Fountains Square, Baku: Pomegranate Tree

11th August 2013

I have arrived in Azerbaijan.  The heat here is extraordinarily dry and intense. Thankfully though, there is the khazri - the blissful wind that arrives from the south over the Caspian Sea.  Never before have I spent time anywhere quite so exotic.  The smells, sights and sounds are a far cry from the Devon hedgerows I know and love.  In the evenings, from the balcony of our apartment the lights of the city come alive while the moon rises and the sound of the mosques calling people to pray is magical.

The city itself is kept immaculately.  There is untold wealth here and no expense has been spared on maintaining the image of a cosmopolitan environment, but the place has been 'built' for the ex-pats, the workers and their money.  As such, Baku is very much a man's world and in the evenings, the bars bristle with testosterone.  Whether it be the European riggers, drillers and engineers or the local Azeris and Turkish men, all of whom have money to spend and are looking for ways to spend it.

Just off the centre of Fountains square is this Armenian church.  Now bricked up but still standing, which is remarkable given the recent war and bloodshed between the neighbouring countries.

Pomegranates grow in the closed off garden here and the fruits are used throughout the cusine here. The juice and syrup taste wonderful and the seeds look like the finest, glittering rubies. Naturally, they are steeped in history and mythology throughout the Middle East.  Here is the story of Persephone... and an excuse for some more artwork:

Persephone (Prosperine in Roman) was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and Zeus. Persephone is often known as the Kore (or Cora, meaning young maiden) or called the Maiden. She is often depicted carrying a sheaf of grain, symbolising her connection to Demeter and Earth's fertility. 

Because of her beauty, everyone loved her, including Hades, ruler of the Underworld. It is said that several gods flattered and flirted with her, until Demeter hid her daughter from the Olympian gods. 

Proserpine ~ DG Rossetti

Persephone lived alone, caring for nature and planting seeds, however, she did eventually become the wife of Hades. From that time on, she was often known as 'Queen of the Dead' and it was taboo to speak her name aloud, so many continued to refer to her as the Kore.

Hades had fallen in love with Persphone. He wanted to marry her, despite Demeter's wishes. One day in a field on Enna, Persephone was picking flowers when the ground opened up. Hades rode up in a chariot from beneath, grabbed Persephone and escaped to the Underworld with her. Persephone was now his and there were only two witnesses; Zeus and Helios, the sun. Persephone's mother Demeter was not told what had happened.

L'enlevement de Proserpine ~ Simone Pignoni

Shortly after though, when Demeter realised her daughter was missing she was crushed and lost, the earth feeling the intense impact of her grief.  Droughts, blights, farms were destroyed as Demeter continually searched for Persephone. 

The earth suffered as she did. Finally, Helios came forward and told Demeter what had actually happened.

The return of Persephone ~ Frederick Leighton

Demeter rushed up to Mount Olympus to plead with Zeus. He agreed that Persephone could be returned to her motherand the heavens if, she had not eaten anything while in the Underworld as eating in this place was strictly forbidden.  Demeter agreed and Hermes was sent to retrieve Persephone - However, Persephone had eaten something down in the Underworld. Tricked by Hades and starving, she ate seven pomegrante seeds.  According to what Zeus had said, she could not then leave but Zeus compromised to keep order.  Persephone would spend 7-months of the year with his husband, Hades, and the other 5-months with her mother.

This legend explains the changes in seasons throughout the year. Autumn through to winter, Persephone acts as Queen of the Underworld and lives with Hades - Spring and summer are then spent with her mother.

Kingskerswell, Devon: Domestic Cat

7th August 2013

Today I said goodbye to another piece of my heart that I am leaving in Devon.  This unremarkable scrap of grey fuzz has been my companion for the last 8-years and has seen me through thick and thin.  I scooped her up from a farm on the edges of Dartmoor when she was a tiny kitten, where her fate was sure to be a less than an attractive one.

To others, she must seem to be a very ordinary cat - with few redeeming qualities.  She won't be picked up, she doesn't play, she has not been known to hunt anything larger than a cricket and tends to run away from, everyone. 

Nevertheless in private and with it seems only me, she is the most loving creature who subtly communicates herself with a continual purr whenever we are alone together.  I shall miss her immensely.