Tag: Field Crops

Moon Love Potion

 Moon Love Potion

This love potion will attract the gifts of the fairies as well as fill you with moonlight, starlight and divine delight.

You will need three handfuls of dried barley grain, hot water, a teapot, roasted barley tea, and a cup. Barley tea is great for getting your body in shape. It’s refreshing and cooling, and encourages harmony.

After dark, go outdoors and sprinkle two handfuls of the dried barley grain on the ground, one handful outside your front door and one handful outside your back door. Barley attracts fairy favors and gifts. As you sprinkle the barley in small clockwise circles, chant:

“Love, love, love, moon circles for the blessed fae.”

Go back indoors and heat the water. Pour boiling water into the teapot filled with a handful of roasted barley. Let the tea steep for about ten minutes. Pour a cup of tea, and slowly sip it. Before each sip, repeat:

“Love, love, love potion fill me with moonlight love, love, love potion fill me with starlight love, love, love potion fill me with divine delight So be it! Blessed be!”

Return any leftover tea to the earth. As you do say:

“Love, love, love blessed fae, Blessed be!”

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Daily Feng Shui for December 5 – ‘Bathtub Party Day’

‘Bathtub Party Day’ can quell your nerves while cleaning you up at the same time. Consider it an anxiety-reducing party in your bathtub! Place one tablespoon each of rose petal and wheat grain and ten chopped dried plums in a net. Suspend the net in the bathwater and then add ten drops of rose essential oil. Lie down in the water, close your eyes and focus your concentration on the bottom of your collarbone. Massage your temples while doing this and within twenty minutes you’ll feel like taking this party out of the tub and out on the town.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Mabon Crafting – The Corn Baba or Dolly

Mabon Comments & Graphics

The Corn Baba or Dolly

To make a Corn Baba, strip the husks from a dried ear of corn and soak them in water until pliable. Drain the strips on a paper towel and press flat with a warm iron. Take one strip and wrap around a cotton or foam ball to for the head. Attach the head to the cob with tape or glue. Use several long strips to cover the head and body. Cut a narrow strip of husk for arms and roll into 7″ length. Tie off at the ends with strings. Attach to cob and then fashion dress from strips of corn husks. Finish the doll using the silk or yellow yarn for hair. Embellish with colored ribbon, buttons, hats, and a basket.

Calendar of the Sun for August 6

Calendar of the Sun

6 Weodmonath

Wheat Day

Color: Golden
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a golden cloth place a sheaf of wheat, a sickle, a clay jug of wheat beer, and a loaf of fresh-baked whole wheat bread.
Offering: Give food to the poor.
Daily Meal: Wheat bread, pasta, or pastry.

Wheat Invocation

Today, sweet golden king,
My hand belongs to Her
As does your body.
I thank you for your gift of life
And I promise you rebirth next year
With this my very same hand.
And in your turn
Since someday my body will be Hers as well
Promise me
The same hope;
Rebirth me in joy everlasting.

(The sickle is swung in a circle, then the wheat beer is passed around, and the remainder poured out as a libation.)

I sing the praises of Wheat,
First grain of the wagon people of Europe,
You who make the bread rise high,
You who make the soft white dough,
You who are sweet
And can last a thousand years
And still blossom forth in the Earth.
I sing the praises of Wheat.

(The bread is passed around, and the remainder scattered in the garden.)

Song: Corn Rigs

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Daily Feng Shui News for July 22 – 'Sunflowers'

This is a month where sunflowers are growing in abundance as they slant their golden visages up to the shining sun. Ancient lore tells that if you take one seed from the center of a sunflower, make a wish upon it and then eat it, your wish will come true. Now you can grow your dreams and make them shine too.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

W is for A Wishing Pod Spell

W

 

A WISHING POD SPELL

You will need to gather:

A seed pod from any tree

1 piece of paper, pictures or drawings to represent your wish

To make your dreams come true, take your seed pod or eggshell and on you piece of
paper write down what your wish or dream is. Decorate it with the pictures of your wish.
Make sure to put your intention behind what you want by making it as real as possible.
Place the paper in the pod and bury it in a young pot plant or a new tree.

Now let the Gods and Goddesses take over.

