It's a beautiful lush green plant, perfect for a hedge of privacy. Its giant red flowers in the spring turn to large red pomegranates in the fall. More importantly though, is the power it possesses. It's often looked at as a symbol of fertility and the number of seeds represent the many children in one's future.
But somehow the pomegranate has evolved along the Greek countryside to include a power for warding off the evil eye . . . or so I've been told. For that reason, the pomegranate is often given as a silver jewel to hang somewhere in your home as a symbol of luck and prosperity, as well as insurance against unexpected mishaps.
The one that was given to me as a gift, hung on the handle of the Margariti kitchen window until the red string to which it was attached, broke. I worried that the broken string might somehow be related to a damaged future fate . . .
. . . but my mother-in-law assured me that it was the actual pomegranate that carried the power, so I put it in the silverware tray with the forks and spoons and knives. Silver with silver, no? This wonderful and easily accessed bringer-of-good-luck worked its way into the novel Your Own Kind.
Enjoy!
. . . that's when Cocho ran out of the post office to retrieve the silver pomegranate from his taxi. Dina was just hanging up the phone when he returned with it swinging on the thin red rope. The silver sparkled in the sunlight that found its way into the dusty post office windows and threw its rays against the cuts and angles of the pomegranate. Cocho explained how his mother had hung it on his rearview mirror when he'd bought his taxi, ten years before, and he'd been a lucky man ever since. Not one accident. No problems at all, only smooth sailing from that day on. The pomegranate's power was already well known in Exohorio but Cocho reminded them all of its strength.
Now that Dina realized her son would be coming home, she made a pilgrimage every morning to light a candle at the church of the Virgin Mary down in the village. But she also insisted on planting more pomegranate bushes around her garden, just as a little extra insurance for a safe return. And her neighbors followed suit, especially those who had someone traveling, which in fact was almost everyone . . .
Among the Zinnias will be published in March 2017. It is a tale of love and deception where the truth is often ignored, bringing devastation for some and for others, joy.
Eighty-five-year-old Giovanna Boeri awaits the return of her daughter, Angelina, from a place in America called New Jersey. She cannot understand why Angelina has left from their small Adriatic island when anything anyone would ever want is there on Incompresso.
Eighty-five-year-old Giovanna Boeri awaits the return of her daughter, Angelina, from a place in America called New Jersey. She cannot understand why Angelina has left from their small Adriatic island when anything anyone would ever want is there on Incompresso.
Angelina and her husband, Pasquale, are struggling to maintain a pizzeria in the small American town of Robin's Nest. Their son, Rocco, has just been released from an Italian jail at the age of twenty-five, after having served ten years for murder. Rather than have him return to their small island, they’ve bought the pizzeria in hopes of giving Rocco a new beginning. The pizzeria is supposed to be their catalyst to a happy life, though life rarely follows one's expectations.
Gina Ziti, an American customer, dealing with the grief of a parent and uncertainty about the direction of her marriage, finds herself several times a week visiting the pizzeria, enamored by the young Rocco.
In the meantime, back on Incompresso, Giovanna struggles to care for her ailing husband who is beset by memories of war and murder, one he himself committed and then realizes years later that it’s his grandson, Rocco, who will pay the price. As Giovanna comes to terms with her husband’s deteriorating mind, she throws away her age-old beliefs and realizes she cannot wait for others to decide her fate.
Come travel between the little Italian island of Incompresso and the rural town of Robin’s Nest. Experience passion, sorrow, laughter and love in a tale that moves between two cultures, a tale that will hold your heart and spark your desire to know what is happening. . .
Among the Zinnias!
Silver pomegranate:
https://www.evrima.gr/sterling-silver-pomegranate-medium-size-with-platinum-plating.-slr2012-05/
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