to put apples under the pillow so that the future husband or wife would dream. myths

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Did you know the Honey Crisp variety
the most persistent and strong of all the others?
Regina

Greek Melon and Latin - Malum mean not only an apple, but also any large fruit, for the exact designation and definition of which you need to add your own name.

If you cut it into two equal halves, you will see seed pods folded in the form of pentagrams (five-pointed star), which in turn is a sign of knowledge and initiation.

Apple (due to its spherical appearance, in ancient times) - Eternity without beginning and without end;
In the Christian tradition, it has a dual meaning. On the one hand, it means evil (in Latin malum) and is the fruit of the seduction of Adam and Eve. On the other hand, depicted with Christ or the Virgin Mary, it points to the new Adam and salvation. A monkey with an apple in its mouth means the fall.

Among the Greeks, the apple was dedicated to Venus as a sign of love and desire; wedding symbol representing a marriage proposal. The branches of the apple tree are in the attributes of Nemesis and Artemis. They are also used in rituals associated with Diana, where they are presented to the grooms as a prize in the midday marriage competitions in the run, (the girls who won the night marriage competitions in the run were awarded an olive branch). The apple of Dionysus was the quince. The apple tree was associated with health and immortality. Dedicated to Apollo.

In the Celtic tradition, the apple was the fruit of magic, it was considered a self-regenerating food for sorcerers, wizards, sorcerers. The Gauls had an apple tree sacred tree on par with oak.
Many kings and heroes of the past legend were placed in a certain Land of Apples, where they sleep soundly, or have fun with beautiful women, waiting for the moment when the Fatherland is in danger. Then they will come to the aid of the Motherland. Such is the case with King Arthur sleeping on the Isle of Avalon, which in Celtic means "Isle of Apples".

In Scandinavian mythology, the magic apple of Iduna is the personification of the season between March and September; eating apples by the gods filled them with new strength, gave eternal youth. Medieval legends told that Alexander the Great, who was looking for in India " living water”, once found himself in an apple orchard, and found out that those who eat apples from this orchard acquire longevity and sometimes live up to 400 years ...

Symbolizes:

Symbol of love, conception and birth. In Greek mythology, the creator of the apple is Dionysus, who presented it to Aphrodite, which was the reason for the erotic symbolization of the apple. During the wedding of Zeus with the Hero, Gaia gave her an apple, which symbolized fertility. In Athens, newlyweds shared and ate an apple on entering the bridal chamber; handing or throwing apples was considered a sign of love.

A symbol of eternal youth and immortality. Apples in many myths are associated with paradise or the Garden of Eden.

A symbol that defines a person's life. An apple predicts fate, determines the fate of a hero or heroine. In many fairy tales, the apple tree saves from trouble. But an apple tree and apples can also bring trouble: grief, illness, death.

Symbol of discord. The expression “apple of discord” is based on an ancient Greek myth: the goddess of discord Eris, offended by the gods for not being invited to the wedding of the mortal Peleus with the goddess Thetis, stole one of the apples of the Hesperides (giving immortality). And with the inscription "To the most beautiful" I threw it at the wedding feast. A dispute arose between the three goddesses: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.

Accuracy symbol. "On the bull's-eye" is another catchphrase, meaning amazing hit accuracy. The legendary shooter William Tell, as well as other heroes and robbers, most often chose an apple as a target for archery competitions.

Symbol of worldly power.

An apple is a child, a child, and an apple tree is a family. It means fertility, love, joy, knowledge, wisdom, deification and luxury, but at the same time deceit and death. Eternity without beginning and without end; immortality. eternal youth, or late old age, love and carnal attraction.

Apple tree flowers - spring, the beginning of the year, the beginning of love; flower of a young girl. Apple - autumn, end of the year, end of life. Being round (spherical) in shape, it represents integrity and unity and is opposed to a pomegranate, consisting of many grains.

Heraldry

In ordinary life, an apple, due to its almost perfectly round shape, is perceived as a cosmic symbol, therefore, kings and kings, along with the scepter, hold in their hands the “sovereign apple” (power) representing the whole world. In the ancient world, three circles were depicted on coins, denoting the parts of the earth known to Emperor Augustus - Asia, Africa, Europe, and the "sovereign apple" was crowned with the figure of the goddess of victory (Nike, lat. Victoria). In the Christian era, Nike took the place of the cross, so even the astronomical symbol of the Earth is a circle with a cross erected on it.

