Blue Corn Maiden

Acrylic/Mixed Media on Canvas
30” x 40” x2”
$13,300

The myth of the Blue Corn Maiden comes from Hopi Culture, an ancient peaceful people who lived under ground due to earth shifts ten thousand years ago with the sinking of Atlantis. The Hopi know how to communicate with nature and Spirit, therefore they knew when to come out of the earth and plant new seeds. 

Blue Corn Maiden comes from the stars
To assist our growth and help us see who we are.
  She spins her magic through the air
With the EAGLE and the CONDOR … 
         Her ancient wisdom is here…
Cher Lyn

THE STORY: 
I arrived in Sedona, Arizona September 2, 2002, my seventh trip there in 8 months. Sedona kept calling me it seemed and the selling of my art there was a good anchor. As I drove in through Flagstaff a most interesting electrical storm escorted me into Sedona. Someone said, “it appears that you saw one of those “unidentified Light clouds” that some people talk about seeing only in Sedona.” By the time I said hello to the owners of the retreat and walked to my tent the storm had surrounded us 360©. No rain by this point only the most beautiful lightening show up close and personal I had ever seen. For two hours I lay on the rocks watching and feeling the power of the Lightening Beings intent in making strong Prayers. As the lightening tapered, the rain came down breaking a very long drought period for Sedona.  It was an amazing welcome.

The next day the sun was shining, as it always seems to do in Sedona.  I went hiking in Oak Creek Canyon. The creek has a natural springs supplementing it and running through the most beautiful canyon. Oak and Pine trees, Horsetail and wild berries grow everywhere, a true mystical magical Faerie land within the desert. I was rock jumping along the creek, one of my favorite things to do since a child. I suddenly became dizzy and felt strange and light headed. I’ve come to know when this happens it’s a sign for me to stop whatever I’m doing and just sit and be quiet. Shortly thereafter I came upon a great Grandmother tree with her roots tapped into the creek and holding on to giant boulders.  This I felt was a powerful tree and knew this is where I was to meditate and feel into what was happening for my self.

After meditating for a short while I suddenly saw a very ancient Indian woman, an Elder. Her total feeling was that of White Light. Her hair was white and I noticed off of her left side she wore feathers, or some kind of cloth that was black with white spots. I felt she was an ancestor from the area long, long ago. She dissipated and a snow peaked mountain appeared, then morphed into a white pyramid. When I looked closely at the pyramid I saw a golden octagon inside it and then with a closer looked it appeared like a flower with the petals repeating it self over and over. After this, my dizziness was gone and I slowly hiked back integrating something beyond my understanding.

I recently had a healing session where it was reveal to me I had experienced a lifetime in Ancient Egypt in which I retreated from my power. It was said to be unpleasant and heartbreaking for me. Knowing my extreme disinterest and actual fear of Ancient Egypt I felt the truth of this possibility.  Therefore as I usually do, I began exploring this fear through my art to find answers. The theme on the the canvas originally was to be my first Egyptian painting.

I had brought the painting to Sedona that I’d just started at my studio in Malibu. I’d experience such power in Sedona I wanted to bring that energy into my art. I dreamed the first night upon my arrival that I was to covered up the painting completely with dark paint. Therefore after my meditation and hike that morning, I began setting up in an area under great Oaks out by the creek with great anticipation. 

I burned sage and blessed the area. I painted and played using my didgeridoo to call in the ancestors. The combination felt very powerful as I experimented with some energy exercises while preparing to paint that had just recently come to me in meditation.  I added red sandalwood and red earth from the area. I mixed a yummy rich earthy hue and I played, completely covered the soft pastel landscape of what was originally intended to be an Egyptian priestess doing ceremony at the Nile. I have learned to trust the urges of intuition where my art is concerned and I knew something amazing would come of it.

The result was very exciting to me. Suddenly I saw cornstalks covering the whole canvas. Given the area I was in, it felt very apropos. I then added a rich deep blue. The blue began to form what looked liked a huge Ankh and reminded me of the river of life. Understanding that the theme was originally Egyptian I allowed the painting to create itself. I left the paint to dry and went for another hike. 

When I returned, “The Blue Corn Maiden” had arrived. It is my feeling that she came through the energy of the Ankh, the key hole. Surrounding her looked like the many stories of Creation indigenous tribes, prophecies of coming from the hollow Earth to then resurfacing and live above ground.

I was thrilled and knew Spirit was at work. It was raining outside and it felt again as though the Blue Corn Maiden was raining her abundant magic onto the canvas into our dimension here on Earth.