This Witches Spell I Give To You On Jan. 1 – Corn Wealth Spell

Witchy Comments~Magickal Graphics~

CORN WEALTH SPELL

For wealth and prosperity for a year, take the husk from an ear of corn and put
a dollar bill along with a note written on parchment,
“Oh, dear god of luck,
money is like muck,
not good except it be spread.
Spread some here at————–(write in your address).
Blessed Be.”
Sign your name.
Sprinkle the dollar bill and note with Coltsfoot leaves.
Roll the husk up and tie together with green string or ribbon.
Hang the token up above the entryway with green cord.
That husk should bring riches into your home or business by the bushel.

Calendar of the Sun for August 6

Calendar of the Sun

6 Weodmonath

Wheat Day

Color: Golden
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a golden cloth place a sheaf of wheat, a sickle, a clay jug of wheat beer, and a loaf of fresh-baked whole wheat bread.
Offering: Give food to the poor.
Daily Meal: Wheat bread, pasta, or pastry.

Wheat Invocation

Today, sweet golden king,
My hand belongs to Her
As does your body.
I thank you for your gift of life
And I promise you rebirth next year
With this my very same hand.
And in your turn
Since someday my body will be Hers as well
Promise me
The same hope;
Rebirth me in joy everlasting.

(The sickle is swung in a circle, then the wheat beer is passed around, and the remainder poured out as a libation.)

I sing the praises of Wheat,
First grain of the wagon people of Europe,
You who make the bread rise high,
You who make the soft white dough,
You who are sweet
And can last a thousand years
And still blossom forth in the Earth.
I sing the praises of Wheat.

(The bread is passed around, and the remainder scattered in the garden.)

Song: Corn Rigs

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for August 2

Calendar of the Sun

2 Weodmonath

Barley Day

Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a brown cloth set a clay jug of beer, a bowl of barley porridge, a sickle, and a sheaf of barley.
Offerings: Give food to the poor.
Daily Meal: Cooked barley porridge.

Barley Invocation

I sing the praises of grain,
That which sustained our foremothers
That which strengthened our foremothers
That which fed all children’s hungry mouths
That which multiplies from the earth,
Giving back more than we give in turn.
I sing the praises of the sacrifice
That is cut down
That we may live.

(The jug of beer is passed around, and the last of it poured out as a libation.)

I sing the praises of Barley,
Growing in the footsteps of Frey
Cut down in the body of Ing
Brewed to make the drink
That makes hearts high and warms the family circle
Grain of companionship,
Grain of Rune of Sacrifice,
I sing the praises of Barley.

(The bowl of barley is passed around, and the last of it poured out as a libation.)

Song: John Barleycorn

[Pagan Book of Hours]

“The Wheel of the Year has turned once more….

 

 

“The Wheel of the Year has turned once more,
and the harvest will soon be upon us.
We have food on our tables, and
the soil is fertile.
Nature’s bounty, the gift of the earth,
gives us reasons to be thankful.
Mother of the Harvest, with your sickle and basket,
bless me with abundance and plenty.

The power of the Harvest is within me.
As the seed falls to the earth and is reborn each year,
I too grow as the seasons change.
As the grain takes root in the fertile soil,
I too will find my roots and develop.
As the smallest seed blooms into a mighty stalk,
I too will bloom where I landed.
As the wheat is harvested and saved for winter,
I too will set aside that which I can use later.

As the grain dies, it transforms to bread,
and brings us life through the winter.
We bless this bread, and it blesses us in return,
and we are thankful for the gift of the harvest.”

– Patti Wigington, Hold a Lammas Harvest Festival

 

Corn at Lammas

Lammas/Lugnasadh Comments

Corn at Lammas

By Rhianna

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.

