June 13–July 10
Shares with Hazel Month; July / August
Ogham: Quert, Q: 
Keywords: Choice and beauty, Mother Earth, female lineages and ancestral land, apples, pentacle
Totems: The fairies
Guides and Deities: The ancestors, all forms of the Goddess, but especially the mother aspect, Gaia, virgin, lover, and elder
Practical Guidance: Notice and appreciate the beauty around you. You have many lovely choices, but you must focus on only one so that you bring it to manifestation. Feel the amazing wonder of fertility in the paradise called planet earth.
Quert/Apple Month Ceremony
Purpose
To connect to the Apple tree energies. Connecting to the ancestors, making choices, and manifesting our desires
Preparation
You will need apples and to prepare a bowl of seeds. Collect small notebooks and writing materials, enough for each person.
Welcome and Greetings
Welcome to our Apple month ceremony. Introduce yourself and go around the circle having each participant share their name and why they came to the circle. Have them close their eyes and share a moment of silence to prepare for the ceremony.
Call the Directions
Call the directions and invoke the energy of the Apple tree (beauty and choices) and her totems, guides, and deities (the fairies, all goddesses). Take an apple and cut it in half so that the pentagram at the center is visible. Pass this around and have each participant give their gratitude to Mother Earth and thank her for the abundance and nourishment that she has so generously given.
Teachings
The Apple tree is all about bounty, beauty, abundance, and our ancestry. The apple is the fruit of the Great Mother and represents Gaia herself. Thus, the tree ties us to our maternal links, and to the lands from which our ancestors hailed. The tree reminds us that we have many beautiful choices before us as we create the life we want. She reminds us to choose carefully and create beauty. This is a time to invoke Goddess energy for healing and renewal.
Activity: Honoring the Ancestors
Reconnect to your ancestry. Pass the talking stick and have each person tell what countries their ancestors are from. As a group give a moment of silence to honor these ancestors.
Chant
What is the teaching of the Apple? Beauty.
Our freedom comes from making choices.
Behold! We are held in the arms of our Great Mother.
And we are free to honor her with our gratitude.
We seek her fulfillment and love.
What is the teaching of the Apple? Manifest your desires.
Sing
Choose songs that honor the Goddess: mother, maiden, and crone.
Read
Take a moment to consider what stage of life you are in. Remember and honor stages that you have passed through. Review your life as a maiden, mother, and crone. For men this is similar: adolescent, father, and elder … (long pause)
Review your life choices, blessings, and wrong turns … (long pause)
Now see yourself fully in the present and look at the road in front of you. Without any sense of restriction, look ahead to what you would like to become and to what you would like to create. Don’t allow any excuses or obstacles to inhibit you. Take some time to consider your choices … (pause) Hold on to these ideas as you enter our journey.
Guided Meditation
Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Allow yourself to let go of the outside world and to drop into a quiet mind. Allow the silence to embrace you. Allow yourself to simply breathe as you rest here … (long pause)
Imagine yourself on a summer day in a grove of Apple trees. The sun is bright and the sky is blue. There is a gentle breeze and you can smell the blossoms of the trees and hear the buzzing bees as they gather nectar. The birds are chirping above, greeting you as you walk through the grove.
From the edge of the grove emerges the Priestess of Apples. As she walks toward you, you see that she is dressed in a golden gown and she wears a crown of fresh apple blossoms upon her head. She is full of abundance, and has rosy cheeks, lovely red lips, and flowing hair. She walks up to you and greets you with incredible warmth and affection. She holds the most beautiful red apple in her hand.
Still smiling, she reaches down and withdraws a magical amethyst knife from the sash at her waist. She deftly cuts the apple in half and then places the knife back into her sash. She holds both halves in front of you and suggests that you pick a seed. She explains to you that this seed represents a choice. This choice represents your greatest dreams and desires. Without thinking too much you simply choose a seed.
She smiles, very pleased with your choice. She also acknowledges that any choice is a good one. She asks you to dig a little hole and plant your seed into this magical ground. After you have done so, she hands you a little jug of water and suggests that you water your tree.
