Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A Liminal Fruit


We all know the story of Persephone, Hades and the pomegranate seeds. One interpretation is that Persephone was tricked by Hades into eating the seed, forcing her to remain in the underworld one month for every seed she ate (6 or 7). Another version is that Persephone (the rebellious daughter) deliberately ate the fruit so she could spend time with Hades in the underworld, much to the chagrin of her mother Demeter. In all versions, we discover that the mediator between the Earth and the underworld is our old friend Hermes the trickster. In Wisdom tales the pomegranate represents desire, the binding force between spirit and matter. Persephone (as Wisdom herself) ate the fruit to bind her consciousness to the body. This is the Gnostic Sophia, lamenting her lost children (humanity). Descending into matter, she aspires to awaken them from their delusional sleepwalk... the dream we mistake for reality. Hermes, represents the nature of reality, a creation of our collective mind streams. This collective mind-stream is a very tricky place to navigate. Our consciousness keeps forgetting itself! It is the clinging to our desires that traps us.
Pretty potent stuff- this rich, red fruit that enables an immortal to move between realms.

3 comments: