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Zuni Fetishes

Zuni Fetishes

Zuni fetishes are animal carvings that have been used by the people of Zuni Pueblo for over a thousand years.  By honoring the animals and acknowledging their special power, similar attributes may be summoned within their keeper.

Fetishes are sometimes used that way today.  By carrying one with us or placing it in the home we can focus on the qualities we want that are carried by a certain animal.  Whether you want to discover, enhance on simply remember that special connection with nature is up to you.  Each of us has our own reason for taking care of a fetish. 

The Zuni people believe that it is the spirit from within the fetish that is of value.  Some animals and the spirit within are listed:
Armadillo- Home keeper, clarity, inner guidance
Badger- Aggressiveness, single-mindedness, control
Bear- Strength, good medicine, introversion
Coyote- Self-centered, crazy wisdom,  laughter
Eagle- Great power & balance, dignity with grace
Fox- Cleverness, loyalty, observational skills
Frog- Fertility, bonds with all life, good luck
Horse- Power, expanding one's potential, speed
Mountain lion- Personal power, high standards
Owl- Medicine of sorcery, link with the dark world
Rabbit- Playful trickster, paradox & contradiction
Raven- Magic & sorcery, courage with the darkness
Turtle- Symbol of the earth, home and reliability
Wolf- Loyalty, insight & revelation, familial values

Corn Maidens- The corn maidens encouraged the first corn to grow by pulling on it, leaving marks on the plants where their fingers gripped the stalks.  As the maidens embraced the plants by bringing light from a bonfire, the ears of corn acquired their different colors.  The Corn Maidens are daughters of the sun and sisters of a raffish fellow who inappropriately desires them.  When they flee him, winter ensues. When the Zuni  people neglect them, there is drought and the corn does not grow or ripen.  They must be begged and coaxed to return and bring health and fertility that they exhale in their very breath. They are associated with the four seasons and with the flesh of the corn itself. 
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