Cougar has long been associated with leadership. Cougars are powerful, agile, and unhesitating. When Cougar attacks, he throws one hundred percent of himself into the pursuit. Although cougar is strong, he is also elusive —hard to spot in the wild—until he decides to pounce. His lesson to you today is one of being a balanced leader—not rushing into the attack, not always lurking in the brush.
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.
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.
“To all the ancient ones from their houses, the Old Ones from above and below. In this time the Gods of the Earth touch our feet, bare upon the ground. Spirits of the Air whisper in our hair and chill our bodies, and from the dark portions watch and wait the Faery Folk that they may join the circle and leave their track upon the ground. It is the time of the waning year. Winter is upon us. The corn is golden in the winnow heaps. Rains will soon wash sleep into the life-bringing Earth. We are not without fear, we are not without sorrow…Before us are all the signs of Death: the ear of corn is no more green and life is not in it. The Earth is cold and no more will grasses spring jubilant. The Sun but glances upon his sister, the earth….. It is so….Even now….But here also are the signs of life, the eternal promise given to our people. In the death of the corn there is the seed–which is both food for the season of Death and the Beacon which will signal green-growing time and life returning. In the cold of the Earth there is but sleep wherein She will awaken refreshed and renewed, her journey into the Dark Lands ended. And where the Sun journeys he gains new vigor and potency; that in the spring, his blessings shall come ever young!”
– Two Samhain Rituals, Compost Coveners
By
Patti Wigington,
Mabon is the time when many Pagans and Wiccans celebrate the second part of the harvest. This Sabbat is about the balance between light and dark, with equal amounts of day and night. Try some or even all of these ideas — obviously, space may be a limiting factor for some, but use what calls to you most.
Colors of the Season:
The leaves have begun to change, so reflect the colors of autumn in your altar decorations. Use yellows, oranges, reds and browns. Cover your altar with cloths that symbolize the harvest season, or go a step further and put brightly colored fallen leaves upon your work surface. Use candles in deep, rich colors — reds, golds, or other autumn shades are perfect this time of year.
Symbols of the Harvest:
Mabon is the time of the second harvest, and the dying of the fields. Use corn, sheafs of wheat, squash and root vegetables on your altar. Add some tools of agriculture if you have them – scythes, sickels, and baskets
A Time of Balance:
Remember, the equinoxes are the two nights of the year when the amount of light and darkness are equal. Decorate your altar to symbolize the aspect of the season. Try a small set of scales, a yin-yang symbol, a white candle paired up with a black one — all are things which represent the concept of balance.
Other Symbols of Mabon:
· Wine,Vines and grapes
· Apples, cider, and apple juice
· Pomegranates
· Ears of corn
· Pumpkins
· Godes Eyes
· Corn dolls
· Mid-autumn vegetables, like squashes and gourds
· Seeds, seed pods, nuts in there shells
· Baskets, symbolizing the gathering of crops
· Statuary of deities symbolizing the changing seasons
10 Weodmonath
Oats And Maize Day
Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a brown cloth set a scythe, a basket of unthreshed oat stalks, ears of corn and cornstalks, a clay jug of milk, a loaf of cornbread or cornmeal flatbread, and a bowl of oatmeal.
Offering: Give food to the poor.
Daily Meal: Oatmeal and oat flour cookies.
Oats And Maize Invocation
(Pass the milk around, and pour the remainder out as a libation.)
I sing the praises of oats!
Fed to the horses in England
But fed to the warriors of Scotland,
Porridge that fills the belly
Of the men with the woad paint
For thousands of years.
You grow in the cold, wet mud
Where wheat cannot stand.
You are forgiving of foul weather,
Bringing forth each feathery oat-baby
To be devoured by us.
I sing the praises of oats!
(Pass the oatmeal around until it is eaten.)
I sing the praises of Maize,
Great corn of the North Continent,
Yellow, white, red, blue, and black,
Colors of the four directions
And the center of spirit,
Whose name means “Life” –
I sing the praises of Maize.
Song: Corn Rigs
“O Lugh of the Long Arm:
You arch over earth
To kiss the corn,
To call it forth,
To see it born.
Your hillslopes flaunt,
breathe golden bees.
From parched fields
Scant dewfall flees.
Your chest is opened
Your heart exposed
Your blood like bronze
And amber flows.
Sun sears your flesh
Asprawl in thistles
Through your wound
Your life’s breath whistles.
You laid you down
In fragrant thyme,
To bleed the sun’s
Entranced decline.
