Working with Spirit Guides: Yellow Corn Maiden

A dreamtime visit from a Zuni nature spirit promises an abundant 2025!

A lot of Woo landed around the 2024 Winter Solstice.

And, considering I was trying to take a few weeks off of client-facing work, there’s quite a backlog of stuff to share with you lovely Substack subscribers in this New Year!

First up? An ancient Zuni nature elemental that goes by the name of Yellow Corn Maiden. Oh— and, *of course*, my backyard fairies are involved. Because they LOVE to insert themselves into my work…and my “dreams”.

An astral argument

So, in keeping with tradition here at TOTEM, it all started with a “dream” which, in reality, was actually just another trip to the Astral Plane.

In it, I walked out into our backyard garden on a well lit, sunny Spring day. I was immediately angry to find what appeared to be dozens of young, preschool age children running around, touching and, in some cases, manhandling the flowers I grow for our TOTEM Flower Essences!

There were a few, female adults armed with clipboards to watch— and play with— the children, kind of like when daycares take the kids out to the local park. I walked up to one of them, exasperated, saying, “You can’t just bring these children here in my yard. They’re trampling all of my flowers— I use these flowers to make a living!”

Then, I picked up what appeared to be a small statue of some kind. It looked Native American, and reminded me of the Hopi and Zuni kachina dolls I would see at Dave’s Rock Shop in Evanston, IL while shopping for crystals. This one seemed to be carved into kind of a corn cob style, with a lovely lady face on the front of it. I remember noting, mid-dream, to make sure to look it up when I woke up in the morning.

Holding this statue to show the woman, I said, “Why do you think I put this out here? It’s supposed to ensure a good harvest— I’m very serious about growing these flowers to make plant medicine.”

The woman responded, by saying, “They’re not harming your flowers! We bring them here to teach them about your garden and the ‘medicine’ you make, so that they can help take care of your garden and tend to the plants when they get older. Also: look at what they’ve planted for you and how it’s thriving.” She then gestured over to a large planter booming with daisies and peony asters— a veritable explosion of soft, fluffy white petals.

I said something like, “Okay, but it would be better if in the future you asked for permission before entering my spaces.” She seemed to laugh this off, and I woke up with the clear understanding that the woman (and the children) were fairies which, for the record, totally explains their poor boundaries and infuriating attitude;)

Yellow Corn Maiden

As I was sipping my morning coffee, I made a point to research the small, corn cob themed figurine from my dream.

Turns out, it looked exactly like an old school Zuni kachina for Yellow Corn Maiden, an elemental/ nature deity that helped the Zuni people learn which corn seeds to plant where and when in the agricultural cycle. Here are a few more details on her:

“The Corn Mother, also referred to as the Corn Maiden, is a mythological figure believed, among indigenous agricultural tribes in North America, to be responsible for the origin of corn (maize). The story of the Corn Mother is related in two main versions with many variations.

In the first version (the “immolation version”), the Corn Mother is depicted as an old woman who succors a hungry tribe, frequently adopting an orphan as a foster child. She secretly produces grains of corn by rubbing her body. When her secret is discovered, the people, disgusted by her means of producing the food, accuse her of witchcraft. Before being killed—by some accounts with her consent—she gives careful instructions on how to treat her corpse. Corn sprouts from the places over which her body is dragged or, by other accounts, from her corpse or burial site.

In the second version, she is depicted as a young, beautiful woman who marries a man whose tribe is suffering from hunger. She secretly produces corn, also, in this version, by means that are considered to be disgusting; she is discovered and insulted by her in-laws. Fleeing the tribe, she returns to her divine home; her husband follows her, and she gives him seed corn and detailed instructions for its cultivation.

There are Seven Corn Maidens in Zuni mythology. The Yellow Corn maiden is the eldest and represents the direction of the north. The Zuni Molawai ritual dramatizes the loss and recovery of the Corn Maidens on the first day of the December Shalaka ceremony, which is held on the Winter Solstice.”

I mean. This just couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? I had a “dream” (which, obviously, was much more of an Astral experience than anything else) in which I was holding up a Yellow Corn Maiden kachina explaining that it was placed in my garden to help things grow— and to ensure a good crop, on which at least part of my literal livelihood depends.

It’s basically fairy dust

Now, this was weird on its own. But then, as is often the case around here at TOTEM, it got weirder.

Shortly after these events, a coaching client undertook a practice mediumship session with me as the practice client. In it, an ancient female ancestor came through to her that seemed Native American— but also “otherworldy” in some way. I asked if it seemed like she was part fairy, and the medium nodded her head, saying it was a “yes”.

This client also said this figure was holding a ton of white flowers— daisies and other, similar species. These flowers were for me, and they were an important message.

So, naturally, I shared with this client, acting as my medium for the moment, the insights from my recent “dream”— and asked if this was Yellow Corn Maiden. The answer back? Yes indeedy do.

So, I got literal with it.

I started germinating daisy and peony aster seeds in my garage in advance of planting them outside when it finally hit early spring here in Texas. Currently, their green little shoots seem to be thriving outside, and I’m eager to see them grow, flower, and become a part of my TOTEM Flower Essence menu.

Now, it’s important to not count your metaphorical chickens (in this case, daisies and asters) before they “hatch”. Organic gardening and herbalism comes with a lot of unexpected twists and turns, but I’m bullish on our chances of success given all of the energetic support we seem to be getting…quite specifically just to grow these new flowers.

The working name for this TOTEM Flower Essence blend is “Fairy Dust”, but we’ll see how it manifests and unfolds as a plant medicine via beta testing before committing to anything— or printing any new flower essence labels!

