Ogham Study Group - Quert

Quert

Name: Quert
Pronunciation: (KYERT)
Sound: Q
Tree: Apple (Malus sylvestris)
Few: five strokes to the left or up from the stemline
Tree web site: http://www.british-trees.com/guide/crabapple.htm

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” This saying is a good way to remember the meaning of Quert since it is associated with health and vitality. However, it is important to remember that the apple tree of the ogham is probably the crab apple instead of a regular edible apple. The crab apple is the only apple tree native to Britain and Ireland. The crab apple tree is also associated with Avalon, the Island of Apples. In Celtic tradition the orchard was looked up as ‘paradise’. However, unlike Christian tradition, no sin is connected to the apple tree. The Celtic calendar does not have a month named for the apple tree.

Meaning:
Health, vitality, healing, regeneration, recovery, beauty, rest, relaxation, recuperation

Reversed:
Sickness, depression, restlessness

Some varieties of crab-apple *are* edible, they're just small. They show a pentacle inside & definitley would have been nibbled at. They are good, they're just tart - there's that variety of crabapple down the road from me, quite a British-looking specimen. They may have been cooked.

The Apple tree is known for its properties in the support of good health. It is a member of the Rosacae family, the same as rose, hawthorne, blackthorn.

"Quert, Apple, is one of the most wildly mystical trees of the Ogham sequence and with its appearance you have reached the heart of the Ogham grove." (Paul Rhys Moutfort)

The Apple is a guardian. The Word Ogham of Aengus is "apple equals the force of man" referring to the Q as 'CU' or warrior (Blamires). The Word Ogham of Cu Chulainn is "apple equals excellent emblem of protection" and the word Ogham of Morainn mac Moin is "apple is shelter of a hind, lunatics or hinds".

The apple tree is heavily associated with the Otherworld in Celtic myth. Avalon actually means "Island of Apples", the physical manifestation of Paradise and the Otherworld. The Tree of Life was found on these islands, its knowledge of the secrets of the season are guarded by the goddess Ceridwen in her serpent form. "…essence of the sacred apples was recognized as three drops of liquid which escapes Cerridwen's cauldron…" (Paterson)

The healing properties of the fruit were so well known that it was the tree under which Merlin restored himself during a period of madness. Celtic shamans were considered touched by madness and could shapeshift into the hind - hence the Word Ogham of Morainn mac Moin. These 'mad shamans' carried apple branches as symbols of the status. Its symbolism goes further as protection in the Otherworld and under an apple tree is considered a good place from which to journey.

An interesting tidbit is that 'paradise' is a Persian word meaning 'orchard'.

There is a fantastic article on the Apple Tree here. It goes into much more detail and is worth a read...