Vernal Equinox / Ostara

The Lore of Apple Blossoms

I took a moment this evening, a few days before the vernal equinox, to watch the Sun dip below the horizon. As we approach the 0° Aries point on March 20th, 2025, I cannot fail to feel awestruck at the beauty each time I witness our solar system’s star majestically submerging into the trees and hills in front of my home. I am fortunate that the vista from our window flows from hedgerows into fields and then onto hills in the distance. Whenever there is a clear sky at sunset, I am blessed with this view.

Among other celestial shenanigans over the next couple of weeks, including eclipse season, Mercury and Venus retrograde, and Neptune about to enter Aries for the first time in our lifetimes (the previous time Neptune made his first ingress into Aries from Pisces was the 14th of April 1861, which was quite a significant date in US history!) this vernal equinox (equinox = equal night) is packing a punch with its signature for the spring season.

When the human world spins around us with media, news, and gossip, anxiety can leave us feeling ungrounded, angry, or fearful. There is no doubt that we are all experiencing uncertainty. Mars is applying by trine to Saturn for the last time in this cycle, finally reaching 0° Leo on the 18th of April and past the shadow period on the 2nd of May. The energy flow between these two may resolve conflicts brewing during Mars's stay in Cancer; working with, rather than against, energy is the safest option.

The equinox marks one of two points in the year when the natural world is balanced. The eternal cycle continues around us, no matter how crazy humanity gets, which can be solace for us all. Take a moment to watch a sunset with no artificial noise; soak up the energy. Or listen to the mating songs of the dawn chorus as birds call out for potential partners. See the nodding heads of daffodils, narcissus, or tulips, their bright colours pinging against the verdant greenery of new growth in the shrubs and bushes. Mother Nature cares not for the affairs of humans, and yet Her gift to us each year at this time, in the Pagan calendar, Ostara, can bring great healing if we reach out to Her and take Her hand, wonder, and wander in her beauty.

Apple - Malus domestica

Apple blossom is one of the most beautiful tree blooms this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. Due to the multitude of varieties, the colours range from the lightest blush to dark cerise pink.

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Apples have been connected to the Goddess and planet Venus due to the five-pointed star found within the core if you cut the fruit through the middle, not from the top to bottom. The flowers themselves are five-petaled and are a member of the Rosacea family; yes, apples and roses are cousins!

Tending an apple orchard can be a tricky business. Though there are some self-fertilising varieties like Falstaff, many varieties of apples as well as needing another tree close by to pollinate and sometimes even two varieties, to complicate things further, they all need to flower at the same time in the season.

If you are blessed with space in your garden for a few apple trees, find a beautiful crab apple, which is very useful in cross-pollination. You will find crab apples in all working orchards to ensure the trees' fruit sets. Crab apple trees are also beautiful and encourage the bees and other pollinators to do what they do best: flit from tree to tree in search of food while pollinating as they go. Crab apples are also a food source for wildlife in the autumn and winter, so you pay forward, too!

Still, a tradition in apple and pear orchards in the UK is the wassailing ceremonies on Twelfth Night. These ceremonies are performed in the depths of winter to scare off the evil spirits that would hamper a harvest and to bring in the good spirits that would encourage bounty. This includes drinking a lot of cider, perry, and spiced wine while singing and dancing around the oldest tree in the orchard.

By the time we reach Ostara, the blossoms will hopefully have survived the early March winds and be in full bloom, feeding our pollinators while bringing much joy to those lucky enough to witness their display.

Apples in Myth, Art and Poetry

Apples, full and fleshy, bright, round, and sweet, have engaged humanity in art, poetry, and myth, often to depict love and betrayal. Take the myth of Eris, the Goddess of discord, for example. After being shunned from the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis, she engraves a golden apple with the words “to the fairest one.” Eris then rolls it between Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena, creating much dispute between these powerful goddesses. Here, we see words imprinted onto an item of beauty as a weapon encouraging vanity.

The human Paris is chosen as the judge and must decide between the three Goddesses. Whatever choice he makes, humanity will be the loser in this competition. In this case, he chooses Aphrodite due to her bribe, the gift of the most beautiful woman in the world, sparking the Trojan War. Once again, when we become intoxicated with superficial lust and the disputes of the Gods, it rarely bodes well!

The theme is found in later stories, such as Snow White, whose stepmother tricked her with a ripe apple. Remember the words of the vain Queen: “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”

In the story of the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil has often been depicted in art as an apple tree. Still, historically, it has been mused that it was a fig, grape, pomegranate, or grain (wheat or barley, which could show the move from hunter-gatherer to agriculture, the knowledge of fermentation as a curse maybe), none of which are members of the rose family!

Women are often the ones paying the price for the sweetness of apples. In this poem by Christina Rossetti, the speaker talks of plucking the blossoms in spring, leaving the tree bare in the autumn of the fruit. Or, in other words, do not tempt a man named Willie by wearing apple blossoms in your hair; he will take your blossom and Gertrudes, too!

I plucked pink blossoms from mine apple-tree

And wore them all that evening in my hair:

Then in due season when I went to see

I found no apples there.

With dangling basket all along the grass

As I had come I went the selfsame track:

My neighbours mocked me while they saw me pass

So empty-handed back.

Lilian and Lilias smiled in trudging by,

Their heaped-up basket teased me like a jeer;

Sweet-voiced they sang beneath the sunset sky,

Their mother's home was near.

Plump Gertrude passed me with her basket full,

A stronger hand than hers helped it along;

A voice talked with her through the shadows cool

More sweet to me than song.

Ah Willie, Willie, was my love less worth

Than apples with their green leaves piled above?

I counted rosiest apples on the earth

Of far less worth than love.

So once it was with me you stooped to talk

Laughing and listening in this very lane:

To think that by this way we used to walk

We shall not walk again!

I let me neighbours pass me, ones and twos

And groups; the latest said the night grew chill,

And hastened: but I loitered, while the dews

Fell fast I loitered still.

— An Apple Gathering by Christina Rossetti

The trees are now putting on their spring show in the traditional cider-producing counties in England. It is worth considering that cider is the product of fermented apples. The alcohol level in many traditional recipes is high, up to 12% ABV! It is easy to see how a small glass of the sweetest-tasting apple juice can quickly find a person vulnerable to false words. Does it sound like the astrology of the season?! Be especially careful as Venus and Neptune conjoin; what might seem like true love could be magical but maybe just intoxicated fabrication!

---

Saffron Dennis is an astrologer, crystal therapist, and horticulturalist based in the East Anglia region of the UK. You can book her for a reading or as a speaker at your local or online event at divinebaytree.com