Happy Full Moon – July 13, 2022
Eggplants, Mystery, & Mindfulness
One of my goals this summer is to harvest more eggplant than I can possibly eat – and then give the rest away. I love eggplant and it is hard to get enough. Apparently, they grow wild in India. Can you imagine foraging for eggplants?
Eggplants are perennials but most of us in North America grow them as annuals since the first frost will take them out. They are fairly easy to grow but need to be started indoors to accommodate a short growing season. And although they love heat, I’ve found that they are not a fan of the scorching sun here in Denver and I often put up shade cloth in July and August.
Eat at Your Peril (Just Kidding)
Eggplant resonates with the energy of mystery for many reasons. Like tomatoes, they are part of the nightshade family and at various times and places people around the world assumed they were poisonous.
The botanical name of the plant – Solanum melongena – has some mysteries attached to it. Solanum, the genus means comforting or soothing. But depending on the authority you turn to, the second part of the name, melongena, references the plant’s melon like shape OR it means “mad apple”. And that points to the idea that eggplant was thought to contribute to anger or melancholy (take your pick).
In the 1597 book by English herbalist John Gerard, General Historie of Plantes , the author referred to eggplants as raging apples and wrote: “I would rather English men to content themselves with the meat and sauce of their own country then with fruit and sauce eaten with such peril for doubtless these apples have a mischievous quality the use thereof is utterly to be forsaken.”
That one made me laugh! It’s a mystery to me why anyone would think the plant caused rage.
The Energy of Mystery
Eggplants have always held the energy of mystery for me. Although eggplants can be white and lavender, many are a deep purple hue – the color of the highest chakra. Their unusual shape and shiny skin also hint at mystery. The egg shape represents the unknown – the potential for something new and different to emerge, but we don’t know what.
As we are harvesting and eating eggplant this summer we can reflect on the mysteries – big and small in our lives. If we allow ourselves time to stop and think about them – mysteries abound.
Mysteries I Wonder About – Big and Small
- Why, if two plants are started from seed at the same time and growing in the same soil, does one thrive and the other not?
- Why do the neighborhood squirrels bring me peanuts in the shell (from a neighbor who feeds them), deposit them in my yard
Eggplant Flowers and dig up a small plant that they then leave to die?
- On to bigger things – Why do friendships fall apart – not just any friendship but the ones where you were sure you were kindred spirits?
- How can people growing up in the same family have such wildly divergent views?
- Why are some people so sure they know best how others should live?
- And much bigger – What is dark matter?
- How can the universe go on forever?
- Why does time only move in one direction?
A Mindful Focus on Mystery
I could go on with my list, but I’m sure you have a list of your own. It might be uncomfortable to shine a light on the mysteries and unanswered questions that surround us. Certainly we can work to solve the mysteries in our lives. However at its deepest level, life is a mystery. We may believe one thing or another, but at the end of the day, there is a part that is unknowable. When we are mindfully paying attention to the world, we’ll find mysteries everywhere. We can consciously work to embrace the uncertainty and possibly even celebrate it. Let me know in the comments what mysteries you are discovering.
Just a note
Eggplants are one of the five plant illustrations available on notecards at my Etsy site. Check it out here.
About My Lunar Blog Post Series
This post is part of my lunar blog post series. Each full moon, I write about one of the plants profiled in my book Growing Mindful. The monthly entries will highlight the plant’s energetic correspondence as a focal point for mindfulness and meditation. Click here for more information on the Lunar Blog Post Series
