Pomegranates everywhere!

Shalott

Hi,
Sorry if this has already been discussed, a search yielded wayyy to much to reasonably sort through...what do pomegranates symbolize, since they appear on so many cards, like the High Priestess and King of Cups etc etc etc.

Thank you!
 

tmgrl2

fertility....is one theme....

terri
 

Shalott

That makes sense...the only thing I normally assiociate pomegranates with is grenadine ;)
 

Dexter

Pomegranates are associated with the goddess Persephone and her Mother Demeter the harvest goddess. Hades desired Persephone for her beauty and kidnapped her and took her to the underworld. He was convinced to return her but gave her a pomagranate or pomegranate seeds before she left and once she ate these she was bound to return to Hades 1/3 of the year. While she was in Hades for these months Demeter was so distraught that she would not allow anything to grow and so there is winter.

I always think of a darkness associated with pomegranates as well as harvest/fertility. A balance between the brightness of the sun and growth and the darkness of Hades and time of waiting like in the winter.

Dexter.
 

Shalott

So in a way they are similar to a "forbidden fruit," as Persephone (and Demeter) ended up cursed upon eating them...
 

Penelope

I think of the date palm, and the goddess Inanna.
Her story follows the cycle of virgin-bride-widow,
and the date palm 'warehouse' was her temple.
 

Peredur

According to Masonic ritual (Waite was a Freemason) pomegranates, from the exuberance of their seeds, denote plenty.
Bob