Hermit: Corn = Wheat?

In the entry on the Hermit, it says Virgo is associated closely with corn, hence the card has wheat in the background. What gives? It seems like saying today is a sunny day, so I'll take an umbrella.

closrapexa said:

In the entry on the Hermit, it says Virgo is associated closely with corn, hence the card has wheat in the background. What gives? It seems like saying today is a sunny day, so I'll take an umbrella.

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The King James translation of the Bible uses the word corn as a generic reference to grain, particularly what is now known as wheat. It is an older British-English use of the word.

And when the English settlers in America were introduced to maize (1620s), they called it 'corn', which then was just a generic term meaning the same thing as 'grain'. (The King James Version of the Bible was first published in 1611, so this was the vernacular of the time.)

So really when we call maize 'corn' we are just calling it 'grain'. Only because the usage of 'corn' as a generic term has fallen away, though it has stuck as a moniker for maize, now corn means only maize, and people get confused when wheat is called corn.

Does that make sense?? Ha ha

closrapexa said:

In the entry on the Hermit, it says Virgo is associated closely with corn, hence the card has wheat in the background. What gives? It seems like saying today is a sunny day, so I'll take an umbrella.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's like saying today is a sunny day, so I'll take an umbrella (parasol). ETA. What Carla says is what really happened.

Thanks for this discussion folks. It had never occurred to me that there was a problem with Crowley's statement that "Virgo is an earthy sign, and is referred especially to Corn, so that the background of the card is a field of wheat."

Carla's explanation is exactly what happened, but it is still strange to me that Crowley would use the term "Corn" (capitalized), rather than "grain" (capitalized or not). So maybe LRichard's explanation alluding to Crowley's being steeped in the King James Bible is correct.

On the umbrella/parasol/sunny day example, it is funny that I was just having that discussion with someone in France. In English, an "umbrella" is for rain, and nobody uses a "parasol" anymore. In French the distinction remains - when it's raining, one takes a parapluie, and the big umbrellas you sit under in the summer and at the beach are called parasol. Parasols are actually useless against the rain, as they are usually made of a very water-permeable mesh.

I saw this thread earlier today and was eagerly awaiting to see what answers would come along (as I had to go off to work and do other stuff). Love the explanation. Carla - it took me a few minutes to get my corn, maize, grain brain around what you said - but makes sense.
Thanks for the great question and replies ppls

Thanks for the replies, it does make sense now

Τhe Hermit has to do with the greek ancient mysteries and the initiations. Corn = δημητριακά in greek. The Goddess Demeter is Mother Earth (Meter = Μother + De = Γε οr Γη = Earth. That card has το do also with Persephone, the underworld. The wheat is a symbol of Goddess Demeter and was in the ancient initiations a holy symbol in the Eleusinian Mysteries, dedicated to Goddess Demeter. A certain degree in the modern freemasonry has also his origin to Eleusinian mysteries and we can find also the wheat and is connected to the mature age of men and women who is the peak of production and work,typically qualities of Virgo.