On the Road with Corn Mother
I am at work on a book about my journeys with Corn Mother.
Read about some of our adventures on my Substack:
Offerings for Corn Mother
Read about some of our adventures on my Substack:
Offerings for Corn Mother
Corn Mother Arrives in a Basket from Texas
Maria Elena Martinez with her radically inclusive altar. Corn Mother is next to Tonantzin Guadalupe on the top shelf. Photo by Alicia.
Alicia and Brenda in Chicago on one of Corn Mother's journeys. Photo by Brenda Sendejo
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During the pandemic, I moved from Texas back home to southern Arizona after 27 years of living away from the desert. Shortly after my return, a giant box arrived in the mail from Texas. Beth and Brenda, my dear sisters from Alma de Mujer in Austin, TX, were helping our elder Maria Elena Martinez in downsizing her home after her move to be with family. This box from Texas came with Maria Elena's Corn Mother medicine doll and a basket for her to travel in. This Corn Mother doll sat on Maria Elena's radically inclusive altar for decades.
A few months after Corn Mother's arrival in her basket, I got the distinct sense that she wanted to travel. I'd sense her calling out from her basket on my own altar. Take me with you! At first I was a bit perplexed, and honestly quite sheepish. "Do you really want me to walk around with you in your basket?" I felt quite self-conscious, but there was no ignoring Corn Mother. Read the fuller story of Corn Mother's arrival. |
With Corn Mother: offerings of repair at a former Titan Missile II site outside of Tucson, AZ. Photo by Alicia.
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Now, years later, Corn Mother and I have traveled many places together. She's been on planes, trains, and automobiles. Her basket now contains many offerings that people have gifted her along the way, photos of ancestors who travel with her, and mementos of her journeys.
There is great intention behind Corn Mother's journeys, and I am not always privy to the scope of the reverberations. I am learning to go where she asks in her own timing. Occasionally, she gives me glimpses of a greater web of repair that I do not pretend to fully understand. I do know that Corn Mother loves to travel with friends. |