Mothers: sacred day

The concept of Mother Earth arose centuries later in Greece. In the 7th century BCE, the poet Hesiod gave the “deep-breasted” earth mother the name Gaea, she who “gave birth” to the sky, sea, and mountains, as well as the ruling gods called the Titans.

A few centuries later, Gaea’s daughter Rhea, was honored each year with festivals called “Hilaria”. The festivities lasted for three days and by all accounts were great family entertainment, with revelers bringing gifts and flowers to honor the mother of the Olympians. Throughout Asia Minor, similar Mother’s Day festivals were held in honor of her counterpart, the goddess Cybele.

Similarly, in the Celtic countries and the British Isles, the powerful goddess Brigit was transformed into her Christian successor, St. Brigid. Brigit’s sacred day, which was connected with the ewes coming into milk, became St. Brigid’s Day. Though formal mother worship was never completely eliminated in the British Isles, by the 17th century Mother’s Day had been almost completely submerged into Mothering Day. Not surprizingly, with the disappearance of a female deity, devotion to Mary, Mother of God, would soon emerge as the new Mother cult.
However far away from its origins the celebration has migrated, Mother’s Day is still much more than just a “Hallmark® holiday”. And certainly more than remembering to send a card and flowers, or hanging out with the family. More, even, than expressing gratitude for the instrument by which you came to be.
It is an opportunity to recognize that we are part of something universal, that we are all sons and daughters of this earth, connected, with the same blood flowing in our veins, and the same needs and desires calling out to our hearts. It is about honoring each other, and seeking the spark of Divinity which resides in each and every one of us.
Though now commercialized, Mother’s Day reminds us that we ought to take pause to appreciate the triumph and ferocity of motherhood that lies beneath the holiday’s sweet surface.