Is Mother's Day harmless?
This is originally located at: http://www.kingaero.com/si
In his law to the nation of Israel, YHWH declared: "You must not mention the name of other gods. It should not be heard upon your mouth." (Ex. 23:13)
The Encyclopedia Britannica (1959 edition) states: "A festival derived from the custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. Formal mother worship, with ceremonies to Cybele, or Rhea, the Great Mother of the Gods, were performed on the Ides of March throughout Asia Minor."
Some historians believe that the earliest celebrations of Mother's Day was the ancient spring festival dedicated to mother goddesses. The ancient Greek empire had a spring festival honoring Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother of the gods and goddesses. In Rome there was a Mother's Day-like festival dedicated to the worship of Cybele, also a mother goddess. Ceremonies in her honor began some 250 years before Christ was born. This Roman religious celebration, known as Hilaria, lasted for three days - from March 15 to 18.
Then came the adoption of Mother's Day in the United States, the New York Times of May 10, 1953, reported:
"In spite of the popularity of Cybele, . . . and sporadic occasions honoring mothers during the Middle Ages, it was not until 1914 that the proper combination of sentimentality, idealistic promotion and hard business sense impelled the United States Congress to designate the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day."
Therefore, Is Mother's Day pagan or not? Based on my research and the above information, Mother's Day was originally pagan and used to worship a pagan god. But most will say: That Mother's Day has nothing to do with this United States Mother's Day. That Mother's Day was established on the grounds of Paganism but this America's Mother's Day was made official in 1914 by Congress and started by a group of women who wanted to pay tribute to their mother's. So is it wrong to celebrate Mother's Day under that origin? There seems to be no connection of Pagan roots in America's Mother's Day.
But it's interesting to point out that Anna Jarvis, the one who introduced the concept of a non-secular celebration of mothers, became disenchanted with the commercialism of the holiday. A trait that we see with most or all holidays. It got to the point that remembering a mom was not enough. Instead, cards, flowers, cake, perfume, and other items had to be purchased to make mom feel good. This is why there was eventually an attempt to stop the celebration of Mother's Day.
Let's consider though that Mother's Day is a spring celebration. And others around the world celebrate Mother's Day in a distinctive way that involves worship to Mother Nature or Mother Earth. For example, the first rites of Spring are held over Mother's Day weekend by Pagans in New England. It is a Pagan gathering that started in 1979 on Mother's Day weekend and involves pagans, witches, and other participants from all over the world. Magical rituals are conducted during this time.
In the same way, Mother's Day is celebrated in various ways with distinctive practices and reasons all around the world.
Mother's Day is so tainted and deceiving when we start looking at these different factors. Mother's Day has lost its original aim and purpose. Ultimately, I find that it is up to each one of us to honor our mother each and every day. That we can set our own date any other day in the year to honor our mother. It doesn't have to be on Mother's Day. Nobody should be expecting something just because of a day. We seem to always expect something during the holidays. Instead, it should be a surprise.
Links:
http://www.earthspirit.com
http://www.nazarite.net/ev
© 2010 Kimberly Padilla, A.A. Religion
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