Acorn in Folklore and Magick
by Eliza Yetter, 2005

The acorn is the fruit of the oak tree, sacred to the ancient Druids who believed that both the oak and its fruit contained special powers.

One of the most popular uses of the acorn is love magic and divination. Lovers in past times would each put an acorn into a bowl of water. If the acorns came together, the lovers would marry. However, if the acorns floated apart, the lovers would soon leave each other for someone else. Even more ominous was when an acorn sank because it meant death for the person it represented.

There was also a similar practice of floating the acorn caps in a bowl of water. Each cap contained a small slip of paper with a name on it. The slips of paper were stuck to the inside of the cap with wax. The caps were watched to see where they would float. A cap that floated alone by the side of the bowl meant that the person it was named after would not marry or would soon be parted from his or her lover. A sunken cap meant death. Caps that floated together meant alliances through marriage or business.

Acorns were also placed between the mattress and boxspring of a lover's bed to keep him or her faithful. Placed on windowsills, acorns were believed to protect a home from lightning.

An old British superstition states that if a person carries an acorn in her or his pocket or purse it would prevent old age.

The symbolism of the acorn is linked to the egg except that while the egg is considered a feminine symbol, the acorn is generally looked upon as masculine. This is evident in the old folk song The Tree in the Wood:

All in a wood there grew a fine tree,
The finest tree that ever you did see,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

And on this tree there grew a fine bough,
The finest bough that ever you did see,
And the bough on the tree, and the tree in the wood,
And the green leaves flourished thereon, thereon, thereon,
And the green leaves flourished thereon.

And on this bough there is a fine twig,
The finest twig that ever you did see,
And the twig on the bough, and the bough in the tree, and the tree in the wood,
And the green leaves flourished thereon, etc.

And on this twig there stood a fine nest,
The finest nest that ever you did see,
And the nest on the twig, and the twig on the bough, etc.

And in this nest there sat a fine bird,
The finest bird, etc.
And on this bird there grew a fine feather,
The finest feather, etc.
And of this feather was made a fine bed,
The finest bed, etc.
And on this bed was laid a fine mother,
The finest mother, etc.
In the arms of this mother was laid a fine babe,
The finest babe, etc.
And the babe he grew up and became a fine boy,
The finest boy, etc.
And the boy put an acorn all into the earth,
The finest acorn, etc.
And out of this acorn there grew a fine tree,
The finest tree, etc.

Bibliography:
Baring-Gould, S. A Book of Nursery Songs and Rhymes. London: Methuen and Company, 1895.
Paterson, Jacqueline Memory. Tree Wisdom: The Definitive Guidebook to the Myth, Folklore and Healing Power of Trees. SanFrancisco: Thorsons, 1996.
Waring, Philippa. A Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions. London: Souvenir Press, 1978.