Section 1. The Corn-mother in America.
EUROPEAN peoples, ancient and modern, have not been singular
in personifying the corn as a mother goddess. The same simple
idea has suggested itself to other agricultural races in distant parts
of the world, and has been applied by them to other indigenous
cereals than barley and wheat. If Europe has its Wheat-mother
and its Barley-mother, America has its Maize-mother and the
East Indies their Rice-mother. These personifications I will now
illustrate, beginning with the American personification of the
maize. 1
We have seen that among European peoples it is a common
custom to keep the plaited corn-stalks of the last sheaf, or the
puppet which is formed out of them, in the farm-house from
harvest to harvest. The intention no doubt is, or rather originally
was, by preserving the representative of the corn-spirit to
maintain the spirit itself in life and activity throughout the year, in
order that the corn may grow and the crops be good. This
interpretation of the custom is at all events rendered highly
probable by a similar custom observed by the ancient Peruvians,
and thus described by the old Spanish historian Acosta: "They
take a certain portion of the most fruitful of the maize that grows in
their farms, the which they put in a certain granary which they do
call Pirua, with certain ceremonies, watching three nights; they put
this maize in the richest garments they have, and being thus
wrapped and dressed, they worship this Pirua, and hold it in great
veneration, saying it is the mother of the maize of their
inheritances, and that by this means the maize augments and is
preserved. In this month [the sixth month, answering to May] they
make a particular sacrifice, and the witches demand of this Pirua if
it hath strength sufficient to continue until the next year; and if it
answers no, then they carry this maize to the farm to burn,
whence they brought it, according to every man's power; then
they make another Pirua, with the same ceremonies, saying that
they renew it, to the end the seed of maize may not perish, and if
it answers that it hath force sufficient to last longer, they leave it
until the next year. This foolish vanity continueth to this day, and it
is very common amongst the Indians to have these Piruas." 2
In this description of the custom there seems to be some error.
Probably it was the dressed-up bunch of maize, not the granary
(Pirua), which was worshipped by the Peruvians and regarded as
the Mother of the Maize. This is confirmed by what we know of the
Peruvian custom from another source. The Peruvians, we are told,
believed all useful plants to be animated by a divine being who
causes their growth. According to the particular plant, these divine
beings were called the Maize-mother (Zara-mama), the
Quinoa-mother (Quinoa-mama), the Coca-mother (Coca-mama),
and the Potato-mother (Axo-mama). Figures of these divine
mothers were made respectively of ears of maize and leaves of
the quinoa and coca plants; they were dressed in women's
clothes and worshipped. Thus the Maize-mother was represented
by a puppet made of stalks of maize dressed in full female attire;
and the Indians believed that "as mother, it had the power of
producing and giving birth to much maize." Probably, therefore,
Acosta misunderstood his informant, and the Mother of the Maize
which he describes was not the granary (Pirua), but the bunch of
maize dressed in rich vestments. The Peruvian Mother of the
Maize, like the harvest-Maiden at Balquhidder, was kept for a
year in order that by her means the corn might grow and multiply.
But lest her strength might not suffice to last till the next harvest,
she was asked in the course of the year how she felt, and if she
answered that she felt weak, she was burned and a fresh Mother
of the Maize made, "to the end the seed of maize may not perish."
Here, it may be observed, we have a strong confirmation of the
explanation already given of the custom of killing the god, both
periodically and occasionally. The Mother of the maize was
allowed, as a rule, to live through a year, that being the period
during which her strength might reasonably be supposed to last
unimpaired; but on any symptom of her strength failing she was put
to death, and a fresh and vigorous Mother of the Maize took her
place, lest the maize which depended on her for its existence
should languish and decay. 3