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MOTHER |
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" ...
All things are Cere's Gifts ..." (Ovid) |
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HAPPY MOTHER's DAY |
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" ... Honor your Father and Mother ... " (Bible) |
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This entry is dedicated to all mothers, human and
otherwise. The occasion calls for an emphasis on beauty which
prompted us to frame this page with icons and Madonnas representing
the summit of artistic creativity.
Some say, we must live in the past, work in the present and dream of
a future. Thus, we thank all "Mothers" for our heritage, lives and hopes.
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Charming each other |
The idea to thank mothers is ancient.To do so
Greeks and Romans greatly honored Rhea, Cybele, Ceres, Demeter, and in particular, "Magna Matter" or
Great Mother or Mother Nature or Ge, Gaea or Gea as in Gene, Genesis
and Genetics. These vistas are the subject of another overview dedicated
to Demeter or Ceres.
From "mother" arises a huge number of corollary word
roots and ideas. Those so inclined, can explore three illustrated
overviews dedicated to "mother", "mothering" and "maternity".
The root ideas in "mother" stress that the "woman parent" is endowed
with a "matrix" which is a gift that empowers a mortal to "mater"ialize
energy into another a life. This is perhaps the core of the divinity of "mater"nity.
Under Hinduism there are Seven Divine Mothers, each charged to teach
us how to repress evil by avoiding:
Rumor
Envy
Anger
Lust
Pride
Illusions
Fault finding
Under the Roman empire, Magna Matter or Hilaria festivities were
immensely popular and took place from March 15th to March 18th. In fact,
even after Christianity was well established, the Church had
difficulties in extinguishing this pagan custom. Initial and
unsuccessful attempts stressed the idea that it was the Church who
was the "mother" of Christians. With time the popular
reverence for Demeter (Ceres) shifted toward the worship of the
Mother of Christ, Mary. Enthusiasts of the worship of Mary or
Marians are aware that Mary is most often depicted holding the child Christ.
One magnificient and rare exception is a 10th c. mosaic in the St. Sofia
Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine.
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Virgin - St Sophia - Kyiv |
From the "Anglophone" perspective, Mother's Day
can be traced to the 17th. century when the
"Mothering Sunday" was celebrated on the fourth
Sunday after Lent. It was then that servants were given a chance to
visit their mothers.
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| Ukrainian Icon
from a village |
In the USA, many consider that it was Ms. Anna M.
Jarvis (1864-1948) who reintroduced the Mother's
Day holiday as we know it. Others say it was Ms.
Julia Ward Howe who held Mother's Day meetings in
Boston. In any case, Ms. Jarvis, a spinster, moved
by the death of her mother, felt compelled to
campaign for the adoption of a national Mother's
Day holiday. She felt children needed a greater
appreciation of their mothers and with her
friends began a letter-writing campaign. By 1910,
West Virginia and Oklahoma proclaimed "Mother's
Day" and the next year all States followed.
Many countries adopted this initiative and
Mother's Day became an international festivity.
In 1914, Congress designated the second Sunday in
May as Mother's day and ordered that the USA
flag be displayed on government buildings "as a
public expression of our love and reverence for
mothers of our country". Belgium Denmark, Finland,
Italy, Turkey, and Australia celebrate Mother's
Day the same day as the USA and over 40 other
countries do so at other times.
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| La
Orana Maria |
Free from cynicism, it is fair to say that
celebrations like Mother's Day, Valentine's Day
and unfortunately even Christmas and Easter are
energized by commercial interests. In fact, by
1923, Ms. Jarvis was so enraged by the
commercialization of the holiday that she filed
a lawsuit ... she stated that the festivity was
to be a day of sentiment, not profit ...
she died disappointed.
It seems appropriate to ask Mercenary Mercury to
consult with his devotees, the Merchants, to
determine to what degree their efforts
are deforming the nature of this and many other sacred
festivities. Perhaps their punishment, if any,
should be postponed until they reach Hades or
hell itself.
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