Pomegranates/Garnets! Garnets/Pomegranates!

In LA, the pomegranates are ripening. I would never have known this except that I visited with a friend who gave me one from her garden. Now, I’ve never eaten a pomegranate before; it is not only delicious but extremely beautiful—the deep red color of the seeds is reminiscent of garnets. And so as usual one thing led to another, and via the wonders of the internet, I discovered that garnets were actually named for the pomegranate, the word garnet coming from the Latin Garanatus meaning seed-like.

Garnets were used for adornment as far back as 3000 BC. The Egyptians hypothesized that these deep red stones were a curative. The ancient Greeks were also fond of garnets. In Greek mythology, Hades gave Persephone a pomegranate before she made her departure to assure her swift return, this led to the garnet signifying a way to reunite lovers. Garnets, given when setting forth on a journey, were considered an endowment of love, and regarded as an aid in the quest to find your cherished partner. Garnets were also worn in Medieval times where they symbolized passion, friendship, fidelity and devotion. The energy emanating from them was said to strengthen truth, faith, perception and courage. More recently, simply for their sheer beauty and richness of color, garnets were popular in Europe in 18th and 19th centuries.

Bohemian garnet jewelry (like the one above) became highly desirable during the Victorian era.

I found a lovely antique brooch of deep wine colored Bohemian garnets in the back room of dusty old antique store here in LA. It was missing a few stones, which I was happy to fill in with amber Swarovsky crystals, giving it a more spritely air (the photograph below, while wonderful does not do it total justice).  The vintage rhinestone flower and vintage bird on the wing complete the pendant, which is suspended from a vintage chain set with pearly Czech glass beads. In keeping with the idea of love, passion and faith, I named it Du Chastel D’Amour, from a medieval poem—

And . . . meanwhile back to the pomegranate . . . which I found is native to Iran, spread to the Himalayas in northern India and was cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region since ancient times. The tree was introduced into California by Spanish settlers in 1769, and now they grow quite happily here—and especially in my friend Mary’s garden.

Posted: October 6th, 2009 under Uncategorized.

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