The Goddess Pomona
Our modern Halloween has borrowed ideas and customs from many different cultures and beliefs down the centuries. One of these is the Roman goddess Pomona.
Who Is Pomona?
Pomona was the ancient Roman goddess of fruit, trees and gardens. In some stories she is a wood nymph as opposed to a full blown goddess. She's associated with and considered responsible for the blooming, flowering and fruiting of plants.As the goddess of fruit and flowers Pomona was also the goddess of the harvest. Her feast day, held around the beginning of November by today's calendar, was a Roman harvest festival. Since the harvest marks the end of the summer this fits in well with the celtic Samhain festival to mark the change from summer to winter and the two were merged into Halloween.
One of the common symbols of Pomona and the harvest was an apple. This could have been the origin of Halloween apple bobbing.