|
MOTHERS DAY
Ancient Greek and Roman Roots
Some historians claim that the predecessor
of the Mother's Day holiday was the ancient spring festival
dedicated to mother goddesses. In the ancient Greek empire the
spring festival honored Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother of the
gods and goddesses. In Rome the most significant Mother's Day-like
festival was dedicated to the worship of Cybele, another 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 15th to 18th. The
worship of Cybele, called the great "Mountain Mother"
, is believed to have originated in Phrygia, northern Anatolia.
Cybele represented the fertile earth, and the death of her consort,
Attis, represented the end of the growing season. She was celebrated
in a great festival characterized by ecstatic dancing and drumming.
The ceremony began with the entry of Attis (symbolized by a
pine tree) into the city, followed by a day of mourning for
him and fasting, and then a great festival of joy to celebrate
the growing season. Cybele was usually portrayed with her lions,
signifying her link to the images of the Mother Goddess giving
birth between 2 felines. The English Mothering Sunday The timing
Hilaria corresponds with the modern celebration of Mother's
Day in England. "Mothering Sunday", also called Mid-Lent
Sunday, is observed on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Some say the
ceremonies in honor of Cybele were adopted by the early church
to venerate the Mother of Christ, Mary. Others believe the Mother
Church was substituted for mother goddess and custom began to
dictate that a person visit the church of his/her baptism on
this day. People attended the mother church of their parish,
laden with offerings. In England, in the 1600's, young men and
women who were apprentices or servants returned home on Mothering
Sunday, celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period
leading up to Easter). During this time many of the England's
poor worked as servants for the wealthy, and as most jobs were
located far from their homes, the servants would live at the
houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants
would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and
spend the day with their mothers. They would bring to their
mothers small gifts like trinkets or a "mothering cake".
Sometimes furmety was served - wheat grains boiled in sweet
milk, sugared and spiced. In northern England and in Scotland,
the preferred refreshments were carlings - pancakes made of
steeped pease fried in butter, with pepper and salt. In fact,
in some locations this day was called Carling Sunday. Another
kind of mothering cake was the simnel cake, a very rich fruit
cake. The Lenten fast dictated that the simnel cake had to keep
until Easter. It was boiled in water, then baked, and was often
finished with an almond icing. Sometimes the crust was of flour
and water, colored with saffron. As Christianity spread throughout
Europe the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church"
- the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them
from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering
Sunday celebration. People began honoring their mothers as well
as the church.
|