Daily Feng Shui Tip for Monday, June 11th

Many moons ago I started studying Native American spiritual concepts and cultural ceremonies. And I learned that many Native American tribes refer to their god as the Great Spirit, and they would honor this powerful Universal force by offering blue corn as a gift. So on this ‘Corn on the Cob Day’ I am reminded that corn has a played a central role in North and Central American religions for thousands of years. The Maya and the Navajo both believe that humans are created from corn, and nearly every Native American tribe wove corn into their sacred ceremonies. The Corn Mother, perhaps the most widely worshipped deity in pre-Colombian America, symbolized fertility, resurrection and eternity, so corn was considered a magical a gift to the Mother Goddess. The Hopi tribe used it as part of their prediction processes. In fact, each of us can learn to bring that ancient exercise into our modern lives. Fill a small bowl with exactly thirty kernels of dried corn of any color. Then, concentrating on a specific question, take a random number of kernels from the bowl and place them on a table. Divide them into groups of four. If there is an even number of piles with an even number of leftover kernels, the answer to your question will be favorable. However, if the piles and leftover add up to an odd number, then the answer to your question will be negative. Lastly, if you are left with an even number of piles but an odd number of leftovers, confusion could reign. Finally, an old wives tale says that hiccups can cured by naming three kernels of corn after three friends, placing them in a receptacle of water and holding it over your head. Corny as that sounds, I’ve tried it and it works!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Earth Goddesses – CORN WOMAN

Earth Goddesses – CORN WOMAN 

In Native American lore, it is the Corn Woman who is known as the “first mother.” It is said that there was once a time of great famine. The Corn Woman went to her husband and asked that he kill her. The husband, distraught, went to the tribe’s teacher, who confirmed that he must do as his wife asked. With great reluctance, he complied. He dragged her body around a field and burned her in the center of it. In a few months, corn and tobacco filled the field, saving the tribe from starvation.

In the Pawnee tribe, Corn Woman held rule over the west, while Buffalo Woman held the east. Together they guaranteed that the tribe had both meat and corn.

In one of the earliest tales, we find that the Corn Woman emerged from an older world, one in which animals were not slaughtered for food and hides but rather were treated as kin. The old world had a greater respect for life, be it animal or human. The people began to lose balance and greed crept in. The deer set forth a punishment for any who would eat of its flesh – man’s first known disease. Corn Woman thought it was time to begin again and restore balance and harmony to the people.

She watched her grandsons preparing to go out to hunt and asked them to stay. She said she would cook the finest meal they had ever tasted. The grandsons replied that they were hunters and must hunt, Corn Woman nodded sadly and went about creating her meal, but not before she asked her grandsons to respect the animal life they came across in the forest. The grandsons laughed.

Corn Woman cooked, all the while singing and blessing the food. When her grandsons returned home, she saw that they had killed a wild pig. She said nothing. They sat down and began to eat of her feast. Loudly, the grandsons proclaimed the food the best they had ever tasted and proceeded to eat their fill. They asked her where she had gotten the corn, but she did not answer. She just listened to the compliments and smiled.

The next day, the young men again reached for their weapons. Corn Woman cooked again. The aromas from her kitchen reached them out in the woods as they hunted. That day, they brought home a slain deer. Corn Woman said nothing. The grandsons gifted her with the deer, and she recognized it as an honor and so returned it to the forest. She sang long into the night, invading the dreams of her grandsons.

When they awoke the next morning, instead of reaching for their weapons, the grandsons asked Corn Woman to make them breakfast. She did and they ate until they were sleepy again. When they awoke from their naps, they gathered their weapons and set about preparing to hunt. Corn Woman asked the not to go. She said, “we have so much food already.” The grandsons said they were hunters and set out toward the forest. Corn Woman called after them to respect animal life.

While on the hunt, one of the young men asked the other where Corn Woman got all the corn she was using to cook with. The other man replied that he did not care and the he knew Corn Woman would only give him what was good for him. They returned home with a turkey but once again sat down to a delightful meal of corn.

After many days of wondering, the younger of the two grandsons decided to sneak back to the home and find out where Corn Woman was getting all of the corn. As he watched, she slapped her sides and the corn fell out of her body and into a basket at her side. He ran to tell his older brother. The eldest grandson was upset. He said. “this is a bad thing, an unnatural thing. We cannot eat our grandmother. Something has taken hold of her.”

