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Tattoo designs - A >> Apple

Apple Tattoo Meanings - Apples have long symbolized fertility, love, sensuality and sexuality, temptation and sin. No doubt apple enthusiasts eagerly anticipated the ripening of the fruit of the apple tree with its promise of sweetness to come as they turned from green to red in the rays of the sun. An apple is literally ripe with promise. When the fruit is cut in half, through its vertical plane, the seed casing was thought by many to resemble a female vulva, or external genitalia. When the fruit is cut in half through its horizontal plane, the seed casing is exposed as a star-shaped, five segmented structure. This pentagram shape was widely seen as a symbolism of knowledge. And when the pentagram was contained within a circle, very reminiscent of an apple, it was thought to represent sacred knowledge.

The most famous apple undoubtedly belongs to Eve.

The phrase 'apple of thine eye' appears in one of the Psalms and refers to the eye's pupil - something precious and to be protected. It's a phrase still in use today, and is associated with love and relationships.

The apple is thought to be the earliest tree to be cultivated. Alexander the Great is credited with importing the apple from Asia Minor to Greece around 300 BC. The apple frequents myth and legend, some episodes sweet, some sour. In ancient Greece it was the food of the gods, and a symbol of knowledge, youth and immortality. The Greeks spoke of 'Golden Apples' growing on the Tree of Life, which had magical healing powers. On the other hand, an apple is said to have started the Trojan Wars - aptly called the 'Golden Apple of Discord'. A goddess with a grudge offered the golden apple as a prize to the fairest goddess in the pantheon. Paris, a Trojan, judged Aphrodite the fairest for offering him the love of the beautiful Helen. Athena, a very poor loser, sided with the Greeks in the fight to get Helen back. The rest is history - or myth - depending what you believe.

In Norse mythology, the apple was the food of the gods and a symbol of eternal youth. It was a fertility symbol in Europe, where young women were given apples by their suitors. Irish tradition upholds the Apple as a symbol of immortality, and for the Swiss it has been the emblem of freedom since the 14th century story of William Tell. Forced by the enemy to shoot an arrow through an apple perched on the head of his son, William Tell became a hero for the Swiss when he succeeded.

Gypsy tradition would have a young woman eat half an apple before midnight and the other half after, if she wishes her true love to appear in a dream. Folk lore would have us believe that dreaming of a green apple warns of 'fickle or foolish friends', while a rosy one suggests they're dependable. Counting the pips in the apple core is a fortune telling practice. On a more scientific note - or at least an apocryphal tale - Isaac Newton put the apple to work on his proof of the force of gravity. After it hit him on the head, that is! In China the Apple represents peace.

Our love of the apple has made it one of the most widely cultivated fruits anywhere in the world. It was usually one of the first fruit crops introduced by colonists and explorers to new lands. Apple trees were widespread in the Americas by the sixteenth century. No doubt in part because for as nearly as long as apples have been harvested and stored away for long winters in northern climates, the juice of the apple has also long been fermented to make apple jack or apple cider.

An apple tattoo design offers a tantalizing bite, a little bit sensual and a little bit sinful.

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Tattoo designs - A >> Apple

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