The Corn Maidens Return

acrylic on canvas – 20″X24″
© 2021 Sandra Ware

Soft on the air is the flute-song of Paiyatamu*
Warm is the breath and gentle the rain
The promise of bounty that stirs from the Summerland
When the Corn Maidens return

Fled in the mists that heralded Winter
The time to dance has come again
Birds and butterflies herald the harvest
When the Corn Maidens return

Standing boot-high in fields that are greening
Stalks wind-whisper of the plenty to come
The blessing of life in each sacred kernel
When the Corn Maidens return

© 2021 Sandra Ware

The Corn Maidens personify the fertility of a successful planting and the bounty of a good harvest. In Zuni legend, after the ritual dance celebrating the ripening of the corn, the Maidens, affronted by the lascivious behavior of the tribe’s young bucks, escaped their advances by fading away to the sacred Summerland, their white garments becoming one with the dawn mists. In the painting the Corn Maidens are seen as they once returned, brought forth by Paiyatamu at the Zuni Elders’ pleading. In latter years the village maidens represent them in the dance.

*Paiyatamu is a Kokopeli–like flute player – God of the Dawn and the Dew