As a child growing up in Ohio, August was one of my favorite months. The best sweet corn in the world was harvested then and we would eat it almost every night for dinner. It was super sweet and succulent and the juice would explode in your mouth, bite after bite. All summer long, the fields and fields of corn would tease us with its perfect rows of green stalks and golden tufts. These days I don’t reside in Ohio but I still love sweet corn and Lammas, the first harvest holiday, is the perfect time to give thanks for the “first sister”.

Corn was an important, if not the most important staple for the Native American Indians. Corn figures in many Native Indian myths of the beginning of people on earth and each tribe has their own story. The Navajo believe that corn was among the First Ones and that First Man and Woman were created from two ears of corn, one white and one yellow.

Corn, the first of the three sisters as the Native Indians referred to them (squash and beans being the other two) was not only a food staple but symbolized the essence of life – fertility, growth and renewal. The early Pilgrims would never have survived their first winter if the Indians hadn’t given them the gift of corn and the instructions to grow it. It truly is the symbol of life.

Corn is associated with some Goddesses, such as Demeter, but there is also the myth of the Corn Maiden who gave of her own body to feed her family so they wouldn’t have to hunt animals. After she passed on, she was reborn in the cornstalks and provided seeds which continued to provide food for all.

Not only is corn delicious but it can also be incorporated into our rituals and spells. Whenever you need to add abundance to your life, find a way to add corn. Add dried cobs of colorful Indian corn on your altar, cook some corn and infuse it with intention to manifest upon consumption, add some dried corn kernels to an amulet, or use the husks to make corn dollies or braid them into special symbols. Use your intuition and imagination. Finally, let’s take a moment during this harvest season and remember to give to thanks to the Goddess for the abundance already in our lives.

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About The Author: Rhianna is a High Priestess in the Order of the White Moon and will soon be opening her own branch, Sisters of the Spiral Garden. She is an ordained minister through the Ministry of Light Interfaith Church and a Reiki Master/Teacher. She lives in Texas with her husband and two furbabies.