Corn Husk Dolls  
 

One traditional activity at Lammas involves the making of corn husks dolls to represent the Goddess and God.  The dolls are consecrated during the Lammas ritual.  These dolls are then kept throughout the year and burned the following Lammas, which is when new dolls are created.

This article will walk you through the steps of creating your own dolls.  These dolls are a little more elaborate than normal, but the Goddess and God are worth the effort.

To begin, you’ll need the following materials: string, silk from several ears of corn, 34 corn husks, 2 large bay leaves, and some herbs of your choosing.  (The herbs can either be appropriate to the Sabbat, or correspondences for protection, spirituality, or the God/dess.)

Step One - Preparation.  Soak the corn husks for 10-15 minutes in warm water to clean and soften them.  While they’re soaking, grind all the herbs other than the bay leaves and set them aside.

Step Two - The Head Assembly.  For each doll, you’ll need 6 husks.  Lay 3 husks on top of each other with the short ends pointing in the same direction.  Place half of your silk on top of the husks with the ends slightly overhanging the short ends of the husk.  Cover the silk with the remaining 3 husks, short ends to the top.  Using some string, tightly tie a knot around the husks about ¾ - 1 inch down from the top.  Take one of the bay leaves, place some of the ground herbs in a line length wise, and roll up the leaf.  Wrap the leaf around the knot.  Now flip the top three husks over the knot and bay leaf.  At this time, take more string and tightly tie off the husks just below the knot and bay leaf.  Trim the bottom of the head assembly so that the edges are even.  At this time, you can trim the "hair" if you’d like.

Step Three - The Arms.  For each doll, you’ll need 3 husks.  Alternate the husks so that you have the wide end, narrow end, and wide end laying on top of each other.  Roll the husks together.  Tightly tie the "wrists".  When done, trim the "hands" to an even length.

Step Four - The Body.  For each doll, you’ll need 8 husks.  Lay the husks so that they overlap only about 1 inch at the top.  When done, you’ll have 4 husks on each side of the center.  Tightly tie the center together.  Drape this over the arms.  Place the arms into the center of the head assembly and tightly tie the "waist".  If this is the Goddess doll, trim the bottom edges of the husks.  If this is the God doll, gather 4 husks for each leg and tightly tie off the "ankles," and when done, trim the feet.  (If assembled properly, the dolls will appear to be wearing tunics over a skirt or trousers.)

NOTE : The husks will shrink during the first several days so you’ll need to retie the neck, waist, wrists and ankles at that point.  Other than that, with gentle treatment your dolls should last until the next Lammas.

© 2000 Mother