Mother's Day: Celebrating Motherhood

Mother’s Day can be traced back to goddess worship by the ancient people like the Egyptians and the Greeks. This meant people have respect for mothers and are already celebrating motherhood long before it was celebrated throughout the entire world. The only thing was that either they're goddesses the people worshiped or mothers turned goddesses, such as Isis, the Egyptian goddess.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped Isis, one of the most important goddesses of Egypt. Isis was, for the Egyptians, the perfect traditional and perfect wife and mother. The Egyptians held an annual festival, which is a pagan celebration, to honor the goddess Isis, who has named herself the Mother of Pharaohs. She was the founding mother of the Egyptian kingdom.

The history of Mother’s Day celebration can also be traced back to the Greeks and Romans who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. These two mother goddesses, Cybele and Rhea, were said to have laid the most important foundation for the celebration of motherhood in Europe. Cybele was from Phrygia in ancient Anatolia or modern Turkey, and Rhea was from Greece. Cybele was a name given by the Greek to a Phrygian mother goddess whose realm was the earth's mountains and caverns, natural surroundings, and wild animals. The Greeks also called her "Matar" for "mother" and was referred to as the Mother of the Animals. Another mother goddess, Rhea, the Greek mother of the Gods, was also at that time being worshiped by some Greeks. Rhea was said to be born from the union of the Greek goddess Gaia, the personification of Earth, and Uranus, the sky god.

Centuries later, from worshiping pagan goddesses or mother deities, Mother’s Day is now celebrated to honor motherhood throughout the world. For what kind of world do we live in if there are no mothers?

In some parts of Europe, the UK for example, Mother’s Day was originally called Mothering Sunday, a Christian holiday traditionally observed as a day when people would visit their “mother” church in the 16th century. For people who have gone away far from home, Mothering Sunday was considered important for them to return to their home or 'mother' church - the main church or cathedral of the area - once a year in the middle of Lent or somewhere between March and April. Mothering Sunday and Mother’s Day were originally different celebrations but have now become synonymous with honoring mothers and also mother figures.

Mother’s Day is a special day celebrated to honor motherhood in different ways throughout the world no matter how and when the origin was. The reason we celebrate Mother’s Day now is not to worship a mother deity the way the ancient people do but to honor our very own mothers. There may be different groups or individuals who started celebrating Mother’s Day in different ways and dates to honor mothers but Anna Garvis is usually seen as the one who created the movement that led to Mother’s Day proclamation which has been adapted and celebrated as holidays by the majority and has become worldwide.

Other countries like Russia, Egypt, Thailand, UK, etc., celebrate Mother’s Day at different times of the year and in different ways. But for the most part of the world, it is celebrated in the month of May. It was President Woodrow Wilson of America who signed a proclamation on May 9, 1914, declaring the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day in honor of mothers saying it is “a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country,” of which I agree. Since then, Mother’s Day is being celebrated as a national holiday in America, and more than 70 nations, including the Philippines, followed suit. But no matter how and when Mother’s Day is celebrated, the important thing is we respect, honor, and show our love to our mothers and mother figures for all the sacrifices they make for their children.

Like most other countries, people celebrate Mother’s Day by:

• Giving cards, flowers or gifts.
• Family gatherings especially for mothers.
• Family meals or festive meals at home, or at a restaurant.
• Serenading mothers their favorite songs particularly from children.
• Pampering mothers to a beauty or massage parlor, or a spa treatment.
• Taking mothers out to see the movies.

Why do we need to honor mothers and mother figures?

Mothers are the reasons why we are here in this world in the first place because they have chosen to carry us for nine months long and gave birth to us. So celebrating annually just for their sake is one way of showing them we really care. It is one way of thanking them for everything they did and are still doing for us - all those sacrifices so that their children will be loved, protected and cared for. If you are not a mother, maybe you don’t feel the need to celebrate it especially if you don’t have a close relationship with your mother. Or maybe you celebrate Mother’s Day more than once a year. If you are a woman and you are not close with your mother, someday you will become one and it will make you feel really special if your children lovingly shower and spoil you with gifts, flowers, cards, or hugs, on Mother’s Day or on any day of the year.

My mother and I are not close to each other because I’ve grown up in different homes and didn’t really have a mother figure except for my late aunt who used to run a children’s home whom I’ve stayed with and helped for years. Greeting each other a “Happy Mother’s Day” means we are thankful for the motherhood. It may not be enough but is also to let her know I appreciate and respect her as my mother and that I’m thankful I’m here in this world through her and now being a mother to my own child.