Pomegranate Rituals.

Oh so it's Autumn already! Indeed the fragrance of the night air has changed immensely, its all spicy and stirred with sights of golden leaves (although we don't get golden leaves in Egypt but still, I have an imagination) and so often now, my dad and I just sit at twilight in the balcony and sniff the navy air indulgently. Some of these moments make life seem so simple and astray from reality. 

So as I mentioned earlier, it is a jolly fruity season. We already had dates and their supply is ending soon, but enter pomegranates! Even guavas are starting to peep in all the markets, but they're still small and expensive so we just know it isn't the time yet. So yes, we did buy pomegranates today and I as soon as I came back, I darted to the kitchen to make my beautiful syrup.

I remember my grandmother and I used to put newspaper on the floor and just sit down, like really sit down, pull our sleeves and work with the pomegranates. We tap the skin hard enough a couple of times and with a knife, open the fruit, then we'd chatter joyfully for an hour or so as our fingers dived through the skin to extract those beautiful tiny seeds wrapped around a velvety sheath of hardened juice, that just icily crunches, and does so gracefully, in your mouth. Then we dice up a couple of guavas, pour chilled water and a few teaspoons of white sugar. As a child, it was always awful to wait until the concussion got a little colder in the fridge. But then I would enjoy my snack in lavish joy and content. That's why I really adore fruits and the simple pleasures they induce. :)

So today, as I cut my first pomegranate, i found the seeds clustered between the white skin, and I was illuminated by a moral: how the most beautiful treasures are often dug so deep, sometimes the best moments of our life come after periods of hopelessness and blunt realities, sometimes the most endearing laughs happen in the saddest occasions, it's because at these moments, you are so close to oneself that you are deeply intact to your heart and thus the deepest and most powerful feelings could be felt. I closed my eyes while my fingers softly broke those clusters apart and felt grateful for all those hardships that have passed and made my soul more clustered, more concentrated near myself. My soul will never depart me, it will remain within in its clarity and prosperity. And when the dry winds blow everything in their wake, it will cocoon itself protectively, and I will feel so empty, but it's just the new space evolving so that I can discover more about the energies within that vacuum. It's weird how I came to realise all this just from a pomegranate, but it's a beautiful process. :)

So, even though it does not look so romantic but I do suggest you leave some of the white skin while eating those beautiful fruits. They're too healthy to waste, honestly. Happy autumn, friends! :')

Soraya.

P.S: oh and I do advise you to listen to Vivaldi's Autumn music piece. It just lets Autumn flow through you. You can listen to it here. https://youtu.be/H7hGiZ579cs

(Personally, spring is my favourite)