(Zea Mays) Seed, silk: G
Folk Names: Giver of life, Maize, Sacred
Mother, Seed of Seeds
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Earth
Powers: Protection, Luck, Divination
Ritual Uses: The Corn Mother, or Goddess,
is a deity of plenty and of fertility, long
worshipped throughout the East and
North America. The Zunis utilize different
colors of corn in their religious rituals.
Blue corn meal is used to bless and is scattered
as an offering.
Magical Uses: Reach into a bin of corn, pull
out any ear, count the grains. Allow twelve
grains of corn for each year and it will tell
your age.
An ear of corn is placed within the
cradle to protect the baby against negative
forces. A bunch of cornstalks hung over the
mirror brings good luck to the household,
and a necklace made of dried red corn kernels
prevents nosebleed.
Pollen from corn was used to make rain
by ancient Meso-American peoples, probably
by tossing it into the air.
At one time, in the mountains of the
United States, if a birth was difficult, red
corncobs were burned on the doorstep of
the cabin (or even under the bed) to speed
up the process.
