MOTHER’S DAY

 

In prehistoric tribes the mother Goddess was worshiped as the creator of life. Female goddess figures are found in many archaeological digs.

In Egypt, Isis was the Queen of Heaven who ruled over all matters concerning mothering.

In ancient Greece Rhea was revered as the mother goddess and in ancient Rome it was Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, and another mother goddess known as Cybele.

Most mothering festivals in early history were in the springtime to celebrate the rebirth of the land and the beginning of the most fertile time of the year. These festivities honoured the goddess in all women.

During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday."

Mothering Sunday was celebrated on the Sunday of Lent (the 40-day period leading up to Easter), to honour the mothers of England.  During this time many of England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy.  Most of the servant's jobs were located far from home, so the servants would live at their employer's homes.  On Mothering Sunday, the servants were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.

As Christianity spread throughout Europe,  the celebration changed to honour the "Mother Church" the spiritual power that gave people life and protected them from harm.  Over time, the church festival became combined with Mothering Sunday and people began honouring their mothers as well as the church.

Across the ocean in Boston, Massachusetts, the first Mother's Day Peace Proclamation in 1870 was penned by Julia Ward Howe, social reformer and poet who also wrote the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." It was a rallying cry for women to press for peace and called for women to leave their homes to seek peaceful solutions to international affairs. This tradition spread, and was later organized in other areas of the country as well.

In 1907, Anna Jarvis took Howe's idea a step further and began to campaign for a nationally recognized Mother's Day.  In the late nineteenth century, Jarvis's own mother had tried to establish "Mother's Friendship Days" as a way to heal the scars of the Civil War.  Persuading her mother's church to celebrate Mother's Day on the anniversary of Jarvis's mother's death, the second Sunday in May, our Mother's Day holiday was born. By 1911, Mother's Day was being celebrated in almost every state in the country.  On 9th of May 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the official proclamation that Mother's Day would be a national holiday to be celebrated annually on the second Sunday in May.

In Australia, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. It is not a public holiday, nor is it known as a holiday.

The tradition of gift giving to mothers on Mother's Day in Australia was started by Mrs Janet Heyden, a resident of Leichhardt Sydney, in 1924. She began the tradition during a visit to a patient at the Newington State Home for Women, where she met many lonely and forgotten mothers. To cheer them up, she rounded up support from local school children and businesses to donate and bring gifts to the women. Every year thereafter, more support was raised by Mrs Heyden with local businesses and even the local Mayor. The day has since become commercialized. Traditionally, the Chrysanthemum is given to mothers for mother's day as the flower is naturally in season during Autumn and ends in 'mum', a common affectionate shortening of 'mother' in Australia.