Pomona ~ Lady of Abundance

Click on image for larger view

The Latin term numen is indicative of a omnipotent power or spirit that is present within a place or in an object. According to the Romans, the Numina were thought to be a select group of several guardian spirits who watched over and protected homes and the people who dwelled within them. It was customary for Roman families to make daily tribute to them in order to appease but also to ensure the continued blessings and good fortune upon their households. Pomona was among the host of goddesses and gods designated to comprise the Domus Numina - spirits of the home.

Pomona's name is derived from the Latin pomum, meaning "fruit" and pome, meaning "apple" and where we acquire other words like the French pomme, also meaning "apple", and "pomegranate", literally translated from the Latin pome and granatum to mean "apple with many seeds." It's not hard to guess then that she's the goddess who oversees the growth, care, cultivation and flourishing of all fruit trees, gardens, orchards and vineyards. 

Unlike a great majority of Roman gods and goddesses, Pomona has no Greek counterpart. She's an exclusively Roman deity. 

As fruit was often harvested in late Summer and early Autumn - and in particular, apples and pomegranates - her annual festival celebrating her gifts of an abundant harvest were always held on November 1st, a date that often coincided with the beginning of the lunar new year. As the produce of the Autumn harvest itself signifies the stage of what began as a seed in Spring, so does the celebration of Pomona's festival; the ending of the old lunar year and the beginning of a brand new cycle where the seeds of the previous harvest will serve to create the fruits of the next. 

It is for this reason the ancient Romans honored her daily and bent over backwards to ensure the happiness and satisfaction of this particular Domus Numina. They believed she had the power to ensure life as well as take it away. If the orchards and crops in the field failed and died, so too might the people of the household. No fruit yields no seed, thus the life cycle could easily cease if a crop failed more than two years in a row.

Romans viewed the apple to be a symbol of love, fertility and prosperity. The book of Genesis, which predates Roman civilization, never specifies what kind of fruit grew on the Tree of Knowledge and yet, after the influence of the Roman Empire upon Western civilization, Héva/Eve is often depicted holding a very ripe, red apple. This gives the symbolic meaning of the Tree of Knowledge a whole new spin, doesn't it? A tree whose fruit contains the energy of love, fertility and prosperity? Well, why wouldn't Héva/Eve want to take a big, juicy bite? :)

The apple is also associated with the Greek child goddess, Kore, daughter of the agricultural goddess, Demeter. Slice an apple in half through the middle center and you will see a pentacle, a five pointed star within a circle and symbol of the goddess, at the core (Kore).

When Kore came of age, she was kidnapped by the god of the dead, Hades, to live in the underworld as his wife. Demeter went into mourning for her lost daughter and thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus, the highest ranking of the Greek gods, could not leave the Earth to die, so he commanded Hades to return Kore to her mother. However, it was the rule of the goddesses of fate, the Moirae, that anyone who consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Kore had no food, but Hades tricked her into eating four pomegranate seeds while she was still his prisoner and so, because of this, she was condemned to spend four months in the Underworld every year. 

During the months she presided over the underworld with her husband, she was known as Persephone, Queen of the Dead. While there, her mother mourned her lost daughter and refused to care for the earth, letting all life become seemingly barren. When Persephone returned each Spring as the renewed Kore, all life began anew again. This became an ancient Greek explanation for the changing seasons. Thus the pomegranate became a symbol of both life and death. To this day, pomegranates are still prominent elements of both Greek weddings and funerals.

Apples, pomegranates, life, death, rebirth... In the ancient Roman world view, all these things were overseen and attended to by the gracious Numina, Pomona.

A pomegranate blossom - I've drawn some in Pomona's hair

When I was about 10 years old, I developed an abiding fascination with superstitions and folk customs after running across a few books on the subject at the public library. I was also suddenly very preoccupied with all things pertaining to love, romance and getting the boy down the street to like me. I wished on the first star I saw every night, I blew on dandelion tufts and made more wishes, I plucked flower petals and chanted "He loves me, he loves me not..." all in an attempt to gain his attention.