It is noteworthy that even the unattractive wild apple tree has found its use in heraldry. “The wild apple, tough and sour, is especially good for preserving wine so that it does not turn sour. Thus, evil is punished with harshness, while virtue is preserved” (Böckler, 1688).

Psychology

Immortality guaranteed.

According to Jung, the apple eaten by Adam and Eve acts as a symbol of life.
According to Dil, an apple is a symbol of earthly desires or indulgence in them. The warning not to eat the forbidden fruit thus came from the lips of a higher being as a warning against the hypertrophy of material desires. Intellect, the thirst for knowledge, Nietzsche believed, is the only intermediate zone between earthly desire and pure spirituality.

In a dream, a red or green apple means a harmonious organic life.

Apple tree

The apple tree is one of the symbols of the tree of life. The world tree is the axis of the world, the universe. Many nations saw an unusual fruit in an apple - the fruit of the tree of life. Under the world tree, human fates are decided, under it the gods gather for great advice, people come here for advice and knowledge; here seek immortality and health. The moon and the sun hide in the branches of the tree.

Note:
At the young Regina we can see a pendant with the World Tree.
We will analyze this symbol in more detail when we talk about the Coat of Arms of Storybrooke.

APPLE TREE (lat. Malum). There is no unambiguous interpretation of its name. Some researchers believe that in Latin "Malum" means both an apple and evil, trouble. Others believe that it comes from the ancient Greek "malon" and could equally mean both an apple and a sheep.

The Russian word "apple tree" comes from the Old Slavonic "ablon", and it comes from the Indo-European "albho", which means "white". Indeed, in the context of apple pulp is usually white. Popular names: sour, sour, wild, leshovka. A wild apple tree was called Leshovka, it was believed that only a goblin could eat its sour apple.

The symbolism of the apple is also ambiguous. In almost all nations, it is a symbol of fertility, health, love, beauty. And at the same time, according to Greek mythology - a symbol of discord, and in the Christian tradition - a symbol of temptation, original sin, forbidden fruit. In a Ukrainian legend, a fallen angel seduces Adam and Eve with an apple, saying that by eating it they will become gods.

The round shape of an apple was interpreted by the ancients as eternity without beginning or end, integrity and unity of the world. An apple tree is a family, and an apple is a child, a child. Apple tree flowers - spring, the beginning of the year, the beginning of love. Its fruit is autumn, the end of the year, the end of life. Apple blossoms also symbolized maternal devotion. In Ukraine, a wreath of seven flowers was woven for a seven-year-old girl, and for the first time apple flowers were woven into it. The father touched the tree with a wreath, said: “Mother-apple tree, our nurse ...” and asked her for health and happiness for the child.

And in the mythological ideas of our ancestors, the apple was endowed with the ability to predict fate, save from trouble, be an elixir of youth. According to legend, rejuvenating apples had great power. They grew up in a distant country far away, in a kingdom far away, and were guarded by evil giants and dragons. It was worth fighting for these apples, because they could not only give health and eternal youth, but even restore life to the dead and gain power over the universe.

To regain youth, the old man had to eat such an apple and drink living water. Well, if it is not possible to get a rejuvenating apple, then according to belief, the most ordinary, plucked in your garden, can turn into it, if certain conditions are met. On the growing moon for 12 days, an hour before bedtime, you need to eat a spoken apple. Be sure to slander three times: “Either in the rain, or in the sun, only in the heat, only in the cold, it was simple, it became rejuvenating. May it be so! May it be so! May it be so"

Many customs and traditions are associated with an apple tree, an apple, most of which relate to wedding rituals, marriage, and family. Among the Slavs, the apple acted as a love sign. They believed that in order to see the betrothed in a dream and experience love languor, a shy girl needs to lie down under an apple tree in the summer. Offering an apple was a declaration of love. And accepted by the girl during the matchmaking, it meant her consent to marriage. The branch of an apple-tree decorated the bride's wreath, was used in the manufacture of a wedding tree, in the decoration of the festive table. In the old days, Ukrainians stuck a branch of an apple tree into a loaf (palyanitsa), and Russians into a wedding chicken.

