Last month I got my first tattoo. A big, blooming and ripe pomegranate. It is an illustration from Anna Maria Sibylla Merian (minus the butterfly tranformations). She was ahead of her time,a German woman traveling in Africa in the 1600's to study and make paintings of plants and insects. Her detailed observations and documentation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly make her a significant, albeit not well known, contributor to entomology.
Also... A few things about the pomegranate that inspire me(totally clipped from wikipedia):
Jewish tradition teaches that the pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness, because it is said to have 613 seeds which corresponds with the 613 mitzvot or commandments of the Torah. However, the actual number of seeds varies with individual fruits. For this reason and others, many Jews eat pomegranates on Rosh Hashanah. It is also a symbol of fruitfulness. Some Jewish scholars believe that it was the pomegranate, not the apple, that was the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden.
Pomegranates are a motif found in Christian religious decoration. The fruit, broken or bursting open, is a symbol of the fullness of his suffering and resurrection.[34] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, pomegranate seeds may be used in kolyva, a dish prepared for memorial services, as a symbol of the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom
According to the Qur'an, pomegranates grow in the gardens of paradise (55:068). According to Islamic tradition, every seed of a pomegranate must be eaten, because one can't be sure which aril came from paradise. The Prophet Mohammed is said to have encouraged his followers to eat pomegranates to ward off envy and hatred.[34] The Qur'an also mentions (6:99, 6:141) pomegranates twice as examples of good things God creates.
The myth of Persephone, the chthonic goddess of the Underworld, also prominently features the pomegranate.
