The Apple and the Pearl

Gathering the Harvest of Desire

For this rite, gather:

• A glass of wine, mirto – or apple cider for those looking for a non-alcoholic option

• A stick of incense – preferably copal or rose although myrrh is always a wonderful option, too

• An apple

• A knife (a ceremonial dagger is always nice, if you have one)

• A slip of paper (petition paper or a piece of a paper bag neatly torn on all four sides work best, but any paper will do)

• A pen (we recommend orange, red, burgundy, or black ink)

• Cinnamon, culinary sage, and hawthorn

• Edible sugar pearls/dragées, preferably in white or silver

• Red thread, if needed

• One candle (gold, orange, or red are best, but we firmly believe that intention is everything and if you only have white or black – or neon green! – that is fine; use what you have.)

• A small round mirror

• The Lust/Strength, Hermit, Adjustment/Justice, and Empress tarot cards (optional)

At dusk on or near the Autumn Equinox, pour your drink. Bonus points if you use a beautiful vintage glass. Theatricality turns the banal into ritual, remember?

Light your incense. Enjoy some of your drink. Spend a few moments contemplating the season. The harvest is gathered. The fields are empty. Leaves are turning into flames of crimson and gold – in preparation for their fall. Day and night stand in balance before the year turns toward darkness.

Pick up the apple. Consider what has ripened in your life through attention, labor, devotion – and longing. Consider what new longing is emerging to engender more. What have you desired, what do you desire now? What glitters at the edge of your awareness? What possibility draws your gaze and intention?

Using the knife, cut the apple horizontally, revealing the hidden star at its center. How Venusian! This September, Venus shines as the Evening Star rather than the Morning Star, descending into twilight just as the year itself descends into winter. So, if possible, perform this rite beneath her light.

Write a word, name, or phrase or draw a symbol or sigil representing the desire you wish to cultivate on the slip of paper. Fold the paper toward yourself three times, drawing the desire inward with each fold.

Place the folded paper between the apple halves. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon, sage, and hawthorn over it, followed by a few sugar pearls. Reassemble the apple, using the thread to hold the halves together if need be. Place it upright on the mirror. Surround the mirror with the tarot cards, if you are using them. Lust/Strength on the left, the Hermit in the center, Adjustment/Justice on the right, with the Empress card over the Hermit.

Affix the candle securely atop the apple and prepare to light it.

As you light the flame, say:

• Desire reveals.

• Desire cultivates.

• Desire transforms.

• May I receive what I desire.

Allow the candle to burn completely.

As the wax softens and falls, enjoy your drink, imagining your attention nourishing this desire as one would tend a garden, a craft, a poem, a love affair, or a dream. Consider not merely what you wish to possess, but what you wish to create. Feel what it is like to achieve your desired outcome, for your wish to come true.

When the candle has finished burning, gather the apple, wax, paper, and any remaining sugar pearls. (A brown paper bag is particularly capital for this purpose.) Within the next day, carry them to a crossroads (thus inviting Mercury to the party, too) or wild space and leave them there. Offer gratitude for what has already ripened in your life and for what is still becoming. Then depart without looking back.