Carnations, Marigolds, Apples, & Pomegranates

Herbal Lore For Ancestor's Night

​So many traditions offer such beautiful expressions of the season and the holidays we celebrate – no matter the culture.  Some of the most popular among these traditional celebrations include Autumn Harvest festivals, festivals for Nature Spirits (especially to appease the more harsh or “trickier” ones), days to honor the dead, and days to honor the Ancestors or other Spiritual guardians & guides (like Saints).  Various fruits and flowers that may be in season are common symbols of these traditions or festivals, used for both food, offerings, and decoration according to location and if you’re running spring or autumn.  Here in the northern hemisphere, we’re in the midst of autumn and getting ready to celebrate the Ancestor’s Night – also known as Halloween – followed by such honorable days in the Christian calendar as All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

​I’d just like to make mention of a few ways you can celebrate the season however you may be inspired to honor it.  I’ve seen great use of carnations, a very hearty flower even after cutting, in make beautiful wreaths and sculptures.  They’re often used as grave blankets, on parade floats, and as garlands or centerpieces for various celebrations.  There is something very “spring” about carnations, however their seemingly eternal energy (they last a really long time compared to most other bouquets) carries that vibrancy celebrated so poignantly in Central & South American “Day of the Dead” traditions with carnations used in beautiful displays to honor departed loved ones and the spirits of the ancestors.  Carnations have an energy of purification, gentleness, and continuity that enlivens any autumn or spring festival, celebration, or table.  

​Likewise, marigolds are a popular autumn favorite full of the energy of late summer and autumn that bring a cozy and comforting feel of abundance and generosity and gratitude into our homes.  Again, decorations and centerpieces, cakes and syrups can all be made from different colors and varieties of marigold and calendula.  These flowers have this double-touch of long lasting energy in that they have an abundant flourishing, a vast spectrum of color, and demonstrate the fullness and beauty of summer as well as the gentle completions of autumn.  Like carnations, though they may not last as long once cut, their ongoing renewal and flourishing (even in some harsh conditions) while grounded in the soil shows us the ever-changing and ever-growing constancy in Life.

​This autumn season and accompanying traditions of leaving offerings for Ancestors, dearly-departed souls, Nature Spirits and Faeries highlights the fruits of bountiful harvest and encouragement for the perceived and inevitable “darkness” of winter.  Offerings are made to appease prowling Spirits and Tricksters from interfering with the Living, as well as to honor the past, share gratitude and forgiveness, and request protection from harm, illness, and starvation in the coming months.  Offerings can be things like candles and light vigils, prayers and chants, flowers, incenses, herbs and decorations, sweet treats, baked goods, and prepared fruits.  

​Among popular fruits in this season also used as offerings are apples & pomegranates.  Considered in ancient lore to be the fruits of life and death, these harvests always make excellent treats.  The abundance of seeds in the protective juice bubbles of pomegranate show us in flavor that when ripened with the fullness of water and sunlight, a tough outer case will give the seeds of new life with plenty to share.  Often the juice of the pomegranate can be pressed for flavorings and syrups.  Or the seeds in their juice bubbles may be sprinkled in fruit salads and other dishes.  Their ripened flavor is sweet with tang, and their unripe flavor tends more towards tart – much like life in its phases of bittersweet and sweet-n-sour.  

​Apples tend to be one of the most popular in regions that get plenty of cold in winter.  Popular for eating right off the tree, juicing, baking, stewing, roasting, and so much more.  But this season often leans towards the juicing and baking.  The seeds of this fruit are left for new growth as their cyanide content and other characteristics make them inedible for most creatures – like humans.  The flesh of the fruits, however, are sweet and tasty with so many varieties boasting a range from sweet to tart.  Aside from leaving an extra plate of apple cobbler at the table for a dearly departed loved one you may invite for a visit, leaving a dish in the garden for the Faeries is also a kind and generous gesture. 

​Also, as an offering to the Ancestors for protection, you may cut an apple in half crosswise (instead of lengthwise from stem to flower-end) and leave it outside, or on an altar with incense, revealing the five-pointed star-shape in the center of the seed-core.  This symbolic representation shows that when we acknowledge and work with the five-elements respectfully and carefully, we are protected from harm.  In the apple, the shape of the five-points allows the seeds their place and space but holds them in the core-container to protect their potential and the existing fruit.  

It’s my hope that this article has offered some interesting folklore and inspiration for approaching this holiday and harvest season with an appreciation for the abundance around us.  I’m wishing everyone a fruitful and abundant season – whether it calls out your courage and resiliency to meet challenges worthy of you, or whether it snuggles with you into a comfy-cozy period of enjoyment and ease. 

May peace & blessings fulfill your life,
Cynthia