Corn Dolly Statue

Abundance. The original folk image of the Goddess.

Sacred in all lands, the Corn Mother, or Corn Dolly, was a small figure made and adorned from the harvest of corn or grain. In Asia she was made of rice stalks, in Europe, of wheat, barley or other grain, in Africa of millet, in the Americas of Corn. This Corn Mother is a Native American Huichol Corn Dolly. Corn Mothers like her were made of corn husks and ornamented with beads, and other token of prosperity. The Huichol Indians of Mexico and the southwestern US are descended from the Aztecs and are known as healers.

Abundance and sustenance was of primary importance to ancient people, as it is today. To insure bountiful crops they fashioned a Goddess figure (dolly) from the harvested crop and saved and honored it over the winter months, and in the spring they planted it in the earth to insure another bountiful harvest. It was in this way that the cycle of seasons remained a continues unbroken circle of abundance, insuring survival for the people. Living in the presence of a Corn Mother is a constant reminder of the blessings we receive daily and the unbroken connection we have to our most ancient ancestors. It is through their cultivation of abundance that we were given life.

In any earth-based faith we find a reverence for observations of the earth’s cycles. Made from grain stalks, the Corn Dolly often was the image of the Goddess in rural European festivals. This statue is perfect to grace any altar to portray knowledge of and respect for the wheel of the year. Here is a corn dolly ready to be used year after year.

[Sculpted by Abby Willowroot Copyright 2003] 7 1/2" resin statue, handpainted. #CD