May: The Month of All Things Motherly

Mother’s Day is celebrated all over the world. It’s a time literally as well as metaphorically to remember those whose primarily role has been to look after children. These important figures and symbols are at the heart of a centuries’ old tradition that takes place annually between December and June each year, depending upon the culture and its calendar.

 With origins that date back to the ancient Greeks who celebrated a holiday that paid homage to Rhea the mother of the gods and the ancient Romans who enjoyed the holiday Matronalia in which mothers were usually given gifts and the even more ancient peoples of India and Nepal who re-enact the Mata Tirtha Aunsh to remember the motherly footsteps of their celestial ancestors, today’s Mother’s Day customs are varied. Like most folk culture traditions they have been adapted to fit the particular setting and beliefs of each society.

 For example, Israeli’s have woven the idea of Mother’s Day into their celebration of Henrietta Szold who had no biological children. Szold is revered for the organization she founded. “Youth Aliyah” rescued many Jewish children from the Nazi German and took care of them. Because she was thought of as the “mother” of all these children, her birthday was set as Mother’s Day (Shevat 30 which falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1.). Over time the day’s significance has evolved and is now about mutual love inside the family celebrated by kindergarten children.

Panama celebrates Mother’s Day earlier than most other countries. Unlike Norway which marks Mother’s Day as the second Sunday in February and Kenya which marks the date as the last Sunday in June, the people of Panama recognize December 8 as their mother’s day. It is the same day as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The date changed from May 11 to December 8 in 1930 when Panama’s President Florencio Harmodio Arosemena passed a law altering the date.

In Europe and the UK, Mother’s Day follows the traditions of Mothering Sunday which is a Christian festival that occurred on the fourth Sunday in Lent to honor the Virgin Mary and the "mother" church of each particular region. Some records state that children who served in houses were given a day off at that date so they could visit their family. It was believed that the children would pick wild flowers along the way as a gift for the either their mothers or their church.

The Nepalese "Mother Pilgrimage Fortnight” (Mata Tirtha Aunsh: mother pilgrimage) falls in the month of Baishak (April) in the time of dark moon’s time. The festival honors mothers by worshipping and gifting living mothers or remembering mothers who are now resting in peace.

The legend regarding the pilgrimage says that when Lord Krishna’s mother Devaki went sight seeing to many places he became very unhappy because of her disappearance. So he went out in search of her and saw her taking a bath at “Mata Tirtha Kunda”. That place on the eastern side of the Kathmandu valley has became the place where children can go to meet their departed mothers.

In America, the earliest Mother’s Day was known as “Mothers' Work Days.” It began in 1858 in West Virginia when Anna Reeves Jarvis, a local teacher and church member wanted to work for improved sanitation in her town for both sides of the Civil War. Afterwards she worked to establish reconciliation between people who had supported the two sides in the war. Decades later, in 1914 it became Mother’s Day, a national holiday.

Every culture has its way of honoring the role of those women, secular organizations and/or religious institutions credited with nourishing and nurturing those who are most vulnerable.  In some cases it has become a commercialized endeavor and in other cases it has shifted from motherly love to a more communal/family sense of love and nurturance.

In all cases it is still a time to express appreciation and acknowledgement for the care, compassion and comfort offered by others.

Happy Mother’s Day!