This week we meditated with corn silk an herb used in Native American, European/Western and Chinese herbalism (玉米须 (pronounced: yù mǐ xū). 

Initial Experiences

Flavor notes include “good” :) as well as interesting descriptions of subtle spice a la tumeric, cinnamon, or cloves…pungent and slightly numbing. Second tastings were more sweet and more cinnamon or spice flavor. For me this flavor was very subtle, but it would depend on steep time and palate. A little tangy. Warming, slightly moistening.

Per @urbanfarmfoods (instagram) fried corn silk tastes like popcorn!

Meditation

-My energy becomes focused in the throat and tongue. I feel agitation around my thyroid. This feels like it either causes or helps with inflammation, possibly ADHD too, since that can be caused by food allergies and inflammation from other sources.

-Feeling of bubbles in my forehead (pleasant).  Effervescent. (x2)

-Lips and tongue were nearly numb for a little bit.

-Strong awareness of my blood—I could feel it.

-A weighted blanket feeling. (2) Associated rose color (1)  Imagery of a triangle from my nipples to my nose. (1)

-This was a peaceful, calm meditation. I was able to relax.

-Comforting, a feminine feel to the herb. Stable, heavy, and grounded.

-This felt enveloping (2), cleansing, was comforting, and helped me to relax.

Visions

-I saw peacock feathers—the eyes—lots of them.

-I see people talking together, like farmer families having a large outdoor picnic gathering. There was also lots of chatting before meditation, more than normal. There is a sense of business and community.

-Maroon, dark pink, and rose were reported.

-(Meditation 1) One vision starts, then “Let’s just restart.”  My mind was erasing, wiping things off. The only part that wasn’t wiped off was the tip of a scorpion tail. I clicked on it (like a computer). It took me to a desert. There were trees around it, and the ground was really cracked. The giant scorpion monster is about 8 feet long and 5 feet high (not including the tail). The head is shaped like a spade. The scorpion is stalking towards someone slowly. It attacks. A backdrop is rolled down. Now it is a stone floor, like the rock of a cliff, and the scorpion is gone. A sky background with ocean was rolled down. So then, stuff kept getting dropped down like cardboard versions of the sun, clouds, etc. and then they became the real thing. Once the stage was set the narrator said, “I am going to tell you how it all began.” It showed the dragon as the narrator, swooping down, over a village, drawn Hilde-style, of a man and woman at a medieval faire. They were picking out clothes, laughing, and falling in love.

-(Meditation 2) I see one of the first scenes in Harry Potter, movie 3 (Prisoner of Azkaban) where there is a double-decker bus heading away from the house. The severed Jamaican heads are saying “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”  Then I see a sped-up version of the lovers’ journey together. She would throw a pan at his head, but they were also in love. The dragon was sitting on the roof talking to the camera saying “this is how it goes”. Everytime the lady would get mad her head would become serpentine and tongue would come out like a snake. So that is how she turned into a scorpion and she was now stalking the guy through the desert.

Here is Chicōmecōātl, as depicted in the Codex Borgia. She is the Aztec goddess of agriculture, often depicted with a corn in each hand. She is also known as 'Seven Serpent'. Corn was a vital crop, and there were both male and female deities related to corn in different cultures. 

Messages

-The plant talks about all the prayers that went up for more corn. Prayers are answered, but now look what has come with it. Do you think people are satisfied? There is a sense of doom wrapped up in the fulfillment of desire.

-“If cherry blossoms were a mountain.”

-A lot is going on in this country right now. Not just the wild politics. People need people. Who do they think is doing the labor on all the farms? What will happen if they cannot eat? Farm owners need farm workers and farm workers need farm owners. Students need teachers and teachers need students. This medicine is externalizing sweetness.

Summary and Traditional Use

Several images and visions came through relating to community, death, and resurrection: community gatherings, interdependence of society, prayers being answered to our own detriment (corn prayers leading to farming that causes hunger and perversion of the crop and land, and domination of the people), peacock feathers (peacocks are seen as capable of immortality in part because they are predators of venomous snakes), scorpions, and dragons. It feels pretty intense in imagery, but as physical medicine, more soothing. The descriptions I see of the flower essence do not appear to do justice to the depth here, although they speak of the ability to ground in physical world realities while balancing spirit. I feel the spiritual gifts of this plant are worth futher exploration. 

The herb is traditionally used for bladder irritation related to infection or other forms of cystitis. It is also used in urinary tract infections and diabetes (which causes elevated sugars in the urine, which can make one more vulnerable to urinary tract infections. In Chinese medicine, it is used in soups or tea to detoxify (both for the liver and kidneys), reducing fluid retention, diabetes, and supporting healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. 

Corn silk is anti-inflammatory. In my practice, I have found additionally found it to be helpful for managing inflammation related to corn sensitivity or corn intolerance, and for bladder prolapse. With any food or herb intolerance that is incovenient on undesired, I find it can often be helpful to consume other parts of the plant. Whole plants are least likely to cause side effects, whereas highly distilled components of herbs (i.e., in pharmaceuticals) are very likely to create side effects. I found corn silk soothing and resetting for corn intolerance/allergy. Other examples of this strategy include making a tea of crushed poppy seeds to remedy constipation from opiates, hawthorn leaf to treat thorn injury, and, in my case, mullein root or flower essence to remedy overexposure to mullein leaf. 

As an RN, I worked in a medical clinic that did a lot of food and allergy testing. They found that most cases of ADHD were resolved by removing food allergies. It would be interesting to explore whether some reduction as well as improving the way foods are consumed--such as by including more parts of the plants, or adhering to traditional farming practices such as binding and partially fermenting wheat in the field, or traditional methods of preparing tofu--would change the symptoms without entirely removing nutrient sources. Ayurveda has a reputation for being able to restore the ability to be nourished by foods after developing sensitivities. 

Invitation

Have you worked with corn silk? Next time you grab some organic corn, don't throw the silk away, try it as tea, in soup, or even topically--it is said to help with skin irritation too. Please let us know your experiences in the comments.

Want to join us in our Plant Meditation Club? Join here.