25/09/2025
Pomegranates have started showing up in the fruit markets in Cyprus. In one basket, a single fruit was cut open so everyone could see its ripeness and juiciness.
Pomegranates always give me the feeling of abundance—their sophisticated flavor, a delicious combination of sweetness, tartness, juiciness and sunlight. They are the fruit of the long summer, now ready to be harvested in autumn. Sophisticated, rich, delightful. Every time I see a pomegranate, I feel the energy of autumn and I think of the Greek myth of Persephone.
By eating a single seed from the underworld, Persephone became bound to it—spending six months as Queen of Darkness with her husband Hades, and six months on the earth’s surface with her mother Demeter, as the land blossomed in light. For me, this myth is more than just an explanation of the seasons. In these relationships—wife of Hades and daughter of Demeter—I see a reflection of our own intimate relationships with darkness and with light, with the magic of the seasons.
There is a deep romance in this cycle: with nature, with the changing phases of the sun and moon, with light and shadow. It is something we can truly feel when we open ourselves to it. It lives in our psyche, and also in our bodies, which are attuned to circadian and circannual rhythms. We are now in the equinox window, and the light we receive—especially in the morning and before sunset—is crucial. It informs our cells, shifting our biology for the next six months. This is mythology, and it is also science. It moves through our consciousness, and it pulses in our bodies. (By the way, Dr. Azra Bertrand is an amazing guide if you want to explore the science and magic of circannual rhythms.)
Eating a pomegranate, I commune with both light and darkness. I relish the magic of the seasons. I surrender to the stories the autumn sun wants to tell me, and to the mysteries of long, dark nights filled with magic.
Photo by Nasim Keshmiri on Unsplash