The idea for The Pomegranate was initially developed by Fritz Muntean, a graduate student in religious studies at the University of British Columbia in Canada, who started the venture with his friend Diana Tracy, who was then living in Oregon in the United States.

[1] Initially naming their work The Pomegranate: A New Journal of Neopagan Thought, the stated intention of the publication was to "provide a scholarly venue for the forthright and critical examination of Neopagan beliefs and practices".

[1] From 1996 to 2001, Muntean published 18 issues of The Pomegranate on a quarterly basis, gaining a growing readership as time went on, particularly after Muntean and Tracy introduced the journal to the assembled members at the third Nature Religions Scholars Network (NRSN), a group which met in conjunction with the annual San Francisco meeting of the American Academy of Religion.

[1] Muntean eventually decided to move on from his work as editor of The Pomegranate, leaving that position to be occupied by Clifton.

[2] The journal is abstracted and indexed in Religious and Theological Abstracts, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Current Contents/Arts & Humanities, and Academic Search Premier and other EBSCO databases.