In Praise of the Pomegranate

By Cristina Smith

One of the symbols of Autumn that reminds me of abundance is the pomegranate. It suggests to me the fruits of receptivity and the trustworthiness of inward knowing. Additionally, it signifies the fertile possibilities of the Un-manifest which are so aptly displayed by its plethora of seeds.

The pomegranate has been a potent symbol for time immemorial in religions and mythologies globally. It plays an important part in Jewish culture; in fact, the pomegranate was the only fruit allowed within the Holy of Holies, and its image was sewn into the ceremonial robe of the High Priest as he made his yearly entrance on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, prior to the joyous feasting of Succoth, the fall harvest. On the other side of the world, it is pictured in the hands of the Green Tara in Buddhist sacred art to represent prosperity. The large quantity of seeds inside the juicy pomegranate makes it a common symbol for human, animal, and vegetable fertility.  Some scholars argue that the ‘apple’ of Eden was actually the pomegranate- which when taken metaphorically makes more sense to me. After all, the gift of knowledge symbolized by that fruit is easily associated with pomegranate’s ancient meaning of the potentiality and fertility of the Unmanifest which must be ingested, digested, and birthed in order to appear in physical form. Sounds like the creative process to me!

The pomegranate plays a major role in the story of Persephone and Pluto, one of my favorite myths. The abridged version is that Pluto, god of the underworld, fell for Persephone and kidnapped her while she was picking flowers. Her mother Demeter arranged her rescue after much drama of mythic proportions. When Persephone returned to Earth she revealed that all she ate were some pomegranate seeds which meant that she would spend 1/3 of the year in the underworld and the rest of the time in the upper world.  Persephone became the goddess of the underworld and many great mythological characters visited her for advice or favor.

OM Times Magazine » syndicated