Pictured: VLADIMIR KUSH: SUNRISE BY THE OCEAN.
The Sicilian ceramic pine cone represents a symbol of good luck and health. This symbol does not belong exclusively to the allegorical imagery of Sicily, but rather, it has very ancient roots dating back to historical civilizations such as the Babylonian, Egyptian and classical Greek ones. Although it changes location and although it is told in different myths and oral traditions, its meanings do not vary excessively from one culture to another and have reached the present day.
intact and unchanged. First of all, since the dawn of time, the image of the pine cone has been associated with the idea of the divine and immortality. Being the fruit of an evergreen tree, the pine, it embodies the concept of vital force and eternity.
Furthermore, in ancient times, it was not unusual for this woody fruit to be associated with the concept of the cosmic egg, linked, therefore, to the theories on the birth and origin of the world and of the human being. In addition, some philosophers, including Descartes, identified in the pine cone a reference to the pulmonary gland, located in the center of the brain, the place where the soul was believed to be located and, therefore, the point where the concepts and impressions of the world were stored.
Among the many meanings, however, the one that remains most pervasive, especially in the Sicilian tradition, is the one that links the pine cone to the idea of fertility and life-generating force. This correlation is derived, most likely, from the presence inside the pine cone of many "children", the pine nuts, which abound
inside. It is no coincidence, therefore, that it was customary, and still is today, to give pine cones to newlyweds, wishing them the arrival of many children.
Finally, we underline that the Sicilian artistic pine cone is also a symbol of fertility of the mind that produces ideas of renewal and development.
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