Marius Ciprian POP
Centrul cultural al MAI
In the universal beliefs, there are over twenty species of sacred trees considered as the center of the universe, ‘axis mundi’, and the apple is among the trees of these species.
In our traditional culture, the apple has a bivalent symbolism magically and Christian religiously, representing the aspect of interdiction and only of reward. As a reflection of the influence of the Greek mythology, one also could find it as a symbol of love, ecstasy, fertility and abundance.
According to the belief that each man has a correspondent in the vegetal world, the apple becomes “tree of destiny” accompanying the terrestrial existence in the following stages: birth, marriage, death. From birth the baby accompanies his life with its planting tree in the farmstead yard, and it will support the good way of his life, the one of passing to the world beyond. The multitude and the diversity of the customs and of the passage rituals clearly support the showed statements.
It is also necessary to mention the symbolic, juridical valence that apple has in understanding the ancient mythology found in the dispute on the theme of beauty of the Gods Hera, Aphrodite and Athens, known as ‘the marriage of discord’, which defines this aspect.
The complementarity of the apple with the fir tree, which is always seconded, is specific to our folk tradition in the context in which both trees have important roles in the mythology of life and death.
The space of carols is often marked by the existence of a cosmic tree, the apple of the fir tree, which sums up much of the spiritual activities of our people.
Like the fir tree, which is evergreen, the apple, which is preserved as a fruit over the winter, it becomes a symbol of the eternal longing seen in the wishes of passing between years, and as a symbol of fertility, one can find the apple ‘in the breast’ or in the incantation ‘White Apple Flowers’.
Therefore, as a reflection of the solar cult, the apple is a landmark in the millennial existence of our nation.
Keywords: apple, fir tree, carol, tradition, symbol, mythology, religion, customs, tree, sacred