In some places, the newlyweds ate a ruddy apple broken in half immediately after the wedding. According to legend, this ensured their fertility and the beauty of future children. According to other beliefs, for the future health and beauty of children, a pregnant woman had to hold on to an apple tree and look at its branches in winter, or at apples in summer. It was believed that an apple that grew first on a young apple tree, or originated after a secondary flowering, and also hung on a tree for a long time, helps with infertility. But if you see in a dream the fall of two apples, then according to Ukrainian beliefs, twins will be born.

Children have always been perceived as a continuation of life, a continuation of the family. It was accepted on the New Year, which was understood as the beginning of a new life, when the fate of a person is laid, to give them apples to accumulate vitality.

In the popular mind, the apple tree and its fruits were endowed with magical powers. In order to achieve high growth of rye, in some regions of Russia it was customary before sowing, after picking an apple, toss it higher up. And in order for the scythe to grow well, on Maundy Thursday and at the Apple Spas early in the morning, the girls went under the apple trees to comb their hair with a comb made from an apple tree. They believed that in order to ensure health, it was necessary to wash oneself at Christmas and New Year with water in which an apple lay, that an apple tree planted next to a house would attract well-being to it.

According to popular beliefs, apples have a special power of fulfilling desires on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, celebrated on August 19, among the people it is called the Apple Savior. It was on this day in Russia that it was customary to pick and consecrate apples and other fruits of the new harvest. Why not earlier? The answer is given by the ancient legends about the birds of paradise Sirin and Alkonost, in which paganism and Christianity are bizarrely mixed.

These mythical birds woman's face and with a crown on their heads they fly from the Garden of Eden to the earth precisely to the apple tree and bring healing herbs in their sharp claws. The face of the Sirin bird is impenetrable, stern, and on the face of the Alkonost bird there is a smile. One reminds us that earthly life is fleeting, that wealth and power are worth nothing in it. The other is a bird that brings happiness, bestows love and faith. (Sirin and Alkonost. V. Vasnetsov).

The Sirin bird flies to the apple tree long before the Apple Savior and brushes dead dew from its wings. Therefore, according to popular belief, one who picks an apple ahead of time can pick exactly the one that this dew fell on. And then for his impatience, greed, a person is punished by death. The Alkonost bird flies exactly to Spas and brushes live dew from its wings. From this day on, all the fruits on apple trees become healing, amazing power appears in them.

The ban on eating apples before the Savior was especially strictly applied to parents who current year children died, or in general on those who lost their children. This prohibition was observed and is still observed in many places. According to popular beliefs, if it is violated, God will not give the apple of paradise “in the next world” to dead children, and it will be hard for them.

People believed that apples become magical on Spas, that if you make a wish and then eat a consecrated apple, then the wish will come true. On this day, it was customary to give generously to the poor - it was believed that the more generous a person is, the kinder God will treat his deceased relatives, that whoever treats a beggar with harvest on Savior will spend the next year in abundance.

Apples were part of the ritual dishes in the form of "vzvara", "uzvara" (Ukrainian) - dried fruit compote. They were always served on the table during the wedding, and on Christmas Eve, and at the memorial meal. Among the Slavs, the apple is associated with the world of the dead and plays a significant role in funeral and memorial rituals. It was used both as food for the dead and as a means to commemorate the dead.

An apple was placed in a coffin or grave, since, according to legend, the deceased eats apples and gingerbread “in the next world”. Deceased on the apple tree Spas the child at Eastern Slavs, as a rule, girdled. This custom is associated with the naive idea that God will give apples to children on the Savior, and it is necessary that the child be able to put an apple in his bosom. Among many Slavic peoples, the custom of leaving apples on the grave on the days of commemoration, along with bread, eggs, and money, was widespread and still preserved. Apples were exchanged on memorial days at the cemetery - for the repose of the soul of the deceased.

Such a familiar apple, it turns out, played a very important role in the worldview of our ancestors. And in conclusion - about one more wonderful, modern apple tree.

There is an amazing tree in Ukraine in the city of Krolevets (Sumy region), certainly the only one in the world. This is a 220 year old apple bush that is a colony of 15 related related trees. It covers an area of ​​more than a thousand square meters. Once this colony was one tree, but then the apple tree began to grow “incorrectly”: with age, the tree bent so much that its branches rested on the ground and began to take root. Thus, the apple tree, as it were, prolongs its life - one of the trunks dies, a new one is formed. The mother trunk is long gone, but the apple tree continues to live. A miracle tree blooms every year, but the fruits, sweet and tart in taste, are only on one half of the apple tree, while the other half of it is resting.

