Hey, Mothers Are Human Too! Let’s Honour Them This Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day honors the mother of the family, motherhood, the influence of mothers in society, and maternal bonds. The idea came from Anna Jarvis, who lost her mother, at the beginning of the 20th century. She struggled for the establishment of the day as a formal celebration. She believed “your mother is the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”. However, in later years, she got in trouble for boycotting the commercialized celebrations that eviscerated the day and promoted consumerism. Today, let’s put an end to making goddesses of mothers and to remind them of their boundaries and of the fact that they are human.
Mothers’ Day and Re-humanizing Mothers
Mother Earth, Anatolia, the Cult of the Mother Goddess, and Hıdırellez
The earth is often associated with motherhood because of its productive and nurturing capacity. We speak of ‘Mother Earth’, and ‘earth mothers’. The Turkish name of Anatolia, the peninsula that makes up most part of the land of Turkey, is “Anadolu”, which translates as “[a land] full of mothers”. In fact, the Cult of the Mother Goddess, that dates back to 65oo B.C., has been honored under different names such as Cybele, Rhea, Isis, She, and Artemis in different cultures. The Mother Goddess represents fertility, motherhood, womanliness, and abundance. It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that Mother’s Day is celebrated at nearly the same time of the year as Hıdırellez, an important seasonal festival representing the revival of nature with the arrival of spring, originating from the Central Asian culture. Hıdırellez reminds us, men and women alike, of our productive side.
But, for some, expectations of mothers are so high that we fail to accept them as human beings with limitations and want them to fulfill our each and every need without us having to say anything, just like they did when we were babies.
Mothers Need to Be Honored in the Real Sense in Mother’s Day
Often, Mother’s Day is observed with perfunctory celebrations, like many other holidays. When we fail to get in touch with the true feeling of gratefulness towards the one who gave birth to and nurtured us, and towards our ancestors, and to honor them, we invariably find ourselves in a position where we take without giving, consume without appreciating.
Yet motherhood involves letting go of oneself temporarily at varying degrees. And failing to satisfy everyone is inherent in motherhood, because the mother is not a goddess but a human being. Mother’s Day is an opportunity to stop the flow to express our gratitude to our mothers and female ancestors in this challenging role that involves inner and social questioning.
I believe it would lessen inner and outer conflict to celebrate and honor the mother-child relationship, the most important relationship in the universe, with songs, dances, and with our most sincere emotions.
My dear friend Fulya is conducting a special workshop on Mother’s Day inviting us to look at mother-daughter relationships.
