The POMEGRANATE stands for fertility, abundance, rebirth and eternal life in ancient cultures. It is a fruit full of seeds, so associations with fertility and abundance are understandable. The POMEGRANATE, in the esoteric traditions, also stands for the “divine seed,” the kundalini energy, dormant at our sacrum. This is also related to the red color of the fruit, which corresponds to the color of the first chakra, where the kundalini is located. These qualities provide a plausible explanation for its symbolic meaning of rebirth and eternal life.

The POMEGRANATE plays an important role in the well-known Greek myth about the kidnapping of Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, by Hades, the god of the underworld. A story that is seen as an explanation for the changing seasons, but on a deeper level represents a kundalini awakening.

Persephone (the kundalini) is taken against her will by the god Hades to the underworld (the kundalini is ‘locked up’ in the pelvis). Demeter is inconsolable and goes into mourning, as a result of which all greenery on earth stops growing (spiritual barrenness, no longer experiencing a connection with God). Zeus, Persephone’s father, orders Hades to bring her back. Hades, however, tempts Persephone to eat six seeds (the sacred marriage takes place at the sixth chakra) of a POMEGRANATE, forcing her to return to the underworld for a few months each year. Persephone is freed from the underworld (the pelvis) by the god Hermes, the god with the caduceus, who represents a kundalini awakening.

Throughout the ages there have always been initiates, artists and mystics who knew that Jesus was not born as ‘the Son of God’, but had experienced a kundalini awakening, after which he was one with his Divine Father. The Gospel writers have hidden this spiritual truth in their texts in inventive ways, including the use of imagery and wordplay (see my books). Because of the rigid attitude of the church, the truth could not be spoken aloud, but underground, through esoteric groups such as the Freemasons, it found its way onto the canvas.

Two common interpretations for the POMEGRANATE in paintings with Mary and Jesus are:

1. In Catholic symbolism, the POMEGRANATE, as a rule, refers to the church because of the inner unity of countless seeds in one and the same fruit. Because of the many seeds, it was also a symbol of fertility and resurrection. (http://www.catholictradition.org/Saints/signs4.htm)
2.  The fruit, broken or cracked open, is a symbol of the fullness of Jesus’ passion and resurrection. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate)

THE SIGN OF THE SACRED MARRIAGE (two fingers together: 2=1) is incorporated in many paintings, in one form or another, often in combination with other esoteric symbolism. This hand gesture refers to a fusion of the polar energies/duality, and with this to a process of kundalini awakening.