You wrestled harvest,
Corn to capture –
Now we see at sunfall
Your face of rapture.”
– Lughnasadh Ritual by Llwyn y Ser, The Grove of the Stars
Throughout today’s posts you will find hints on things to do this Lammas. I hope you enjoy them and find them useful.
Collect corn husks, dry and store in shade. “Corn” was a generic term for cereal crops (i.e., wheat, barley, oats), and New World corn was added after 1520. Our non-irrigated winter wheat is harvested in June and July where I live. We can collect wild wheat stalks and seeds, tie, and hang in shade. Make a corn dolly and keep until the Yule Celebration. We can pick fruit (apricots, berries, figs and plums) and dry them. Many kinds for fruit are ripe in late July, so place some of these on your home altar. Many garden herbs are at their peak and ready for harvesting to make herbal remedies, air fresheners, use in herbal magic, and for decoration. There are hundreds of good books and websites on the magical, sacramental, and health uses of herbs.
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.
.
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.
A Column By Heathwitch, WMS, Order of the White Moon
Lady of the Earth
whose body is the golden corn
which nourishes us;
Corn Mother,
your love for us keeps us alive
and for that we honour you
through feasting and play
under the bright sun
and the fields of your life;
for this, Corn Mother, we thank you.
At the height of summer our calendar turns to Lughnasadh, the first harvest. Also known as Lammas, the festival is associated with ripening grain and as it approaches so does the coming of Autumn. Our altars are filled with colours of gold, light brown, orange, and green, and are filled with foods and breads. Lughnasadh is a festival of plenty, so celebrate with your favourite foods and drinks, and honour Mother Goddesses such as Corn Mother.
Many native peoples see corn and grain as a Goddess — the Goddess called Corn Mother. A fertility Goddess, Corn Mother rules over the earth, its plants and animals; with Spring Maiden, She influences human fertility. She has a special interest in agriculture and Her consort is the Sun Lord, whose light and heat are needed for Corn Mother’s golden corn to grow.
The Arikara Creator God, Nesaru, fashioned Corn Mother from an ear of corn which grew in heaven. Corn Mother then came to earth and taught people how to honor the deities and to plant corn. She gives of herself to her people to sustain them and nourish them.
Corn Woman’s colours are gold and yellow; her symbol is the corn. You can invite Corn Mother into your life by making a pendant out of corn or a corn dolly and placing it on your altar. A simple incense for Corn Mother is to take the corn silk and burn it in a small censer.
Corn Mother’s presence can be invoked when you are working fertility or prosperity magick. She is also a wonderful Goddess to invite into your Lughnasadh activities; simply invoke Her presence before you begin. Some ideas for such rituals and activities include:
Making a corn dolly; baking a loaf of bread (remember to give a piece to the earth in thanks); work prosperity magic; harvest herbs and use them in a Lughnasadh fire or incense; have a magical picnic and break bread with friends; attend or host a public harvest festival — or role-play one of your own!
Always thank Corn Mother by dedicating some food to Her on your altar; afterwards, return it to the earth in thanks.
Have a blessed Lughnasadh!
Sources:
Conway, D. J. The Ancient and Shining Ones. Llewellyn: Minnesota (1993).
Marashinsky, Amy Sophia. The Goddess Oracle: A Way to Wholeness through the Goddess and Ritual. Element: Boston (1997).
About The Author: Heathwitch is a Witch, teacher and author. She runs courses and workshops on energy work, healing, Witchcraft and magic. High Priestess of the Circle of the Moon coven, Heathwitch lives in Cheshire, England.
The Initium Aestatis – “Beginning of Summer” in Latin – was celebrated in ancient Rome on June 27. Although not much is known about the precise 
form that this summer festival took it is likely to have featured corn in some way, for Aestas, the Goddess of Summer, was depicted adorned with ears of corn, and the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses (Book II, line 25) describes “Summer, lightly clad, crowned with a wreath of corn ears: attending Sol, the Sun God. Aestas’s name is the root of the English word aestival, or estival, which means “of summer,” or “in summer.”
Relish the flavor of summer by roasting corn on an open fire(or if not practical on your grill). Carefully peel back the husks, without detaching them, so that you can remove the cornsilk. The replaced the husks and soak the ear(s) of corn in water for an hour. Roast for 10 – 15 minutes on a rack over the fire.
