Pomegranate in different culture

The pomegranate is native to the Himalayas in northern India to Iran but has been cultivated and naturalized since ancient times over the entire Mediterranean region.

Pomegranate fruit has been regarded as a miracle in different cultures and used as a multifunctional agent to treat and cure of the diseases throughout the human history.

In Greek mythology, it served as a symbol of the indissolubility of marriage; in Persian mythology, Isfandiyar ate a pomegranate and became invincible.

In ancient Rome, brides adorned their hair with small branches of the pomegranate as a symbol of richness and fertility. In Judaism, the number for pomegranate seeds in a single fruit are said to number 613, one for each of the Bible’s 413 commandments.

The Jews employ the fruit in their religious ceremonials; and it has entered into the heathen mythology - for in the isle of Euboea there was formerly a statue of Juno, holding in one hand a scepter and in the other a pomegranate

In Buddhism, the pomegranate is associated with fertility, abundance, posterity, numerous and virtuous offspring and a blessed future.

While, in Christianity and Bedouin tribes it is associated with fertility while in Islam the Koran describes a heavenly paradise that contains pomegranates.

In China the pomegranate is also an emblem of fertility and numerous progeny. Chinese women might offer a pomegranate to the goddess of mercy when they pray for children. Pomegranate in different culture

Folklore of berries

The Northeast Native American tribes revered blueberries, and much folklore developed around them.

The blossom end of each berry, the calyx, forms the shape of a perfect five-pointed star; the elders of the tribe would tell of how the Great Spirit sent ‘star berries’ to relieve the children’s hunger during a famine.

Blueberry juice was used for ‘old coughs’ and tea made from Wild Blueberry leaves was believed to be a good tonic to help purify the blood.

Bilberry

Bilberry also called the whortleberry or mulberry, was significant calendar marker in Ireland up to the present.

Festivals celebrating the Celtic summer feast of Lughnasa included climbing hills to gather bilberries who were eaten on the spot or saved to make pies and wine; after Lughnasa, the berries were said to lose their flavor.

Blackberries, which were scared to the goddess Bridgit, ripen in late summer and early fall and blackberry wines were made and dedicated to her.

In Ireland there was and still is, a folk taboo against eating blackberries after the autumnal equinox, but all berries made into wines for the goddess were permissible to use.
Folklore of berries