Pomegranates! I wait their arrival each year ~ the tart taste along with bittersweet myth they hold~ This year it seemed even more important to me. Recently I gave myself permission to see that I had lost part of myself to a depression. Going deep into the darkness of self, moving away from the natural world. Would I ever come out of the darkness~ could I even share this word spoken out loud with those I love? How many of them had noticed and didn’t know what to do, how to help?
I couldn’t dance away! Then one of those difficult “drop me to my knees” events happened that seemed to push me under even more. Oh, sweet Goddess I begged ~ help me to come up and out of this place. Let me claim myself, again.
Now what does this have to do with Pomegranates ~ for me a couple of things. Here in the Northern Hemisphere they arrive as fall is beginning, less light, as into the darkness we go. Then there is the fact that they are basically seed and fruit all in one. The seeds giving me hope to yet un-filled potential. As we head toward the darkest and coldest part of the year, (at least here in this place I call home). I think about how it slows us, has us resting more, which perhaps brings us more time to dream and plan (seeds).
In its most basic of forms Persephone, who is the daughter of Demeter, is taken to the underworld. Her mother Demeter is beside herself, looking for this her daughter leaving her goddessly duties untended; which include keeping the fields fertile. Along comes the Wise Old Women Hectare and helps find Persephone, who oops ate the seeds of the Pomegranate while in the under world, which will send her back to the underworld 6 months of the year. For me it translates to the cycle of things and Life more specifically.
I had given up in the past couple years some things I enjoyed. “Why?”, you may ask. I find the reasons sound lame and not ringing totally true to my ear ~ so as the saying goes ‘that is another story’, that I may choose or not to tell. Some of it had to do with finding ME in a society that doesn’t much honour Women as we grow older ~ who, had I become? I needed to go in search of the Fire that burns in the ME that I know, love and care for. ~ The one that can and does hold Sacred Space for others. How do I continue to walk with my Hectare Wisdom while loving the passions of my Persephone Fire? A part of me will always hold the mothering of Demeter, the holding and bringing forth of the creative flow of life. How might I honour that we/I hold the trinity of life with in, the cycles that carry us form birth to death?
Up out of the darkness, to find pomegranates waiting for me~ let them dance in my champagne! Let their tartness sit upon my salad greens ~ let me taste the fruit of the potential that lays waiting for me.
I would invite us to place this amazing fruit and all the potential it holds on our Winter Altars, to remind us that our dreams are ours to nurture and hold. That in our ‘lost ness’ we may need to ask for help. Let the pomegranate remind you that going into the time of darkness, doesn’t mean you’ll be lost forever ~ what dreams and seeds are you needing to nurture while you are in the Dark Night of the Soul?
How to Open a Pomegranate
Using a sharp knife – making four to 8 cuts gently into the skin and the pith – try not to cut all the way into the seeds/fruit themselves.
Pace the pomegranate in a bowl of water as you peel back the skin. The reason for the water is the pith will float and the seeds will drop to the bottom.
Throw out the pith, drain the water.
Use the seeds/fruit.
Greens with Pomegranate
Mixed greens about 1/4 pound per person as a side
Feta approximately 1/4 pound for every two salads
Pomegranate seeds - this is totally up to you - I go for colour
Serve with a splash
Pomegranate Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/4 cup white Balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup real maple syrup
1/8 cup of olive oil - or oil of choice
1/4 pomegranate seeds
a dash of cayenne
a quick pulse in a blender
OR
My all time favorite –
A spoon full in a Champagne glass top with PROSECCO. Dance to Life, Dance to Growing Older, Dance to Your-self! Watch the seeds dance with you~
Blessings, I love you all. Thank you for carrying me in your heart as I carry you.
image is from the 'Web'