I worked for weeks on bringing the corn stalks into a three dimensional feel. I had planned on leaving her face for later, it looked like a Hopi Katsina possibly happening for her head which felt like magic but it wasn’t fully revealed to me yet, and I was intimidated. I was working on the corn stalks and became excited when I found stairs in the depths of the caverns. 

One morning while painting, still feeling intimidated on committing to her face, I started using chalk to out line what could be her Katsina head. I soon felt frustrated, too much in my head and wiped the chalk off acknowledging my fear. It didn’t take long for me to bring the blue paint out and watch what happens with a Prayer and trust. On the first stroke of paint following into a line that already existed, her neck and jaw line appeared as the Master planned it. These kinds of magical phases I move through in painting so often make me cry in gratitude, for me there is no mistake the Creator is painting through me. 

The emblem above her head in the clouds is an ancient symbol of Lemuria, considered to be the most valuable writing come down to us from this ancient civilization. This cross tells us that all Forces throughout the Universe have their origin in the Deity. All of the arms of the cross are symbols of the Primary Forces emanating from the Creator. It is said by the ancients to be the Creators commands, desires, and wishes. The Four Great Primary Forces are all working in a circle from the center and proceeding in an Easterly direction, thus causing the whole Universe to revolve from West to East and all living moving spheres to revolve on their axes from West to East. 

The “Blue Corn Maiden” spirals down from the sky, through the air, as a blue oracle from the ancient spinning star and symbol meaning creation, new growth.  In her right hand is an Eagle feather and in her left hand is the Condor. There is an ancient prophecy, when the Eagle and the Condor fly together as one again, this will signal the time of peace returning on earth. 

She comes from this Primary Force spinning in a dance, a dance bringing back the ancient feminine. Her headdress has the Lemurian symbol for land surrounded by water on her crown and a golden corn stalk emanating from her third eye. She has the Eye of Horus over her heart and an ankh in the corn amulet around her neck.

Finding a wolf within the caverns, I painted him drinking of the blessings she brings. I realize the wolf in Native American beliefs represents the teacher, but why? Later in a meditation one morning it was revealed to me that Wolves mate for life and are very family orientated, loving and loyal to each other and the wolf brings teachings of a good way to live our lives. The Golden Tree of Life she stands upon appears to have Whales and Dolphins dancing out of it and it roots spreading deep.

Perfect I thought, but what about the Egyptian Pyramids above her shoulder and the Ankh over her heart. Nothing ever shows up in my paintings that isn’t absolutely meant to be there, acknowledging the Spirit on which she came I still felt there must be more. 

In November of 2003, Sedona Spirit Fine Art Gallery featured me in an art show. A well known Hopi artist Gerry Quotskyua attended. I said to him, Gerry, the Blue Corn Maiden is a myth from your people, could you tell me if there could possibly be any reason you might know why there is an Egyptian theme intertwining here? 

He replied, “well actually the Egyptian theme is quite appropriate as I have relatives who have been doing studies on where our lineage came from. They have been comparing the Egyptian records and symbols with our ancient symbols and records. For instance, the Ankh, the life symbol is found in the writings of the First Civilization, is also carved on the stones by the North American cliff dwellers or their predecessors. My relatives believe there is a very ancient intimate blood connection between the Hopi and the Egyptian people.” Wow! I believe these paintings are waking a memory within me that has been long ago forgotten.

The stairs lead us on our pathway home. The water pouring from the Heavens, heals, cleanses, rejuvenates, flows and feeds the Mother and Her children offering a harvest of golden life, of new growth and coming back into balance.

It is a time of partnership, love, healing, and a transition out of an era of conflict and turmoil into more sustainable and Earth-honoring ways. We must surrender and listen with our hearts to what the Earth is trying to tell us to help restore the balance.  It’s impossible to figure everything out in the mind, and that’s okay! 

Many indigenous cultures of the world share a 2000-year-old prophecy when the Eagle and the Condor will rise again and fly wing-to-wing in the same sky. According to the prophecy, this shall be a time of great transition where the world will experience great change and come back into balance. 

This auspicious age is upon us. It is time to look at and understand how the choices we have made perpetuate the destruction of the Earth and how these choices have contribute to our sense of unhappiness and isolation from each other. 

The “Blue Corn Maiden” is spinning in an ancient symbol of creation, a dance and new growth. She urges us to change our ways and live again close to the land, with our hearts and wisdom that come from being attuned to the natural world.