In ancient Greece and Rome every god and goddess had a plant, fruit, or tree sacred to them. The oak was sacred to Zeus, the pomegranate to Hera, the olive tree to Athena, and so on. In Greece, anyone who dared to cut down an olive tree was liable to the death penalty.
Even Hades, the god of the underworld, had a tree sacred to him: the cypress.
What about blackberries? They too had their god to whom they were sacred. He was Saturn, the Latin equivalent of Cronus, the god of time in Greek mythology.
Lake Pergusa, the only natural lake in Sicily, is full of brambles. They surround the lake like a ring. The wild rabbits that live by the lake hide among the thorny brambles to escape their predators.
Blackberries are rich in therapeutic properties. They are anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory. Today, running around Lake Pergusa, I tasted some blackberries. I found them delicious!
Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– November 2: The Day of the Dead in Sicily
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
– Travels of the Mind
Ettore Grillo's Blog 