Apple.
Not the computer, the forbidden fruit.
A symbol of ecstasy, fertility, abundance. Of love. And of desire.
Ever since that fateful moment in the Garden of Eden, the apple has served as a symbol for everything from evil to love. Professional dream analysts (of course it’s a real job, why do you ask?) will tell you that dreaming about an apple tree symbolizes knowledge, wisdom and great prosperity. I've never dreamt of an apple tree, but I bet that hardly surprises anyone. I have dreamed about eating an apple, though, something that apparently represents harmony and pleasure. In a biblical sense, it would be a representation of sexual appetite, lustful desires and sexual awareness à la Garden of Eden. Luckily, I’m not very biblical either, so it’s perfectly safe to keep reading, mom.
In Greek mythology, when Gaia married Zeus, she gave Hera (one of Zeus’ 64 other wives and mistresses -- monogamy is for lazy people who don’t have the stamina of a god) apples symbolizing long love and union. And Dionysus, the god of wine, offered Aphrodite apples to try to win her love. Personally, I think he’d have been better off going with diamonds, but I guess when you’re the goddess of love, all you really want is an apple or two.
In China the apple symbolizes peace, and the apple blossoms adoration, whereas the Celtic interpretation is all about sex and fertility, randy little Celts.
In this case, I’ll let the apple symbolize desire. There are many things I desire in this world. Chocolate cake, for example. A ready-made master’s thesis just for me. The early arrival of the weekend. Chocolate cake. A better zoom lens for my camera. The opportunity to travel wherever I want, whenever I want. The perfect body. Chocolate cake. I think the great French Renaissance writer François Rabelais said it best.
“We always long for the forbidden things, and desire what is denied us.”
Ain’t that the truth. Now gimme some chocolate cake.
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Great choice, and one that never occurred to me despite hours of fretting over how to portray desire. So simple, and yet so symbolic, as you pointed out.
ReplyDeleteSo, okay, you're brilliant. Now explain how you got the apple to be so red and the background so completely black. I'm baffled by this trick. I know you must have used a macro lens, but beyond that, I don't get it.
And chocolate cake, yum.
Amazing photo. The light on that apple is wonderful. Personally, I dislike apples. I think they are yucky. So if I had been in the garden of eden, things would have been very different. Me and Adam would still be hanging out with no clothes on and letting god watch what we did. I would have had those two kids, but never had a moment of pain. Then I would have seduced my sons to make more people for god to watch hanging out with no clothes on. Yup. Things would have been different.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't occur to me either until just a few hours before I had to post the picture. Your choice was brilliant, though. Perfect, even.
ReplyDeleteHow did I get the apple so red and the background so black? Well, let's see, I used a red apple and a black background. Doesn't get much simpler than that.
Thank you, Linda! I don't like apples either. M's going to have to eat that one. I like apple pie and apple juice, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I want to hear about your time in Eden, though. It sounds kind of wild. And a little morally objectionable, and we all know what a good girl I am, ;)
Ha, ha, ha. Highly technical, eh?
ReplyDeleteNow, Ziva, how could it be objectionable? It's just the bible! I'm just saying, things would have been very different. The end.
ReplyDeleteYou missed out on "bad apple" and "rotten to the core" and worms and... Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to be so negative. I like green apples. We call them Granny Smith here in Canada. Great pic, Ziva.
ReplyDeleteI don't really like apples, either, just for the record. Sometimes a green one is okay.
ReplyDeleteShe's being coy.
ReplyDeleteAnd protecting her trade secrets.
Then Eve wouldn't have gotten over on you with the apple bit either. But then, who coulda' begot who?
ReplyDeleteNow I really want to read the Bible, starring Linda Medrano. :-D
ReplyDeleteI would have done the whole worms and rotten to the core thing, but I couldn't find a single apple with a bunch of worms sticking out of it. I don't like Granny Smith. Too tart for me.
ReplyDeleteYep!
ReplyDeleteI guess I could have explained that I used a macro lens, took the picture in a dark-ish room, against a dark wall, fixed the ISO setting semi-low so the picture wouldn't be too light when I bumped up the exposure time, put the camera on a tripod to avoid blur and bumped up the saturation a bit while editing later.
Huh, yeah, that would have made sense.
Ziva, first there was Adam and Eve, right? Then they had two sons, Cain and Able. So where'd everybody come from? Cain killed (slewed) Able. Come on now. There's billions of us here now. Where did we come from? The only possible answer is Eve. But she and Adam only had those two guys and one of them was a killer. Eve must have liked bad boys.
ReplyDeleteI'm a point and shoot guy. I prefer the initial explanation. But good on ya, Ziva.
ReplyDeleteI like apples. And chocolate cake. And sinning. And chocolate cake. And this picture. And you.
ReplyDeleteThe end.
Sinning, eh? Do tell. What's your favourite kind of sinning? And does it involve chocolate cake?
ReplyDeleteI would never.
ReplyDeleteYou're a good man, Mr. Dufus, I prefer the initial explanation, too.
ReplyDeleteSo, um, do you like chocolate cake? What about wine? There's a god of wine? Cool.
ReplyDeleteI see an apple pie in my future.
I LOVE wine. Especially wine with chocolate cake. Or chocolate cake with wine. Or wine with wine.
ReplyDeleteIn Hebrew, Adam means "mankind" and Eve means "Living One." So some scholars would argue that the garden was more of a garden party than a farm.
ReplyDeleteYou're not going to share your recipes for chocolate cake and raspberry pie, either. I understand women like you.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I have agree if Eve was a dead one, things would have been different too.
ReplyDeleteI love the simplicity and the complexity of this picture, the color is great and the history is right on. Great pic.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Madge!
ReplyDelete"In China the apple symbolizes peace, and the apple blossoms adoration"
ReplyDeleteYou sure about this? In China Apple means fake stores!
Masters thesis- you better work your ass off for it.
Now it is Adam and Steve mostly :)
ReplyDeleteAnd lots and lots of inscestual relationships.... Ask Cleopatra she married her brother!
I am working my ass off for it, stressing about it, that is.
ReplyDelete