Naughty Apples

It is September, so it's time for giving a little thought to apples. Apples show up in many religious traditions as a trouble making fruit. Since it is never specified in the Bible, it is only a popular Christian tradition that names the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden to be an apple. One factor which may have contributed to the apple being given this bad rap may be due to the Latin word for evil and apple being very similar. The Latin word for evil is malum while the word for apple is malus. The plural for both words is identical-mala. Mythology is full of naughty apples, causing everything from a six year pregnancy to the Trojan War. And on a more contemporary note, what child can't vividly remember the Witch, disguised as a beggar woman, in the 1937 Disney movie, Snow White, handing that poison apple to poor Snow.
But then, when the apple is not busy symbolizing evil, it enjoys meddling in the love department. In Ancient Greece the apple was considered to be Aphrodite's sacred fruit and if you threw an apple at someone, you were declaring your love. If the apple was caught, the answer was "yes". Irish folklore states that if you peel an apple in one continuous ribbon, then throw the peel behind a woman's shoulder, it will land in the shape of her future husband's initials.

A painting by the Dutch painter, Nicolaes Maes, A Young Woman Peeling Apples (1655). She's saving those peels for shoulder throwing.