Happy Equinox, everyone!
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, we are entering Autumn and descending into the dark time of the year. This is a time for us to have gratitude for the “harvests” that we have reaped at this point in the turning of the wheel, and start to go within…
And if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, you are ascending back into the light with freshness, and a promise of the new.
Why Pomegranate?
It is on these equinoxes that the Greek myth of Persephone centers. During the autumn equinox she made her descent into the Underworld, and after her time there, she emerged in the Spring initiated from a maiden to a Queen.
Pomegranates are featured in Persephone’s story. It is because she ate this fruit while in the Underworld that she was set to return to both places above and below, over and over.
And so, we could consume this fruit to acknowledge this process that we undergo as well, each year. Let us go into the dark. And let us emerge, reborn and empowered.
Here is a pomegranate tea recipe based on and inspired by an old blog post by author Benebell Wen…
Ingredients:
- 3 pomegranates
- 8 cups water
- Sweetener to taste (I use brown rice syrup or coconut blossom sugar)
Instructions:
- Wash and wipe clean each pomegranate.
- Cut horizontally in half, so that you may see a star shape.
- Extract the seeds into a large bowl. There are two ways to extract seeds: 1) With a large spoon, hit the back of the fruit over the bowl so that the seeds may fall out. When most of the seeds have fallen out, put the fruit inside out to extract the rest of the seeds. This is a fun but potentially messy process, so be sure not to wear white! 2) Place the fruit in a bowl with water so that it may soak for a bit. The fruit will then break apart more easily, and the seeds will come out more easily as well, by hand.
- Put the seeds in a pot and crush with a mortar (Benebell Wen treats this as a meditative process and chants mantras while doing this. I love this idea! Good ol’ “Om” would be a great one to do).
- Put the pot on the stove, add water and bring to a boil.
- Cover and simmer for about an hour.
- Stir in sweetener and serve.
You could enjoy this drink warm or iced, as is appropriate for the climate you are in. Some lemon juice and/or mint may be nice, as well.
Have a magical transition, everyone!
Love,
Ellie
