Corn: Excerpt from Speaking with Nature

Corn teaches that anything in its full maturity gives of itself. The mature tassels of Corn plants generate pollen that is offered out, blown about by the winds to enter that lustrous, silky part of the Corn so those juicy kernels can grow. Mature land gives out to the animals and to us; its rich soil nurtures and feeds all that grows. Mature water bestows moisture and is steeped in minerals that benefit the land, animals, and people. Mature forests offer shade, shelter, beauty, food, and love and wisdom we have yet to explore. 

Prosperity means different things to different people. A curious example is of a Mexican healer, a curandera I worked alongside in a mental health center decades ago in Colorado. This woman was caring with everyone she met. She also looked after her childhood community in Mexico. When money was needed back home, the curandera used to go to a shopping mall and approach a stranger who appeared to be in need. She then brought this person a nourishing meal and shared meaningful time with him or her. In turn, the curandera told me, “Within a week I received an unsolicited donation for the amount we need at home. I give from my own heart and pocket to someone who really needs it, and that energy unfailingly returns.” 

It’s natural to desire and seek for ourselves and our families. Everyone wants to be happy and prosperous. Yet if we only breathed in and never breathed out, or if we only ate food and never expelled food waste, we would die. In the same way, the soul thrives through giving. 

Corn teaches that life fills us according to how we give ourselves to it; the fire we stoke is the fire that blazes. The Earth offers abundantly to all her children, and when we give back, really put our hearts to it, we entrain with our Mother and harmonize with her creatures. We join with nature in remembering we are the same light and love. 

As we give of ourselves to others, Nature, and all of life, I invite you to explore the programs offered through the Olympic Mountain EarthWisdom Circle (OMEC). Each of these programs support us in building a sacred and responsible relationship with the Earth, opening us to the rhythms of giving and receiving.  

From my heart to yours, 
Llyn Cedar Roberts, MA 
Founder and President ​