That night the grandsons returned home in fear. Corn Woman piled their plates high but the two could not eat. Her heart grew heavy as she realized that they knew her secret. She began to age rapidly before their eyes. The youngest started to cry and beg forgiveness. Corn Woman replied, “Listen well, child. For I have no long as I am to tell you all you need know. I am the Corn Mother. I a her for your abundance, harmony, health and peace. When I pass, you are to drag my body through the field and plant me in the center. I will come back to you as tall, glorious plant, with yellow hair at my fruit. Do not eat all of the seeds; save some for the planting again the next year, so that I might be with you forever.” The grandsons swore to do as she wished. Thereafter they refused to hunt unless they were on the verge of starvation. Hence, balance and harmony returned to the people.

In the Navajo tribe, we find variations of the Corn Woman. According to Navajo beliefs, there was a Corn Girl (yellow corn) and a Corn Boy (white corn) sent forth by the creator god to bring corn to the tribe. Corn was sacred and the main food of the people and was also used in religious ceremonies. Shaman’s masks were fed corn meal to “bring them into being,” or animate them.

The Aztecs have their own version of the Corn Woman in Chicomecoatl, the goddess of sustenance. It was thought that yearly sacrifices held in her honor assured a good crop. Each year a young girl was chosen to represent Chicomecoatl and was ritually decapitated. Her blood was poured over a statue of the goddess as an offering. She was skinned and her flesh was them worn by a priest.

The Hopi and Pueblo tribes have the Blue Corn Maiden as their representative of Corn Woman. On a cold winter day, the Blue Corn Maiden went out in search of firewood. Normally this was not a task for her. While she was out searching, she ran across Winter Katsina, the spirit of winter. When Winter Katsina saw the Blue Corn Maiden, he immediately feel in love. He took her back to his house, whereupon he blocked the door and windows with ice and snow. He was very kind to her, but she was sad. She wanted to go home and make the blue corn grow for her people.

While Winter Katsina was out one day going about his duties, Blue Corn Maiden sneaked out and found four blades of Yucca plant. She stated a fire. As she did, in walked Summer Katsina, carrying more yucca and blue corn. When Winter Katsina returned, the two fought. Seemingly getting nowhere, they sat down to talk. They agreed that Blue Corn Maiden would live half the year with her people, during the reign of Summer Katsina, and the people would have corn. During the other half of the year, she would live with Winter Katsina, and the people would have no corn.

How Corn Came to Be, a Senecan Creation Story

How Corn Came to Be, a Senecan Creation Story
Adapted from an 1883 recording by Jeremiah Curtin

In the time before time, the people lived high above in the blue sky.  An
enormous tree grew in the middle of their village, a tree whose blossoms gave
off light.  One woman dreamt that a man told her to uproot the tree.  He said to
dig a circle around it, so a better light would shine brighter.  The people cut
around their tree, and it sank under the ground and disappeared.  Their world
became dark, and the chief, enraged, pushed the dreaming woman down into the
hole.  Down, down, down she fell.

Still she fell. The world below was made of water, where waterbirds and animals
lived and played.  They looked up and saw her fall, and began to make a place.
Diver-to-Darkness brought mud up from below. Loon told everyone to get some
more, and heap it onto turtle’s back.  Beaver flattened it with his tail.  Then
kingfisher gently brought falling woman down, and they worked together to make
the world.  The earth grew, trees grew, bushes and flowers appeared.  The woman
gave birth to a baby girl.

The girl grew up very fast.  When she was a young woman, she went out walking,
talking to the animals and birds, gathering flowers.  She met a fine young man.
When they made love, day and night came.  At the morning star, she went to meet
him, and the earth shone with light.  At twilight, she returned home, and
darkness fell.  One night as she left him, she turned to say goodbye, and she
saw only a huge turtle where he had been.  She knew the turtle had tricked her.
Young woman went home to her mother. She had gained the turtle’s wisdom, and
knew she would soon die, and her body would become changed and beautiful.  She
told her mother this would happen.

Young woman give birth to two babies and then she died.  Her mother buried her
and covered her body well.  From her breasts grew two stalks, and on those
stalks ears ripened.  When the cornsilk was dry, and the leaves bright green,
the Grandmother fed those children the new grown corn.  That is how Corn came to
be, nourishing the people ever after.
Grass became as milk to the creatures of the animal kingdom, and corn became the
milk for mankind                                  Frank Waters

The corn comes up; it comes up green; here upon our fields white tassels unfold.
The corn comes up; it comes up green; here upon our fields green leaves blow in
the breeze.
Papago Song