Of course, the miracle tree is surrounded by legends. According to one of them, the apple tree is cursed, according to the other, bending its branches to the ground, it yearns for the deceased Prince Meshchersky, who once planted it himself (the apple tree-colony grows on the territory of the former Meshchersky estate). According to the third, the prince planted an apple tree on the grave of his early deceased, dearly beloved wife, and his longing for her was transferred to the tree. There is no scientific explanation for the phenomenon of the apple-colony yet.

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Juicy and such an ordinary fruit, an apple in fine arts- a paradoxical object. This is a mysterious and ambiguous symbol that reveals a lot of meanings and combines many opposite meanings.

An apple can be safely called "two-faced" and eternal symbol. For many centuries, it has personified both good and evil, passing through all the nuances of other meanings, depending on the era and the accepted worldview.

From the depths of mythology

To uncover the "secret" of the apple, let's take a short mythological journey. In Slavic fairy tales, heroes often go in search of rejuvenating apples in order to save the wounded or sick from death. Although not only among the Slavs, apples are endowed with such properties. The apple is the fruit of the tree of life. Under such a tree, the fate of people was decided, under it the gods gathered, here they were looking for immortality, health and youth. Of course, with an apple as a juicy talisman. Also, an apple is a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

J Penrose. Goddess Idun

In the mythology of the Scandinavians, apples were the food of the gods, they gave eternal youth and were closely guarded by the guardian goddess Idun. Among the Celts, the apple symbolized knowledge and wisdom, and in Avalon - the country of the blessed - apple trees grew, the fruits of which bestowed happiness and immortality.
Antique vase painting. Hercules gives the apples of the Hesperides to Athena According to the mythology of the ancient Greeks, the golden apples of eternal youth grew in a beautiful garden near the banks of the Ocean River. They were guarded by the dragon Ladon and the sisters of the Hesperides. As you know, Hercules managed to steal apples, which entered mythology as his twelfth feat, and in art - as one of the most popular subjects in ancient vase painting.

Hercules giving the apples of the Hesperides to Athena
Antique vase painting, XX century

The Garden of the Hesperides as a plot was of interest to some artists of the New Age. The most famous works: The Garden of the Hesperides by Frederic Leighton, The Garden of the Hesperides by Edward Burne-Jones, the Hesperides triptych by Hans von Mare.

Sir Frederick Leighton. Garden of the Hesperides

Edward Coley Burne-Jones. Garden of the Hesperides

Hans von Mare. Triptych: Hesperides
Triptych: Hesperides

Graces are often depicted with an apple - the goddess of beauty and grace in ancient Roman mythology. The apple, respectively, symbolizes youth, health and beauty here. Sometimes the graces hold balls - symbols of perfection, interpreted as golden apples. It is noteworthy that the apple appeared in the hands of the Graces during the Renaissance. With the same meaning and significance, the apple becomes an attribute of Venus.

Heraldry used the apple as a sign of wealth and power.

Rafael Santi. Three Graces
1505, 17×17 cm

"The apple brought all evil to the world"

In mythology, along with the symbols of fertility, youth and health, the apple fits into the figurative system of evil. The cause of the Trojan War was also an apple - the apple of discord. A golden apple with the inscription "the most beautiful", which was thrown by the offended goddess Eris because Peleus and Thetis did not invite her to their wedding. Of course, both Hera, and Athena, and Aphrodite claimed a symbolic prize - each considered herself the most beautiful. Zeus ordered Paris to reward the most beautiful with an apple. Aphrodite bribed the young man with a promise to give him the beautiful Elena as his wife. With the history of the abduction of Helen by Paris, the Trojan War began, and the apple became a symbol of discord. This is how an innocent fruit turned into a source of troubles and ... beautiful paintings.

From the cycle of Greek mythology, it is the Judgment of Paris that is the most popular plot. The authorship of the most famous works of the same name belongs to Peter Rubens, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Auguste Renoir, Mikhail Vrubel.

