Mothers. They carry forth the most important job on earth, they provide us with life and they nurture us until we are ready to fend for ourselves. Mother’s Day has been celebrated in some form since the times of ancient civilizations. During ancient Egypt, there has been evidence and records showing the ancient society celebrating a mother deity that can be found in many ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians held an annual festival for the goddess Isis, who was often called the mother of the Pharaohs. The story of this mother is very unique, Isis’ husband, Osiris, was dismembered by his brother Seth. Isis collect all the pieces of Osiris and put him back together and in the process impregnated herself. She had a baby named Horus. Once Horus grew up, he killed Seth and unified Egypt, making him the first ruler of Egypt. This is how Isis got her name as Mother of the Pharaohs.
Another ancient civilization that would celebrate Mothers were the Greeks. The Greeks had an annual celebration that celebrated the Mother of all Deities, Rhea. This deity is very important because once the Romans adapted Greek traditions, they also copied this deity into their beliefs. It was the Romans who truly celebrated this deity called Cybele in their mythology. Cybele, or Magna Mater, had a 3 day celebration which was embellished with female dancers and performers. This is where the western society mostly gets it roots from.
In the United States, the holiday of Mother’s Day started about 150 years ago by an Appalachian homemaker. Anna Jarvis was trying to raise awareness for the poor health conditions in her area, she believed that Mothers will have pity on her and help her cause. When Anna Jarvis died, her daughter who was also named Anna, began to form a campaign to memorialize the life works of her mother. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that recognized Mother’s Day as a national holiday. Mother’s day lands on the second Sunday of May. Mother’s day is the most popular day of the year to dine out, also the highest traffic of telephone usage is also on this beautiful day. Also many sons and daughters get their mothers special gift like jewelry or clothing apparel. Much of the jewelry consists of hearts or the word “mom.”
