The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

§ 1. The Corn-mother in America. 205take a certain portion of the most fruitful of the maize that growsin their farms, the which they put in a certain granary which theydo call Pirua, with certain ceremonies, watching three nights;they put this maize in the richest garments they have, and beingthus wrapped and dressed, they worship this Pirua, and hold it [172]in great veneration, saying it is the mother of the maize of theirinheritances, and that by this means the maize augments and ispreserved. In this month [the sixth month, answering to May]they make a particular sacrifice, and the witches demand of thisPirua if it hath strength sufficient to continue until the next year;and if it answers no, then they carry this maize to the farm toburn, whence they brought it, according to every man's power;then they make another Pirua, with the same ceremonies, sayingthat they renew it, to the end the seed of maize may not perish,and if it answers that it hath force sufficient to last longer, theyleave it until the next year. This foolish vanity continueth to thisday, and it is very common amongst the Indians to have thesePiruas.” 565In this description of the custom there seems to be some error.Probably it was the dressed-up bunch of maize, not the granary(Pirua), which was worshipped by the Peruvians and regardedas the Mother of the Maize. This is confirmed by what we knowof the Peruvian custom from another source. The Peruvians, weare told, believed all useful plants to be animated by a divinebeing who causes their growth. According to the particularplant, these divine beings were called the Maize-mother (Zaramama),the Quinoa-mother (Quinoa-mama), the Coca-mother(Coca-mama), and the Potato-mother (Axo-mama). Figures ofthese divine mothers were made respectively of ears of maize565 J. de Acosta, Natural and Moral History of the Indies, bk. v. ch. 28,vol. ii. p. 374 (Hakluyt Society, London, 1880). In quoting the passage Ihave modernised the spelling. The original Spanish text of Acosta's work wasreprinted in a convenient form at Madrid in 1894. See vol. ii. p. 117 of thatedition.The Maize-mother,the Quinoa-mother,the Coca-mother,and the Potatomotheramong thePeruvian Indians.