Alexander Melnikov. Apple of discord

Ramaz Razmadze. Apple of discord

The theme of the apple of discord remains interesting to modern painters as well - many resort to motifs reminiscent of the pastoral beauty contest of Paris. For example, Alexander Melnikov's painting "The Apple of Discord". Other works draw attention to the individual author's vision of an apple, which "brought all the evil to the world", which we can see, for example, in the works of Razmadze Ramaz. Bad apple!

Apple in religious painting

With the advent of Christianity, the image of the “apple of the fall” is born. Later it is transformed into the biblical motif of the actual fall and temptation. By the way, there is no apple in the book of Genesis - only “fruits” are mentioned. Therefore, in early medieval painting, where every object and every phenomenon is a symbol with great significance, you will not find an apple on the canvases.

But on many icons and paintings of subsequent centuries, the Infant Christ is already holding an apple, symbolizing his future mission as the redeemer of the sins of all mankind. The apple here is salvation. Sometimes, instead of an apple, the Baby holds a power (“apple of the Royal rank”) - a symbol of power.

Lucas Cranach the Elder. Madonna and Child under the Apple Tree
1530s, 87×59 cm

The Christian story is interestingly comprehended by the Chinese artist He Qi in the work “Flight to Egypt”. As in traditional Christian painting, the Christ Child is holding an apple - a symbol of salvation, atonement for original sin. But the technique of the master is unconventional.

Jan van Eyck inscribed the motif of the fall with a thin thread in his work “Portrait of the Arnolfinis”.

Apple of Temptation

An apple as a symbol of temptation cannot be strictly attributed to religious painting, but the roots of the motif are still biblical. Since the Renaissance, the images of Adam and Eve have been of interest to painters in themselves, and not only as the embodiment of original sin. The most famous works belong to Lucas Cranach the Elder, Peter Rubens, Hendrik Goltzius, William Blake.

Some painters have replaced in their works a garden or a tree with a branch with an apple, or with one apple in the hand of Eve or Adam.

Peter Paul Rubens. Adam and Eve
1628, 237×184 cm

Approximately in the XIX century, art begins to rethink the motive of temptation and move away from the negative color, seasoned with the fall. The apple moves away from sin and symbolizes a high feeling - Love.

Health and wellness apple

With the passage of time, the change of eras, trends and styles, artists return to the apple the optimistic, light value symbol of love, life, spring and prosperity.

Even in the Renaissance, painters began to turn their paradise gardens into apple ones. In the works of Sandro Botticelli "Spring", "Golden Age" by Lucas Cranach the Elder, the apple tree is the center of the world, the tree of life, and the personification of youth.

Lucas Cranach the Elder. Golden age

Very often, an apple is represented precisely as a symbol of youth, beauty and health. No wonder many masters depict their models with apples in their hands. For example, Rafael Santi "Portrait of a young man with an apple", paintings by Vladimir Borovikovsky "Portrait of Ekaterina Nikolaevna Arsenyeva", "Portrait of Skobeeva", "Girl with an apple" by Vasily Tropinin and many other works.

Pay attention to the color of such an apple - it is necessarily delicate, golden, so to speak, "with a blush", which has long been associated with health.

Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky. Portrait of Ekaterina Nikolaevna Arsenyeva
1790, 56×71 cm

fruits of our time

The culture of the 19th century makes its own adjustments to the symbolism of the fruit-hero. The apple begins to change both in meaning and in content. A distinguished gardener in life, Claude Monet painted a blooming apple orchard - the personification of fullness and thirst for life. About two hundred still lifes and a mass of apples on the table - such is Cezanne's contribution to the "apple theme". Having once said “I will surprise Paris with an apple!”, the artist kept his promise: a simple fruit is a symbol of a new vision in art.

The task of turning the ordinary into the unusual was also solved by Salvador Dali. “The limit of stupidity is to draw an apple as it is. Draw at least a worm, tormented by love, and a dancing lobster with castanets, and let the elephants flutter over the apple, and you yourself will see that the apple is superfluous here, ”he said and painted a mysteriously floating still life. With the help of a red apple, he "made up his mind and began to comprehend space-time by contemplating levitation, which destroys entropy."

