Magick and Folklore

In the Hebrew mystical tradition (Kabala), the "wife" of G-d is conceived as a Pomegranate.

Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the Greek goddess of Spring, was once frolicking near the entrance to the Underworld. Its lord, Hades, enticed her to come closer and offered her to eat three pomegranate seeds. The myth has it that because of eating these seeds, she become permanently betrothed to him.

The ancient Chinese believed that pomegranate juice contained a "soul concentrate" which could confer immortality. The Babylonians believed that chewing pomegranate seeds before battle made the soldiers invincible.

The UK has completed a "Millenium Festival of Medicine." The symbol for the Festival, which won out over the human body, DNA and a heartbeat, was the pomegranate. The pomegranate was selected based on its appearances in the coats of arms of medical societies, and from its place in Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Zoroastrian, Greek and Jewish sources. The story was recently told in the British Medical Journal.

Originating in Persia, the pomegranate appears in the folklore of ancient Egypt, where it was used in burial.

Garnet stone– Named from the Latin word for pomegranate, commonly occurring deep reds to purple red. The stone of fidelity, passion, faith, strength, determination. Good for overall renewal.

According to Judaic tradition, each pomegranate contains 613 arils, as the seeds are called, the exact number of good deeds a Jew should perform in a lifetime.

Some Christian scholars believe it was a pomegranate and not an apple that tempted Eve. Some Christians also consider the fruit a symbol of fertility, resurrection and immortality.

Islamic legend explains that each and every pomegranate contains one aril that has come directly from heaven. Heavenly gardens include pomegranate trees, and the prophet Muhammad believed the fruit brings both physical and emotional contentment.

Buddhists consider the pomegranate a blessed fruit. One legend explains that Buddha gave a pomegranate to Hariti, a demon who devoured her children, to cure her of her wicked ways.

The pomegranate is a good symbol for the unity of life and death, because on the outside it looks dead, and its flesh is hard and inedible, but on the inside the seeds are juicy and alive; in the same way, the ground looks dead but the seeds buried in it will come to life. There is more of the unity of opposites in the fact that the opened fruit looks very feminine but the seeds are considered a stand-in for semen; likewise, the fruit makes a great Venus symbol (red, juicy) but is also connected to a Saturnian holiday like Samhain.

Pomegranates decorated the pillars of the Temple of King Solomon, and they still decorate the handles of Torah scrolls today.

The red color, the resemblance of its juice to blood, and its many seeds link pomegranate to fertility in many cultures.

Clearly, the pomegranate is very versatile magickally. Its Latin name, granatum, comes from the resemblance of the seeds to garnets. The leaves can be steeped in vinegar to make an ink, and the flowers and fruit rind make a high-tannin dye.