Not Your Grandma's Fig Newtons: Figs as a Symbol of the Dark Feminine
- Adelemarie Palermo
- Sep 3, 2023
- 6 min read
Figs are definitely the dark feminine in a fruit, representing fertility and the forbidden. Since it is now fig season, which directly predates spooky season, let's talk about it. Sadly too many people don’t know this, only tasting them in sugary jams, fig newtons that have been mummifying in your grandma's cupboard, or overpriced and underripe from the grocery store. If you’ve gone out on a balmy September morning and plucked a succulent fruit from the tree, while the leaves waft their green aroma beckoning you to come closer, you know it’s a completely different ball game.
For me, they represent heritage too. My great-grandma smuggled a tiny sprig on the boat from Sicily on the way to the USA, and we’ve all taken sprigs from that tree since. Every August they reliably ripen, and become the best snack as I climb out of my swimming pool and pluck one off the tree. With some brie and honey? Divine. Ethnobotanically, they are native to Mediterranean climates and have been prized for their nutrient density and sweetness. since ancient times. Myth and literature surrounding them is unsurprisingly also focused in ancient Mediterranean civilizations such as Sumer, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, and other Middle Eastern cultures.
Figs as a Dark Feminine Symbol
The dark feminine is a term that’s been tossed around by influencers lately, and it’s the “shadow” side of femininity, where there’s mystery, seduction, and sometimes rage. This is not necessarily evil, but it is the depths of the feminine essence, where the most raw, primal energy is. It is the flip side to what we call the “light feminine”, where women are graceful, nurturing, and playful. Light and dark, like life and death, are concepts that cannot exist without each other. It is the cycles of death and birth that are so often associated with feminine essence, such as our literal ability to give life, and even the life and death duality of the menstrual cycle. Some even argue that this in itself is the core of the feminine.
Figs are unique in that they are botanically not a fruit in themselves. The fruit, is technically a fleshy protrusion of the stem that is a sac containing a bunch of inverted flowers. The fig has a tiny opening in the bottom, where the fig’s one true love, the fig wasp, can pollinate the fruit. There hundreds of fig cultivars, and hundreds of fig wasp species, who have a symbiotic relationship. When they ripen, they are soft, succulent, and you can see the nectar bulging through the skin sometimes. They truly are the fruit of seduction. The supposed importance of the dark feminine, according to femininity coaches, is that this allows women to have boundaries and keep their mystery, along with their dignity. Figs do this naturally, only sharing their flowers with one potential suitor, and being a seductive mystery to all other creatures. The fig tree doesn’t spend time putting herself on display in hopes someone will like her. She knows know what is meant for her, and only those with enough courage can explore what’s inside. She has nourished by her energy. The fig is like Morticia Addams: dark, mysterious, and only needs one man who absolutely cannot live without her.
Dark Feminine Associations in Lore
Romans associated the fig with the goddess of nursing mothers Rumina (Larkin, 2011), and her place of worship was under a fig tree on the Palatine hill. Romans left offerings of milk under this fig tree as a way to pray for a healthy lactation and nursing experience for mothers. Some literature mentions Rumina suckling animals, similar to the Mesopotamian demoness Lilith. This is interesting, as Lilith was sometimes described as a nymphomaniac, dangerous, and her interactions with animals are from grief that she never got to become a mother (History Hits, 2023). Lilith is probably the most ancient, complete characterization of the dark feminine, and the idea of her suckling the animals is that she takes what isn’t hers, and exerts her will, not caring whose toes she steps on. I wasn’t able to find any links directly from the myth of Lilith to Rumina or any Roman folklore, but it was worth noting the patterns that are widespread across cultures. They also associated the plant with the god Bacchus, whose festivals always centered around debauchery and excess. Benedictine Abbess Hildegard of Bingen wrote, “The fruit of this tree is not good for a person who is physically healthy to eat, since it affords him pleasure and gives him a swelled mind” (Larkin, 2011). The Middle Ages when Hildegard lived were much later, but the belief persisted that figs are a symbol of guilty pleasure.
Romulus and Remus were also detailed to be found by the she-wolf under a fig tree. They were scandalous children, made by Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin, and were then cared for by the wolf, another metaphor for primal femininity. Romulus and Remus were not “good boys from a nice family”. They were nobody’s legitimate children, and nursed by the beast. The light and dark converged when the she-wolf found them under the tree. They were nurtured and protected, yes, but also exposed to the wild, primal femininity of the wolf. They grew up powerful because of this, as they were children of destiny itself, and were the gate between earth and the underworld. Once again, even if the fig tree wasn’t the “dark” side itself, we can see that the connection is still made.
One of the most iconic representations of the dark feminine archetype is Cleopatra, headstrong queen and notorious seductress. It is said that figs were her favorite fruit, so much so that she asked her servants to bring her suicide method, a venomous Egyptian cobra called an asp, into the palace in a basket of figs. Perhaps she wanted to sneak the asp into the palace with something she liked so that nobody would question the basket. Maybe she wanted to enjoy her favorite fruit for her last meal. In a blog post by Respect Food, it is said that Egyptians would sometimes bury a fig with their dead. Figs have notoriously deep and strong roots, and therefore have an association with the underworld, another place of the dark. She wanted a death befitting her, and was possibly making the point that she went to the underworld a queen, and nobody could take that from her. She, in true dark feminine fashion, donned her best dress, and never let anyone unworthy have a piece of her without her express permission. Much like her favorite fruit, she let nobody into her depths, and kept her dignity. The sycamore fig in ancient Egypt was associated with primordial goddess Hathor, who would welcome them to the underworld when they died. She was also the goddess of fertility as well, and so we never escape that association. The presence of magnesium and vitamin B6, two main nutrients critical for progesterone production means that ancient people were definitely onto something.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
—Genesis 3:6, 7
The Bible cites Adam and Eve as sewing together fig leaves to hide their nakedness, and some writings even describe the “apple tree” as a fig tree. Eve’s association to the fig comes when she loses her innocence, and opens her eyes to good and evil. She interacts with the plant after Falling from grace, implying that the fig is being used to integrate her shadow self into her being. The fig plant is what she uses to create her shadow self, actually, in that she was no mystery before her fall from grace. Her full body in all its vulnerability was on display at first, and the mysterious, disillusioned Eve was created when she learned of shame, and donned her shadow represented by the fig leaves.
Figs’ widespread geographical reach, along with it’s unusual reproductive habits have made them a topic of legend for millennia. These tasty, nutritious, and delicious fruits have stood the test of time, and are often correlated with the shadow side of femininity. So this fall, have a plate of figs, and channel your inner femme-fatale. Just try not to actually kill anyone. You’ll got to jail, and it’ll be a whole big thing. Happy fig season!
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