25 March, 2011

Pomegranates for Friday- Oops!

 
http://www.hamsa.com/
                                                             Pomegranates symbolize resurrection, Christ's bursting from the tomb, life after death, and the Church itself (filled seeds/people).  Other religions and cultures have also loaded the ruby fruit with meaning.  Today's necklace by Hamsa references the pomegranate's decorative role in Solomon's temple (and other things) in Jewish history.  Other ancient civilizations connected pomegranates and their 613 bloody red seeds to goddesses of fertility and death.  They are a feminine fruit- see Vanessa Amalia's necklaces- but I can't get any further with the Women's History Month theme.  I've tried all week to develop a feminist evolution of the pomegranate symbol from pagan to Christian, but it's honestly not supported by data.  So, avoiding historical revisionism, I thank you, the readers, for your patience with my theme week that did not survive its collision with the Lentan Friday theme.  And please, in your prayers, thank God for the women in your life and the women whom you never knew who gave you choices and responsibilities unheard of in other places in this beautiful, astonishing, heartbreaking world.  Amen.
Vanessa Amalia




2 comments:

  1. The pomegranate was also supposedly the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden, not the apple as many believe.

    --Shawn

    (LOVE the blog btw!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Makes more sense than an apple- pomegranates are bitter and bloody as well as not filling.

    ReplyDelete

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