Outside of this in-progress, new TOTEM Flower Essence, these experiences also convinced me that flower essences (and herbalism more broadly) are going to be particularly powerful in this Wood Snake Year. So, I spent some time thinking through the best TOTEM Flower Essences for anyone craving communion with the world of plant medicines, earth energy, fairies and/or flowers in 2025:

White Magic, made of Queen Anne’s Lace

Taking Queen Anne’s Lace Flower Essence is like reading an ancient handbook from a knowledgeable hedge witch! This Flower Essence acts as a crucial resource for those studying and implementing kitchen witchery, herbalism and white magic more broadly, providing knowledge of the use and potency of various herbs, plants and flowers. Queen Anne’s Lace arms the user with keen insights in the creation of herbal “medicines”, such as flower essences!

• Positive Attributes: Intuitive awareness of plant medicine; strong academic grasp of herbalism; knowledge of kitchen witchery and the formulation of magical potions; positive grasp of magic and white witchcraft.

• Patterns of Imbalance: Disconnection from the plant kingdom; poor intuition regarding herbalism and/or nutrition; lack of knowledge of how to make plant medicines.

You can learn more about our White Magic TOTEM Flower Essence or purchase a bottle (at 60% off) at our Etsy Shop HERE.

AEAEA, made of Cypress

What if I told you there was a far-flung magical island littered with cypress trees, housing the ancient Greek Goddess of witchcraft, Circe? Well, there is—and it’s called AEAEA! Cypress Flower Essence encapsulates this energy of pure magic, infusing the energy body with primordial, wordless knowledge of witchcraft, herbalism, alchemy, and more. Cypress Flower Essence is excellent for anyone pursuing metaphysical studies, undertaking ritual magic, or making their own magical potions from the powerful plants that grow all around us.

• Positive Qualities: Natural herbalism and “kitchen witchery” talent; intuitive understanding of alchemy; spiritual powers of transmutation and transformation.

• Patterns of Imbalance: Overly logical, to detriment of natural intuition; disconnection from magic of natural world; tendency to be “in the head”.

You can learn more about our AEAEA Flower Essence or purchase a bottle (at 60% off) at our Etsy Shop HERE.

Orange Glow, made of Nasturtium

Nasturtium Flower Essence is both an uplifting and grounding energetic support system, bringing a balanced and integrated infusion of “the good stuff” into your energy body. Nasturtium Flower Essence gives everything an “orange glow”, encouraging a warm and sustainable connection to the earth grid, nature, and one’s own natural rhythms and systems. Nasturtium Flower Essence reminds the energy body that we have value just by being—we don’t always need to be doing, producing or consuming something to have intrinsic value!

• Positive Attributes: Able to ease into time away from work without resistance; magical connection to nature and the earth grid; grounded euphoria; supported presence without need to do or be productive.

• Patterns of Imbalance: Addiction to work, productivity, and efficiency at the cost of happiness; disconnection from self and from nature; equate personal value with professional outputs.

You can learn more about our Orange Glow TOTEM Flower Essence or purchase a bottle (at 60% off) at our Etsy Shop HERE.

The TOTEM Flower Essence Deck

And, if you want to really dig into working with flowers and flower essences in this Wood Snake Year, please check out our self-published TOTEM Flower Essence Deck on Amazon or Etsy.

It can be used as a learning tool, acting as a set of beautiful flower essence flash cards. I use the TOTEM Flower Essence Deck as an oracle deck, pulling cards for my (or my clients’) chakras to assess energetic health and potential plant medicine or herbalism needs.

If nothing else, a daily card pull from the TOTEM Flower Essence Deck can infuse a bit of color and beauty into your day, offering a bit of relief from a steel and concrete world increasingly disconnected from nature and her rhythms.

My very own kachina

The lingering image of the Yellow Corn Maiden kachina has really stuck with me in the weeks since this “dream”, and I started shopping around for a traditional object. For some reason, none of the available kachinas seemed to resonate with me, so I reached out to client and friend of TOTEM,

Natalie Fehlner

, to see if she might be willing to make one for me.

You see: Natalie makes adorable figurines for folks on Etsy— here shop can be found HERE. And they’re very, very cool. I’m also the proud owner of a beautiful black dragon and chicken figurine, courtesy of a very generous gift from Natalie at the end of our coaching work together.

The image above is a picture of the beautiful Yellow Corn Maiden that Natalie made for me— and that now sits on my altar in my energy work room. I view this figurine as a physical, material anchor for the energy of plant medicine abundance I want to lean into this coming year— both for my own personal health and for the mission-driven growth of my business’ flower essence offering on Etsy.

It’s really hard work to plant, germinate, nurture, and grow the organic flowers, herbs and tree trimmings that go into making our TOTEM Flower Essences. We use no chemicals of any kind, opting for chickens and preying mantises to undertake pest control for us. I mean, I even hand-harvest the flowers and bits and bobs that go into the “mothers” in mason jars, housing them in a cool, dark closet while they “simmer” into plant medicine magic.

But it’s also very rewarding, grounding, and life-supporting work. I mean, I never anticipated how involved the fairies or ancient Zuni deities were going to be in it all but, in retrospect, it’s really not that surprising. After all: every plant that flowers supports the animals and the spirits that occupy the natural world.

And, for some strange reason, I have a lot of faith that Yellow Corn Maiden— and our garden’s fairies— are going to help our flower essence project this year, perhaps even supporting the growth or eminence of this part of our business.

Get outside and touch grass— or daisies— this Spring, folks. Nature is all around us, willing and able to help us clear and ground and reconnect to the realm of the fae!

-Rachel