Herbal Magick - Small Farm, Permaculture, and Sustainable Living

Herbal Superstitions A to Z
world to deliberately leave one apple on the tree at harvesting
time as an offering to the spirits. Beware of apple trees that
blossom out of season (particularly in the fall), for they are
said to presage a death in the family.
Unicorns, according to Pagan folklore, often dwell beneath
apple (and ash) trees. Every so often, one or more of these
magnificent magickal creatures can be observed eating or wandering
about in an apple orchard, especially in the wee morning
hours when the countryside is shrouded in a ghostly mist.
Other apple superstitions are as follows: Eating an apple a
day is said to “keep the doctor away.” Wassailing apple trees
on Twelfth Night keeps all manners of evil spirits at bay. Cutting
down an apple orchard is said by some to bring bad luck,
and many Pagan folks in Norway once believed that by eating
apples they could attain “immortality through wisdom.” According
to an issue of Notes and Queries from the year 1862, “a
good apple year is a great year for twins.”
Rubbing an apple before eating it is an old method to
ensure that the fruit will be free of any evil spirits or demonic
entities. Some superstitious folks still believe that if you eat an
apple without first rubbing or washing it, you invite the devil
to dine with you.
Blackberry l c be ry
In England, it was once believed that bad luck would befall
anyone who dared to pick the fruit of the blackberry plant
after the 11th day of October (the old
date of the Christian’s Feast of Michaelmas).
Legend has it that on this day many
eons ago the devil fell into a thorny blackberry
thicket and laid a curse upon the
plant.
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