Why Corn is The Most Sacred Crop — Forklore

so the story goes that when conquistadors arrived in a new world looking for gold they described it as a precious bright yellow object what the natives brought back was their most valuable yellow possession corn the mythology around corn in the Americas is as much about how valuable corn is to humanity as it is about the nuts and bolts of growing it a lot of it is an allegory about farming the ancient Maya's for instance have a corn God who is literally corn like the actual plant in their creation story the corn God is decapitated and buried in Shaba their version of the underworld in Shaba his head is hung on a dead tree where it instantly becomes fruitful it is a story that also happens to represent the corn farming process the cob is cut the seeds are buried and then the plant regenerates to this day the surviving mine populations in Guatemala Mexico Honduras Belize and El Salvador ceremoniously sacrificed the god of corn every harvest they believe that the gods made humanity out of corner so mothers eat corn based food during breastfeeding so that their babies grow true flesh in a Native American legend the farming allegory goes one step even further they have the legend of three inseparable sisters corn beans and squash who can only grow and thrive together because they nutritionally complement each other during growth the beans grow on a vine and can use the corn to prop themselves up the squash has broad leaves and grows near to the ground creating a canopy of shade that prevents weeds from growing around the base of the other two grubs corn as we know it is in everything tortillas tamales lenta corn syrup oil whiskey even non edible products such as gas paint explosives soap antibiotics plastic and makeup it's an easy crop to grow and evidence of that goes back to the stories and legends of our first civilizations to see another episode and the find out white corn has a somewhat darker and more sinister place in history click here now

Channel: Eater

Views: 38,782

Rating: 4.8668885 out of 5

Keywords: corn, corn history, food history, corn myths, corn mythology, food myths, food mythology, ancient food, incas, native american myths, corn gods, food, vegetables, history, foodie, eater, eater.com, animation

Id: A1FLL3HH6Tk

Length: 2min 29sec (149 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 11 2016