Let's All Spend Money, It's Mother's Day!

Mother’s Day is just a lovely day for being reminded to buy a card and  some scented candles for the awesome lady who squeezed you out of her  birth canal, right? Yeah, but nah. 

When Ann Jarvis originally organized a group of women help maintain sanitation at military camps during the civil war, I don't think she could have imagined that she was starting what would become the third largest Hallmark selling holiday.  After her death, it was her daughter who pushed forward the agenda to have her mother's work commemorated as a national holiday. After her success, she was appalled at the shocking rate that her legacy was corrupted by commercialization.  She spent years fighting against the holiday, and put everything she had into her plight.  She was arrested at a convention in 1925 and institutionalized for dementia.  She died penniless in the sanatorium in 1948. I question whether or not she actually suffered from any mental illness...

There is also evidence to suggest that Mother's Day has Paagan roots. Certain historians subscribe to the belief that the ancient spring festivals dedicated to the mother goddesses were the first celebrations of Mother's Day. Though not concrete, the Roman religious celebration of "Hilaria" for the goddess Cybele, lasted three days, from March 15 to March 18. It is interesting to note that this celebration was a factor in the decision as to what date Mother's Day would be held on.

 "In spite of the popularity of   Cybele, . . . and sporadic occasions honoring mothers during the Middle Ages, it was not until 1914 that the proper combination of sentimentality, idealistic promotion and hard business sense impelled the United States Congress to designate the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day."  - New York  Times of May 10, 1953 

So, if you haven't caught on, the overarching themes here are "consume" and "obey". Mother's Day has been hijacked by corporate interests long ago, like many other holidays. Let's get back to what Mother's Day is really about and celebrate our mothers in a unique way that doesn't have to be bought and paid for. I'm going to spend some time with my mom now, and clean her kitchen :)

Mother's Day is so tainted and decieving when we start looking at these different factors. Mother's Day has lost its original aim and purpose. Utimately, I find that it is up to each one of us to honor our mother each and every day. That we can set our own date any other day in the year to honor our mother. It doesn't have to be on Mother's Day. Nobody should be expecting something just because of a day. We seem to always expect something during the holidays. Instead, it should be a surprise.     - Bill Sanford

Source Articles:

http://www.fossilizedcustoms.com/mothersday.html

http://junkee.com/the-real-origin-of-mothers-day-is-weirder-than-you-might-think/77729