At that moment, your tree begins to burst through the earth and grow. You take a step back to give your tree the room it needs to grow. Right before your very eyes, your tree begins to grow until it is fully grown.
Take a moment to see your fully grown tree. As you consider this magical apple tree, you see and understand your heart’s desire. You may see this as words, or images, or visions. Or you may have a strong sense of knowing about what this tree represents for you. Based upon your choice, your magical apple tree is the symbol for your own longing. Take a moment to really take in the message of your tree … (long pause)
It is time to return to the circle. Give your gratitude to your tree and to the beautiful Priestess of Apples, to her magic and the Apple grove. Return to this room and this place and take a moment to fully ground before you open your eyes.
Sharing
After the journey have your participants share their experiences. What were their seed choices about?
Activity: Apple Seeds, Affirmations, and Apple Slices
Every choice is like a seed. Pass around the bowl of seeds and have each participant take a seed to represent their choice. Ask each one as they pick a seed: “What do you need to do to nurture, protect, and cultivate this choice so that it can be brought forth to manifestation?”
Pass out notecards and pens. Have each person take a moment to write a positive affirmation. Then go around and have each participant read their affirmation out loud.
Pass apple slices and have each person eat one with the intention of moving toward their choice. After each person is complete the group says “And so it is!”
Ending
Give gratitude to the Apple tree and to the Goddess. Release the directions and open the circle.
An Apple Story: The Honoring of
Gaia and My British Ancestry
Apple represents our connection to Mother Earth and our connection to our female lineages. We look to the countries from which we hail and we give gratitude to the women who have carried and passed on our DNA. We honor Gaia and we honor our lineages.
While going through a genealogy that my maternal grandfather prepared, I began to really concentrate upon my great-great-great-grandmother. Her name was Mary Jane Penberthy and she was born on the Isle of Man around 1810 or so. I love that she was born on the Isle of Man. From what I have read about this island, it has a strong mystical and magical tradition. Mary Jane Penberthy is one of my important links to the Celtic mysteries that I so love. I love that I have these roots and that I can trace them to a place on earth and to a tangible tradition. I also imagine that it is through this woman’s heritage that I have received my sensitivities and my psychic gifts and talents.
I do feel a heartfelt connection with the British Isles, with the elfin people, and with the devas and nature spirits—with the wind and the waves on the shore, with the animals and the stars, with the moon and the sky, and especially with the trees. I get goose bumps just hearing about the likes of fairies, elves, devas, and Druids. I have read: “The fairy-lore of the Isle of Man is only rivaled by the legendary leprechauns of Ireland” and “The fairies were supposed to be the original inhabitants of the Isle of Man, and everything was carried on in a supernatural manner” (Leek 1976, 24, 26). It is also said that it was this mystical climate that lured the Druids to the Isle of Man for refuge. The Manx people (those that hail from the Isle of Man) have a rich tradition of stories, legends, and superstitions, and today there are still those who follow the old nature and folk religions.
I am fascinated by one of their famous goddesses and prophetesses I have read about that comes from this area. She is called Caillagh-nyp Ghueshag. She had the power to transport herself anywhere she desired. She could also shape-shift her physical appearance at will. She might appear as the old crone or hag known as the Cailleach, or she might choose the form of the youthful maiden. She is revered for her knowledge of herbs and her ability to heal. Overall, she chose to use her powers fairly and for the benefit of others. I find this witch-heroine figure fascinating. In fact, the name Rhiannon comes from the Welsh version of this same mythical Goddess. It is a version of this name that I have chosen for my daughter Rianna to honor my father’s family, which hails from Wales.
The indigenous people of the British Isles followed a native spirituality that we can only speculate about. However, it is known that these ancients had a belief and reverence for nature and the earth and they considered her a living entity. They worshiped nature spirits much like the Native American peoples of this continent do. I refer to them as the nature peoples or the native Europeans. They understood nature and worked closely with the healing aspects of herbs, plants, and trees.
