CORN MOTHER:  Seeds and Sacrifice

Indigenous Cultures around the world have honored the Corn Mother. She is honored for her nurturing aspects, feeding the people with her grain. She is also honored for the aspect of sacrifice. If you draw or are drawn to this card, it is time to look at how you nurture yourself AND nurture others. All women who actively parent know that at times they must sacrifice their own needs and desires for the needs of the child. When the child is young, this happens frequently. As the child grows, the mother must gradually reclaim attending to her own needs and desires. Unfortunately some women fail to do this, for a variety of reasons, and get stuck in an over-giving pattern. If this is your pattern, it is time to attend to yourself more!

PRACTICE OPPORTUNITY: 

The festival of Lammas on August 2 is the first harvest festival in the Celtic calendar. It celebrates the ripening of corn and all grain. At any time of the year you can, in your imagination, select an ear of corn and begin harvesting the kernels. Which activities or events in your life have you done to nurture others? Which events have nurtured you? Which kernels of wisdom have you harvested for your own soul’s growth, to take into the beyond when this earthly life is over?

STORIES OF THE GODDESS:

CORN MOTHER was the first mother for the Penobscot Indians. When the children of the goddess had killed all the game animals and were hungry, Corn Mother had her husband kill her and drag her by the silky hair on her head until her flesh was scraped from her very bones. Seven months after these bones were buried, corn plants with silky tassels emerged from the ground to feed the people.