History teaches us that throughout the years there have always been myths and legends related to people, objects, weather, nature, and so on.

These precede scientific development and are part of our cultural background, so it is always good to know the thinking of those who were here before us. So, many tales and traditions are passed down from generation to generation, and some of them also involve food and fruit in particular. Today we will look together at a very interesting one related to the meaning of persimmon seeds!

An ancient tradition

That of persimmon seeds is a tradition that dates back to ancient times and was passed down mainly among farmers who have carried it over to the present day. Between October and December, along with chestnuts, is the time also for persimmons, fruits that color the wonderful autumn season. In the center of the fruit are, of course, the seeds, which if you open exactly halfway, you can make out the shapes of cutlery, precisely knife, fork and spoon. These are more vividly white than the rest of the interior of the seed, which is almost transparent. Now you may wonder what this has to do with tradition, well, based on which cutlery was found in the persimmon, predictions were made about the winter weather. However, there is to understand why the seeds gave precisely the shape of the cutlery. This is a coincidence, based on the cutlery the fruit is in a particular state of ripeness. But now let us go into detail and see what was the intrinsic meaning of this tradition!

Hidden Meaning of the Seeds

As mentioned earlier, this old legend helped farmers predict winter with persimmon seeds. To this day, alas, it is increasingly rare to harvest and, consequently, find persimmons with the seed. At best you can find some with smaller seeds, but if you want to try cutting them, they will do just fine! The  first step is to hold the seed firmly vertically and cut it, being very careful not to hurt yourself, lengthwise. There will be lines closing the two parts of the seed that can help you. Once you have opened the seed you will find the cutlery pictured. The meanings are as follows:

• Fork: predicts the coming of a winter with mild temperatures.
• Spoon: there will be a winter with lots of snow to shovel.
• Knife: foretells a sharp winter, therefore long and with little rain.

Curious, isn’t it? Now that you too have learned about this very interesting tradition, you can pass it on to the little ones or play the guessing game with them trying to guess which cutlery will come out! It is also a good approach to teach how a plant sprouts or how a change of seasons occurs during the year and all the weather that comes with it!