These days, florists and stationers are infesting their windows with hearts and balloons, to remind even the most forgetful that May 12 is Mother's Day.
Honored recurrence in many countries, but country that you go, custom that you find: everyone follows its traditions. The figure of the mother, seen as the origin of the life of every being, has always been the focus of every culture and every religion; the primordial Greek communities, before the advent of the myths and deities of Olympus, adored only one goddess, the Potnia (Great Mother) she was depicted as a female figure abundant in forms just to represent fertility and life.
With the advent of polytheism, the Mother was represented by the Titan Goddess, mother of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, and wife of Chronos. The ancient Greeks dedicated one day a year to the celebration of Rhea and we can define this event as the first "Mother's Day" in history.
The ancient Romans, on the other hand, named a whole week the deity Cybele, the symbol of Nature and all mothers.
Instead, in the United States, the first mentions are made in May 1870, when Julia Ward Howe, pacifist activist and abolitionist of slavery, proposed the establishment of "Mother's Day for peace", as a moment of reflection against the war. But the real battle for the institution of today's Mother's Day in the United States was fought by Anna Jarvis.
A devout daughter, Anna listened all her life to her mother's lament of seeing her commitment and devotion to her child recognized at least one day a year. How can you blame her! If raising a child with the comforts of today is hard, imagine growing a kid at the beginning of the twentieth century!.
On the death of her mother, Anna took up the challenge and from 1908 every second Sunday in May, which was the recurrence of her mother's death, she annually sent bouquets of her favourite maternal flowers, carnations, to the Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton (East Virginia) to be donated to the mothers who were waiting for the ceremony. Year after year the tradition was consolidated, until the formal recognition of President Wilson in 1914.
Nowadays, the mother is celebrated in various ways, the most common way is to pay homage to her with flowers, cards, gifts of various kinds or to organize a lunch with all the members of the family in her honor, to make her understand how important it is for her children and to thank her for the gift of life and all the sacrifices she continues to make without ever ceasing to show her maternal love.
But let's see what alternative gifts can be:
Many people during that day, make their mother feel like a queen, something that deserves to be repeated every day. They prepare a nice breakfast for her and take it to bed, after having let her sleep late. During that day, the mother will not have to do anything at home and it will be her children who will carry out all the domestic activities. If we think that in the United States 47% of workers are women, and still have to suffer a difference in salary compared to men and also considering all the work done daily at home without being paid just because they are women, this day free from domestic work will certainly be appreciated by the mother.
Another idea could be to make her relive some good memories, for example by editing the most beautiful videos of the family, to give her a picture of a holiday spent with her family many years before, or to bring her to surprise in a place that makes her feel good.
Or why not give her something that is the result of a solidarity project, some accessories for example confined by mothers who make handmade articles to have an economic income that allows them to continue to raise children in the most appropriate way. In this way, they will make 2 mothers happy at the same time, with just one article and this seems like a brilliant idea.
These are just a few ideas but if we activate our imagination we could easily make our mothers happy and this will make us happy too.
Mother's Day is celebrated in a different way depending on the country you are in.
Here are some examples:
The U.K.
As early as the 16th century, the U.K. observed on the fourth Sunday of Lent a day called Mothering Sunday when families came together to attend church. In the early 20th century, Mothering Sunday had evolved into a tradition of spending family time at home name and date.
ITALY
Since 2000 they celebrate the second Sunday of May as in the United States
Mother's Day arrived in Italy only in 1933, during Fascism, when the 24th of December was celebrated as "Mother and Child Day". Since then, every Christmas Eve, mothers are celebrated for propaganda reasons: mothers were the expression of the fascist regime's natalist policy and on that occasion, the most prolific ones were rewarded.
Only after the war Mother's Day become less propagandistic character in Italy. In the second half of the 1950s two Mother's Days began to spread: one organised by the parish priest of a hamlet of Assisi, a town in central Italy for religious reasons, to celebrate motherhood in its Christian and inter-religious value; the other in Liguria, a region on the north-west coast of the country, for commercial reasons, promoted by florists. Both were celebrated in May, a month dedicated to the Holy Mary for the first r, and a period rich in flowers for the others.
Since 1959, the feast has been celebrated for several years on 8 May and then moved on to the second Sunday in May.
Even in Italy, it is common to pay homage to the mother with a family lunch and give her something, in many cases it is a nice bouquet of flowers precisely referring to the idea had by the florists in the 50's.
FRANCE
A 1950 law in France establishes the “fetes des meres” on the fourth Sunday in May
(May 26 this year), except when it overlaps with Pentecost, in which case it’s pushed back a week. But beyond the date, Mother’s Day in France looks very similar to in the U.S. cards and flowers are bestowed and family dinners are had.
MEXICO
Mexico takes very Mother’s Day very seriously. In fact, Manuel Gutierrez, president of the national association of restaurateurs, in 2012 that May 10 whatever the day of the week is the busiest day of the year for Mexican restaurants. Flowers are a must, but the day is also filled with music, food, celebrations, and often a morning serenade of the song
“Las Mañanitas” from mariachi singers:
“Awaken, my dear, awaken/ and see that the day has dawned/ now the little birds are singing/ and the moon has set.”
RUSSIA
In the former Soviet Union, mothers were celebrated on International Women’s Day on March 8, a celebratory date that has since become an international-observed day to honor women and reflect on the goal for gender equality. In 1998, post-Soviet Russia introduced Mother’s Day on the last Sunday in November, but most of the gift giving still happens in March.
EGYPT
Mother’s Day in Egypt and several other Arab countries falls on March 21, the first day of spring. The widely observed unofficial national holiday is a day of gift-giving and celebration.
What other person is more important to us in our lives? This doesn't take anything away from fathers who are just as important to us, but the Mother is always the Mother!
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS IN THE WORLD!!!
Comments will be approved before showing up.
© 2024 beyondBeanie. hello@beyondbeanie.org
