Pinecone is an object that is part of Sicilian tradition. It is in great demand by tourists who want to bring to their loved ones a souvenir with a message of luck and prosperity.
Ancient symbol
It is a symbol ancient like the world. In fact we find it in ancient Egypt, in Babylon and in Greece as an image of the divine and immortality. Being a fruit generated by an evergreen, the pine cone symbolized the life force and eternity. While for the abundance of its seeds it was a clear recall to fruitfulness and to the generative force of life. It was often associated with the cosmic egg and therefore with the birth and creation of the human race.
The pine cone according to the philosophers
For them it represented the pineal gland, located at the center of the brain and, by the way, Descartes wrote:
I am convinced that the soul can not stay anywhere else in the body other than this gland, in which it immediately exercises its functions, because I have observed that all the other parts of our brain are double, in the same way that we have two eyes, two hands, two ears, as, finally, all the organs of our external senses are double.
Now, since we have of one thing, at a certain moment, a single and simple thought, it must be some place in which the two images coming from the two eyes, or other dual organs of the other senses, and can be unified before reaching the soul […] there is in fact no other place in the body where they can be gathered together, if the meeting did not take place in this gland.
Pine cone in the tradition
Since ancient times, having a very positive meaning, it is an habit to give it as a present. You can even decorate your home to be a good omen for your family. In the peasant tradition the bedroom of the newlyweds was adorned with pine cones to wish the formation of a large family. For its beautiful meaning it is very suitable as a gift to the spouses, to those who have just opened a house or to congratulate a birth.
Pine cone in Sicily
In Sicily this tradition is so loved that the ceramic pine cone is present in almost all homes: on the pillars placed at the entrance, on the balconies or inside the rooms. Moreover, the most superstitious even use it for documents on office desks, preferring the color red or yellow.
Whatever the use it is made of, it will always be a much appreciated gift.
Finally, it is an indisputably elegant gift and also give a message of prosperity and serenity for those who receive it.