Salvador Dali. Living still life

By the way, in our time, artists are not averse to depicting an apple as poisonous green, emphasizing the dual meaning of the sweet and sour image. The Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte showed great interest in the symbolic apple, endowing the fruit with traditional meanings at first glance. For example, an apple is the personification of original sin and the coming temptation in life in the work "Son of Man".

Rene Magritte. son of man
1964, 116×89 cm

The current surrealist Vladimir Kush also follows the “Magrito” trail, presenting either a green apple with a caterpillar, or, in a cut, a butterfly apple, which, alas, never hatched from it.
Does not disdain the symbolism of the apple and Mass culture of our time, using "mixes" of many motifs known to us. Often it can be found in advertising, as well as in the form of emblems of companies and brands. No need to look far: the world's most recognizable Apple logo, the apple, is a successful synthesis of a symbol of knowledge and well-being. By the way, the lines of the famous logo are conceived “under Picasso”. Well, everything repeats itself in the art world, even an apple.

Vladimir Kush. butterfly-apple

A symbol of perfection (because of its rounded shape), beauty, divine gift. In the biblical tradition, the apple is considered an attribute of paradise before the fall, and therefore acts as a symbol of joy. During the festive New Year's meal, Jews eat an apple dipped in honey to ensure well-being in the new year. In Celtic mythology, the Isle of the Blessed Avalon takes its name from the Welsh afal, apple.

Among the Slavs, the apple tree symbolizes prosperity. In China, the apple was associated with peacefulness. In addition, apples were associated with eternal youth, immortality. The golden apples of the Hesperides gave eternal youth; a similar ability was attributed to the apples of the Scandinavian goddess Idunn (cf. rejuvenating apples in Russian folklore). It is also an image of the world (the name of a state, an attribute of supreme power is “a sovereign apple”).

Frederic Leighton

In the mythology of the Balts, the apple is a symbol of the setting sun, one of the incarnations of the goddess Saule. The symbolism of the apple involves its color - red, symbolizing physical beauty. Since round shapes are associated with the feminine, the apple gets a sexual connotation; in shape, it is similar to a female breast (cf. in Greek mythology, the apple of Paris with the inscription “the most beautiful”). Paris was supposed to give the golden apple to the most beautiful of the three goddesses. Each of the goddesses, trying to get this apple, promised Paris: Hera - power over Asia, Athena - military glory and victory, and Aphrodite - the most beautiful of mortal women, Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda. Paris, without thinking twice, gave the apple to Aphrodite. Thus, the most beautiful of the goddesses became the foam-born.

In this regard, the apple can be interpreted broadly as an image of earthly desires; in Christianity, it symbolizes temptation, temptation, forbidden fruit; apple in Latin "malum", like evil. The apple also bears the sign of Adam's fall. The apple tree itself - the emblem of original sin - is dedicated to the Roman goddess Ceres, who sends madness on people.

Boris Godunov introduced into the tsar's everyday life the power, which at that time was called "apple" in our country and in the Commonwealth. The wedding ceremony included not only the presentation of the scepter, but also the powers: “This apple is a sign of your kingdom. As you hold this apple in your hand, so hold the whole kingdom given to you from God, protecting it from enemies unshakably. But Godunov failed to fulfill this covenant. During the XVI-XIX centuries, a lot of luxurious powers were created. The power of the large outfit of Mikhail Romanov stood out especially. The combination of bright enamels and large precious stones creates a feeling of unusual luxury and splendor. The apple is divided into two hemispheres. In the upper part, which consists of four parts, there is an image of scenes from the life of King David. The orb or apple was usually held in the right hand.

In the "Song of Songs" there are such lines: "Under the apple tree I woke you up: there your mother gave birth to you, there your parent gave birth to you." The lines symbolize conception and birth. The relationship between apple and apple tree is wonderful. The proverb “An apple does not fall far from an apple tree” implicitly contains the meaning that children are not far from their parents. In Europe, the potato was called the "devil's apple". In Russia, an apple was placed on the grave of the deceased. An apple tree in bloom is a symbol of love. Lone shooter William Tell shoots an apple located on a man's head. This is where the expression “hit the bullseye” came from, which is undoubtedly a sign of accuracy.

Many love procedures are associated with the manipulation of an apple. For example, if at a favorable time you cut an apple in half, and put a note with the name of your beloved in the middle of it and tie the halves, put them in the sun, then when the apple begins to dry, the object of love will feel more and more inclination towards you.