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
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
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
CORN HERITAGE
As the preeminent native grain of the Americas, the importance of corn to the
cosmology of Native Americans is inestimable. In most instances, corn alone
initiated the evolution from nomadic life to sustained farming life; changed
only by the Northward rumbling of wild horses in the 16th Century. Just as the
nursing mother and hungry baby need each other, corn needed the people to
replicate it: its seeds are too closely packed to self germinate. Likewise,
the people needed the corn as a dependable food source, and so experience
settled village life.
To the Maya, the cosmic world family tree is a corn plant in the shape of a
cross: at each stalk grows an ear of corn, on each cob grows a human head. The
Maya Maize God is akin to the European Green Man in that he is a foliate deity,
whose thoughts germinate the corn, whose blood nourishes it. His hair is made
of corn silk and it sprouts cobs and leaves, his hands are made of waving
leaves, and his eyes are always closed as he dreams to life the grains. Maya
hieroglyphs of “growth,” “finding” and “beginning” are all interrelated with
symbols for maize. Even now, Mayan descendants save their best grains of maize
to pass on to relatives when they are near death. They especially save the red
pearls for, as Betty Fussell writes in her comprehensive The Story of
Corn(1992), in it the “Maya see not only the cosmic globe but a drop of blood
that condenses all human history into a single germ of life.”
For Zuni people, their legendary seven maidens of the corn actually define
Earth’s elements. Oldest yellow corn daughter comes from the North and cold.
Blue corn maiden hails from the rainy and wet fertile West. Red sister comes
from the hot South. From Eastern daybreak of light, comes White corn maiden.
Speckled corn maiden comes from the clouds above, the spirit world. Black corn
sister grows in the womb cave of the Earth Mother. Littlest baby sister is
sweet corn. After they perform their “Beautiful Corn Wands” Dance, the
mischievous and fertile flute players, whose humpbacks contain seeds for all
that grows–the Kokopelli, make love with them. Instantly they disappear to the
Summerland, but are brought back by the God of Dew. Like Persephone of Greece,
they may only return to the world for part of the year, and so took care to tell
the people to love their bodies in the Spring, then bury their flesh in the
dying time of Autumn.
The Hopi creation myth revolves around an Earth Mother who gives birth to a corn
plant baby who is presented to its Sky Father at dawn, and is then sown into the
sky. Hopi real life birth rituals are intimately intertwined with corn. A
grandmother presents mama and baby-sized corn dolls to the newborn, whose face
is rubbed with white cornmeal, the symbol of new beginnings. Babies’ first
taste of maize comes from a tiny blessing of this gift from the Earth Mother
placed in its’ mouth with the whisper that it will be so nourished lifelong.
Before marriage, the young woman offers cornmeal and bread to the groom; then
she spends four days in meditative grinding of meal within his house, as his
womenfolk daily bring gifts of corn in a rainbow of colors. Village women
prepare cornmeal for the feast, while men weave the bride’s dress from pure
white cotton. The ceremonial wedding cake is made of blue corn. Likewise, at
death, one enters the spirit world with a face dusted with cornmeal.
Just as the Inuit of the Arctic have hundreds of different words for snow, so
too have the Central and Southwestern American tribes hundreds of ways to
prepare corn. The Hopi make a thin, wafer like bread called piki made from
powder-fine, silkily fine cornmeal. Betty Fussell claims that some kinds taste
salty from fermented lime, some rich and milky as biscuits, some red, sweet and
delicate; and that this labor-intensive piki-making skill is undergoing a
revival among young Hopi women. Powdered corn can become an instant drink
called pinole or atole lately flavored with maple, cinnamon and sugar or cocoa
when mixed with milk or water. Fussell describes a Peruvian/Spanish hybrid sweet
soup recipe of dried purple corn revived with water, cooked with dried fruit and
sweet potato flour and spices. Mexicans in the time of Montezuma used cornmeal
to make all manner and shape of tamales: some sweet, some savory, with meat,
turkey eggs, honey or beeswax, and fruit. Eastern and Midwestern tribes dried,
grilled, roasted corn, and scraped the kernels and sweet milk for stews. Hidatsa
tribal life (formerly located in North Dakota) centered on rhythms of corn
farming. Before Autumn frost they usually ate corn roasted with the husks on,
later storing their corn and squash underground in uterus-shaped cellars winter
long. Most tribes parched corn: popping it dry in sand then grinding it fine to
make light “journeying corn” to be taken on travels and reconstituted with water
to make a paste. For the Seneca tribe, corn was so central to life that their
vocabulary contains nearly thirty words defining various stages of corn growth
and harvest.
It is raining up there under the mountain.
The corn tassels are shaking under the mountain.
The horns of the child corn are glistening.
Papago song
Witches Of The Craft® 
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