Ancient religions and the mystery traditions have always used the pomegranate tree and its fruit in symbol and decoration and myth, and alchemists and the hermetic traditions have often used it in symbolic form for its many esoteric connections to the ‘Tree of Life’, the Qabbalah, and other spiritual streams.

History

The pomegranate is also the traditional representation of fertility and life, and seems to have its origins everywhere, particularly through the Mediterranean, up to Georgia and across to China and to India – there is even a Sanskrit word for the fruit, and Indian royalty always included it in banquet and ritual.

There are many European references to pomegranates and they were to be found growing wild in Georgia in 1772. The Spanish Conquistadores took the pomegranate to America and Jesuit missionaries carried it north to their missions in California.

With so much scientific and medical interest being shown in the current era, it seems almost that this fruit is special beyond others, that it has been singled out as a gift to the human race.

And other questions arise: the pomegranate tree lives a very long time and suffers, like the fruit, almost no disease or damage by pests. Is this tree actually keeping its own health? Are its powerful antioxidants actually keeping the tree healthy too?

Why has it been selected by many cultures and religions to represent fertility, good health and good luck, rather than other fruit?

Why are there so many contradictions in the fruit? It is sweet, and yet tart; the fruit is tough and wrinkled, and yet when open is rich and red and sweet. It has been called the fruit of the underworld, with strong connections to Persephone, and yet the Koran calls it the fruit of paradise. It is so hard to eat the fruit and then eventually so rewarding.

In the field of vibrational healing, we are always dealing with the human system as a ‘bio-field’, or field of information or energy, which at the most fundamental levels operates on energies of all qualities. All the medications and foods we take are consumed because we wish to incorporate the energetics of those substances in our ‘energy fields’. And it is the quality of the energetics of any substance that is of the highest importance.

I believe that the pomegranate has always been recognised as a fruit which holds a particularly potent energetic charge. It is in the look of the fruit, the taste of the juice, the colour of the arils, the variety of its many qualities. Anyone who pays attention to what their senses (including the more subtle senses) are telling them will soon know whether a substance will enhance their health and energy. Naturally occurring pomegranates and their juice register high on the list of those which do enhance.
(more…)