Blackberry Fruit Symbolism Facts & Literature: Astrology, Omens, Dreams, and Legends
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Blackberry Fruit Symbolism & Meaning
The Blackberry Fruit earned many symbolic meanings over the centuries. It is seen as the symbol of the end of summer and a sign that the colder months are about to begin. It was also seen as a protective berry for its nutritional value and was a symbol of the Hebrew god’s love for his people.
A number of organization finds the symbolic representation of the fruit significant for their emblems.
The most famous company using the Blackberry Fruit for their emblem is BlackBerry, known for smartphones and software services. Their minimalist logo is seven drupelets meant to resemble the Blackberry Fruit.
The Oregon Rasberry & Blackberry Commission (ORBC) is an institution that supports the interests of Orengon’s caneberry farmers. Their emblem is a simple colored graphic of the Blackberry Fruit.
Columbia Empire Farms is a company producing and selling wholesale farm products, most notably their berries. Their company emblem features various berries, including the Blackberry Fruit inside an oval border.
Violet Bistro is a Los Angeles-based eatery serving European and American classic dishes with its own cooking school upstairs. Their emblem is a charming side view of a kneeling pixie holding a Blackberry Fruit.
Rubus Development is a Germany-based joint venture dealing with hotels and real estate development with the goal of sustainable development. The organization’s emblem is an abstract image of the Blackberry Fruit in the form of stacked blocks.
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Blackberry Fruit Positive & Negative Symbolism
The Blackberry Fruit has the positive symbolism of protection, abundance, health, divinity, and prosperity. It is also seen as a protective fruit that can ward off negative energy.
On the other hand, Blackberry Fruits are negatively associated with death, arrogance, pain, grief, hastiness, and evil. The berry is also associated with evil witches who want to harm the good.
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Blackberry Fruit Origin
The exact origins of the Blackberry Fruit are unknown with wild Blackberries being present in Europe, Asia, North America, and Northern Africa for centuries. It typically thrives in the Northern Hemisphere with temperate climates.
It is theorized that hunter-gatherers since before the Iron Age have eaten Blackberries with the oldest evidence being around 500 BC. An Iron-aged woman, named Haraldskær Woman, was discovered well-preserved in a bog with contents of millets and Blackberries still in her stomach.
It is believed that through the centuries, the Blackberry Fruit was spread through the rest of the continents through trade and the natural migration of humans.
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Blackberry Fruit Cultural Symbolism
The Blackberry Fruit is the state fruit of Alabama, USA.
In Armenia, Blackberries–where they grow abundantly wild–are seen as a sign of resilience, hope, prosperity, and abundance. The Blackberry Fruit is a reminder of facing hardships and tasting the sweetness of overcoming them to Armenians.
Likewise, Native Americans see Blackberry Fruits as a symbol of prosperity and abundance. Along with Mexico, the Native American tribes of Cherokee, Chippewa, and Quilette use Blackberries for traditional remedies to illnesses.
In Europe, the Blackberry Fruit was given a negative reputation of being associated with pagan witches like those practicing Wicca. This gave them the symbol of death, remorse, pain, grief, evil, and lowliness.
The Hebrews have a more favorable view of the Blackberry Fruit, believing it to be a symbol of God’s divine love for his chosen people.
In Christianity, the crown of thorns put on Jesus during his crucifixion is believed to be the thorny branches of the Blackberry. Christians also believe that the dark color of the Blackberry Fruit became so because of Jesus’s blood.
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Blackberry Fruit in Art and Literature
The Blackberry Fruit has inspired many works of art and literature over the centuries with many notable examples.
The oil painting The Blackberry Gatherers was painted by William Bromley III–a grandson of the prominent engraver of the same name–who was active in the Victorian era. He prominently depicts the everyday scenes in the Victorian countryside. In The Blackberry Gathers, a woman and a child can be seen picking wild Blackberries.
Willem Claeszoon Heda, the Dutch painter prominently known for his innovative still-life paintings painted his 1961 still-life piece titled Breakfast Table with Blackberry Pie. The painting highlights the Blackberry pie in the middle of the painting with the cut-off slice on a plate in the foreground.
The Irish poet, playwright, and 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Seamus Heaney wrote the poem Blackberry picking in 1996. The poem seemingly reminisces a childhood memory of picking berries and not wanting them to spoil.
Sylvia Plath, the American poet and novelist best known for her work The Bell Jar, published a poem titled Blackberrying written in 1960 and published posthumously in 1970 in Crossing the Water.
The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, American poet Mary Oliver published her poem titled “August” in August of 1993 via Poetry magazine. The poem describes reaching for Blackberries during summer and eating them off the branch.
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Blackberry Favorite Fruit: Traits and Personality
If your favorite fruit is the Blackberry Fruit, this could mean that you can be stoic but are not afraid to feel emotions on the inside. You are typically graceful, logical, and incredibly intuitive. However, you can also be jealous and possessive with the people you are close with.
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Blackberry Fruit in Astrology or Zodiac
The Blackberry Fruit is greatly associated with the zodiac sign Scorpio. They may look intimidating or prickly at first, but Scorpios are sweet and loyal once people get past the getting-to-know stages.
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Blackberry Fruit in Dreams
Dreaming of the Blackberry Fruit could indicate the reverse of fortunes happening in life. They could also mean suppressed hidden urges are soon to burst out or the dreamer may be acting without caution.
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Blackberry Fruit Omens and Superstitions
Superstitions in Ireland and the UK say that Blackberry Fruits should not be consumed during Michaelmas. They believed this was when Lucifer cursed Blackberries, making those who ate them sick or have bad luck.
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Blackberry Fruit Legends, Mythology, and Folklore
According to a Christian legend, Lucifer fell into a thorny Blackberry bush when he was cast down from heaven after being defeated by the Archangel Michael, causing him to curse the once beautiful berries. It is said that the darkening of the colors of the Blackberry Fruits is Lucifer returning to curse the berries.
In Greek mythology, the hero Bellerophon committed hubris by believing he could fly to Mt. Olympus and live like a god. He was cast down from Pegasus and fell into a Blackberry bush injured and blind from the thorns.
