Il blog MessyNessychic, in un articolo di un paio di anni fa, ci porta a scoprire l’arte delle lavorazioni in paglia, chiamate  “corn doll“, l’oro semplice e umile che la natura ci offre.

And now, for a DIY project at the intersection of spooky and cozy: the corn doll – which isn’t always in the form of a doll, mind you. That term is shorthand for any kind of straw artwork, be it a horseshoe or a crown, a dog or a pentagram. We love it because it’s rustic enough to make you think “Little House on the Prairie” while still feeling like something you could have a go at yourself, to say nothing of its magical undertones. The moment you weave together those stalks, you become part of a tactile history of sacred straw story telling, that takes us from Medieval witchcraft all the way to current Fashion Week runways…

Nel Regno Unito l’arte delle “corn dollies” ha radici nei rituali pagani:

“The Saxons did use them in Pagan rituals,” says the host of a 1950 Pathé documentary, “it’s an old country tradition.” The United Kingdom, being such an iconic stomping ground for Pagans, is indeed still deeply connected to the craft of corn dollies. Americans, take note: when we use the word “corn” in this instance, we mean it in the British sense (i.e. any cereal grain like oats, barley, wheat, etc).

L’articolo è corredato da un video tutorial per imparare la lavorazione della paglia e soprattutto da una bella serie di fotografie che illustrano le tradizioni di quest’arte e la varietà dei manufatti che si possono realizzare utilizzando questo materiale.