It is true, however, that the spirituality of these people came under siege through the invasion of various groups over time—by the Roman occupation, through the Catholic Inquisition and the Protestant witch hunts. Many call the period of European religious inquisition a hysterical holocaust for the nature peoples and especially women. In these times many were labeled as witches and said to be controlled by Satan. Yet this terror was used to gain people’s lands and resources and destroy their beliefs and indigenous wisdom. It was a successful means of gaining control by the church and the governments of the time.
I’ve read that it was Henry VIII who made a formal proclamation that witches should be dispensed with in the British Isles. On the Isle of Man, women who were accused of witchcraft were thrown into bogs; if they sank, they were declared innocent and given a decent Christian burial. Big deal. If they were indeed witches, they swam to dry land. After their little swim, they were treated to an assortment of diabolical ways in which they would be murdered. I think if anyone was associating with evil and consorting with Satan, it was those legal women-killers.
There is a famous bog on the island called Curragh Class, which is associated with these murders. I should like to see that bog someday. I would like to say a prayer over that place and honor all the women who were murdered for practicing a way of life that the church wanted to wipe out. I wish I had visited it when I was in England in 1973, but I didn’t even get to the island. How was I to know that it was going to become an important place to me, a very important place?
I am grateful to my great-great-great-grandmother. Although, come to think of it I could also be grateful to the man she married, Samuel James Cornelius. He was born in Cornwall and they say that Cornwall is one of the few places left that is holding on to its Celtic traditions. Maybe my Celtic heart came through my great-great-great-grandfather. Who’s to say? To be exact, I could say that I am grateful for their union. I am beholden to my mother’s and my father’s ancestry.
When I used to work as a mental health therapist at Catholic Community Services, my clients often asked me if I was Catholic. I always wondered what they would do if I replied, “Well no, actually I am a Buddhist Pagan witch tree lady!” I used to feel that my sensibilities and leanings were weird and strange, especially for someone who was “born again” at the age of nine and raised Methodist. (I have heard that the word weird comes from the word wyrrd, which refers to the study of power and magic in ancient Europe. How many times do you hear people say, “It was really weird,” when something strange and unexplainable happens?)
But coming into a greater knowledge of my heritage provides me with a different sense of who I am. I am proud to claim a tradition that honors and reveres the mysteries of nature and respects the Great Mother known as Gaia. Today we have what is called Wicca or “the craft of the wise.” Many are proud to call themselves Pagans, witches, Goddess worshippers, or medicine women. Whatever we call ourselves, I am glad to know that I can claim a tradition that lived well upon the planet for so long and still thrives today. I am honored to find inspiration in a way of being upon the planet that honors nature and seeks to protect and preserve it and all its life forms.
The Apple tree reminds you to send some love to your ancestors and to the women in your family. Give gratitude to what your mother was able to give you or teach you. And if you have regrets or resentments, thank her—she was your backwards teacher. You learned from her what you do not want to do. Do the same for your father. Gratitude and forgiveness are the best medicine. Bring in Apple blossoms to remind yourself that the earth is a bountiful paradise. Can you commit to be the best steward you can be? Think about ways to support the earth and ensure clean water and air. Remember that the air that we breathe comes from the trees—they are the lungs of our planet.
Because the element of water is tied to the sign of Cancer and this time of year, it is a time to really consider the waters of the planet. It is important to honor the water on the planet, and so we are reminded to be grateful for this gift, and to work toward restoring all the water to purity. This is a precious resource, and she requires our protection. If possible, I encourage you to find one thing that you can do to help with this.
Find out more about your own ancestry and the lands that your family has hailed from. Also research the spiritual lineages that you are attracted to. Many people feel drawn to the British Isles, but often Egypt and Peru as well. What is your special place that makes you feel closer to your most authentic self and your own spiritual identity?
And finally, in contemplating the Apple tree, give gratitude for the abundance in your life that she represents, as well as the mystery and magic of that energy and vibration that lives just beyond this world. She represents the many beautiful choices that you have and your ability to create the reality that you want to live in—moment to moment through your choices. Choose beauty. Choose peace. Choose kindness.