The Abundant and Fertile Joy of the Pomegranate

I look forward every autumn to harvesting the Pomegranates growing here at Terra Flora . What a joy it is to watch the bright orange flowers of early summer gradually ripen into the rich red fruits of autumn. Just to open a Pomegranate fruit is food for both soul and sense, beholding the wonder of so many hundreds of ruby seed jewels, glistening with life force.

The juicy seeds of the Pomegranate

Persephone’s Fruit

The Pomegranate is prominently featured in the autumn Festival of Persephone, celebrated as part of the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries, originating in the early Mycenaean period and continuing for nearly two thousand years. The essence of the Mystery Drama enacted each year, depicts the abduction of Persephone by Hades to reside with him in the underworld. Because Persephone eats Pomegranate seeds while dwelling in the underworld, she is compelled to return to the realm of Hades every autumn, emerging in spring and summer to unite with her Mother, Demeter, who rules all plant life from the Celestial Realm.

Heart and Ovary

Also known as the “Phoenician apple," the Pomegranate has been cultivated for over 4,000 years as a nutritious food revered by many traditional cultures. Modern nutritional research indicates a wide range of healing benefits, including heart health, stabilization of blood pressure, and anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.

The most foundational of all healing qualities within the Pomegranate are related to the female reproductive system. The whole fruit bears a striking resemblance to the ovary; while the blood red seeds resemble the egg sack within the female ovary.

female reproductive system with ovaries	Pomegranate fruit
cross-section of ovary	cross-section of Pomegranate fruit

The Pomegranate fruit is also abundant with the same estrogens as the female ovary – estradiol, estrone and estriol. However, the interesting polar alchemy within Pomegranate is that its seeds are also powerfully able to stimulate testosterone production in both men and women. The hormonal profile of Pomegranate gives us a glimpse into the Greek mystery, wherein Persephone is able to integrate connection with both the masculine Hades and feminine mother Demeter after eating the Pomegranate seeds.

Balancing Creativity and Procreativity

The Pomegranate flower essence carries this archetypal Persephone theme further by extending and expanding body-soul identity for modern women. Menopause literally signals the decline and eventual atrophy of ovarian reserve, or physical fertility. In traditional cultures; this cessation of reproductive capacity can have a devastating impact on the psychological well-being of a woman who has identified herself solely with her biological mothering destiny. On the other hand many modern career women have felt challenged in knowing how to fully embrace and enjoy the role of mothering, or even the ability to successfully conceive and carry child in their womb.

Our research files show that Pomegranate flower essence figures prominently in a wide variety of cases. For example it is used along with other indicated flowers to help women clear a wide variety of reproductive traumas including, miscarriage, infertility, menstrual abnormalities as well as menopausal symptoms. In numerous cases it has helped women conceive a longed for child, or to make the clear decision that one is ready to become a mother. In other cases it has helped women bring clear boundaries and choices regarding conception and mothering, including not choosing that role, or not continuing to choose it.

For example, Pomegranate was one of the main flower essences used for a 46 year old client. She had recently remarried, several years after a painful divorce. Although she had two older teenage children from a previous marriage, she felt that her marriage would be more “secure” if she had another child with her second husband (though he did not demand this, as he also had children from a previous marriage). She had tried unsuccessfully for over a year to conceive and was now attempting painful and expensive treatments through a fertility clinic. She had wanted flower essences to help her with the conception process. Pomegranate and Mariposa Lily were the main flower essences given to her. However less than 2 months after taking these flower essences she came to a new and firm inward realization, “It’s not my marriage that needs to be more secure, it’s me. I have felt very fulfilled being a mother, but I also know I don’t want that role again for another 20 years. If my new marriage is going to succeed, it needs to do so through my own authenticity in who I am and what my further life path is.”

Pomegranate flower essence helps women find balance, individual choice and fulfillment of human potential in all phases of life and in a broad spectrum of life issues by developing and harmonizing one's creative and procreative identities within the body-soul matrix.