In these books I discovered even more creative little things I could try to ensure he'd fall madly in love with me. Some of most simple just happened to involve apples. All these years later with a little more knowledge under my belt, it's interesting to me now how these silly little superstitious charms and practices tie in to the spirit of Pomona and all she represents.

Oh, and for the record, he did end up falling madly in love with me. He was my first real boyfriend and we "went around" for nearly two years... until I dumped him. I'm not saying it was because of all these apple charms and all the nights I wished on stars or all the flowers I mutilated... but who's to say it wasn't? :P

Here are just a few of the apple goodies I remember off the top of my head:

~ Hold an apple by the stem and twist the apple while you say the alphabet. The letter you are saying when the stem breaks is the initial of your true love's name. You can start saying the alphabet at either end.

~ Peel an apple all around, making on long piece of peel. Throw the skin over your left shoulder and the initials of your future mate's name will appear in the twist of the peel. While throwing the apple, you have to say the following charm:

Apple peel, apple peel, twist then rest,

Show me the one that I'll love best.

Apple peel over my shoulder fly,

Show me the one I'll love till I die.

~ Take that same apple peel and hang it by your front door. The first initials of the first guy to enter your home will be the same as your future lover/husband.

~ To see an actual image of her future husband, you need to stand in front of a mirror while eating an apple. You must do this while also combing your hair at midnight on Halloween. Supposedly, his image will be reflected in the mirror just over your left shoulder. Honestly though, I never tried this one. Doing things in mirrors always kinda freaked me out after all the Bloody Mary in the mirror stories I'd heard in 3rd and 4th grade.

~ Now, if there are two guys you can't seem to make up your mind about, here's what you do: take two apple seeds and give each one the name of one of the guys you like. Spit on both of them and then stick them to your forehead. The seed that stays on the longest shows who is right for you. I never tried this one either because I've always been a single minded thing, liking only one guy at a time. If any of you out there decide to try it, let me know how it works. :)

~ Here's apple charm to bring you what your heart most passionately desires:

Whatsoever your heart desires

Write it down in words of fire

Cut the Sacred Apple through

Place your wish between the two

Seal with twigs from the Lady's Tree

Place in a kiln until dried it be

Sleep upon it night or day

Until good fortune comes your way

~ Conversely, to banish all your life's woes, illness, bad habits or self-defeating thoughts, cut an apple in half just before midnight on Halloween. Core the apple and then mentally fill it with all you wish to pass away from you and die. Put the fruit back together, tie it with a black ribbon and bury it in the ground. As the apple rots supposedly all your problems will to.

~Here's a charm I still say when I eat an apple and then compulsively count the seeds it contains, although I don't think I've ever managed to find more than 11 seeds, which is probably why I'm still unmarried. Hmmm...:

One I love,

Two I love,

Three I love I say;

Four I love with all my heart

Five I cast away.

Six he loves,

Seven she loves,

Eight they both love;

Nine he comes,

Ten he tarries,

Eleven he courts and

Twelve he marries.

Thirteen wishes,

Fourteen kisses,

All the rest are little witches!

~ The traditional way of bobbing for apples is for an even number of boys and girls to insert their names into a cored apple apiece and re-core them. The apples are then placed in a large tub filled with water and participants bob for their love interest for the year ahead (because bobbing for apples is traditionally done on Halloween/Samhain - the ending of the old lunar year).

~ There is another apple game for boys called Snap Apple. Apples are hung from the ceiling on strings. The object is for the boys to leap and try to sink their teeth into them. The first boy to bite into an apple will be the first to marry.

~ To keep negative energy from coming your way, always rub your apple over your heart with your right hand before eating it.

And, of course, you can always honor Pomona - or at least what she represents - in your own home without resorting to all this silly schoolgirl hoopla... which has pretty much become my way after years and years of hoopla. Simply fill pretty bowl with apples - which are always in season nowadays - and grapes and pomegranates when you can get them. Set the bowl on your dining room or kitchen table as a continual visual, tactile and yummy reminder of all the fruitful abundance, love and joy in living that comprises your life. 

And most importantly of all... Pomona is a city here in Southern California and one of my most beloved friends, Ariyanna, was born there.

See, Yanna? I told you I'd put it in. ;)