Corn Maiden Royal Agate Native American Zuni Fetish

Corn is to Pueblo people what the buffalo has always been to the Plains Indians, the very symbol of LIFE. In Zuni mythology, the Corn Maidens brought this gift, and many of the carvings of women, especially those with a criss-cross pattern on the body, are carved to pay homage to the Corn Maidens.

Uti Hiata is the Pawnee name for "Mother Corn," one of the most important divinities of the Plains Indian culture. Their neighbors, the Arikara, told the Corn Mother's story in detail:

From the great blue lake of creation, diving ducks brought up bits of silt to build prairies and foothills. Sky father Nesaru, seeing giants populating the earth, sent a great flood to destroy them; he replanted the earth with maize seeds, which sprouted into human beings. Then he sent Uti Hiata to assist at their birth.

Finding no one on earth, Uti Hiata walked and walked. Suddenly the thunder kidnapped her and hid her beneath the earth. There, she gathered the underworld animals-the mole, the mouse, the badger-and with their help dug through the ground and burst out into the sun. As she emerged, so did the people of the plains, to whom she taught secrets of life and magic and the methods of agriculture and of religious ritual. Satisfied that humanity would live in abundance, she disappeared from the earth, leaving the cedar as an emblem of her existence.

Metaphysical and Healing properties of Agate:

Agate helps with the healing of wounds both emotional & physical. It acts to enhance the achievement of personal goals and the acquisition of prosperity. Being an Earth Stone it intensifies the ability to communicate with nature spirits and the grounding of one's spiritual energies within the physical body. Agate can be used for love, mental clarity, and good luck. Agate can also be used to facilitate immense strength, to assist one in diversification in fields of endeavor, and to promote meditative states and astral projection. It is an honored stone of the shaman of South America, serving as a pathway leading both to and from other worlds. This is stone everyone should have for protection. Agate is a great stone for protection from bad dreams. It also helps protect from stress and energy drains. Agate is one of the oldest stones in recorded history and they have been used in jewelry since Biblical Babylonian times.

This beautiful contemporary carving of "Mother Corn" or the "Corn Maiden" is carved from Mexican Royal Agate. She measures 2 x 1 x 1 inches.