Only recently dubbed "Mother's Day," the highly traditional practice of honoring Mothers and Motherhood is rooted in antiquity, laced with strong symbolic and spiritual overtones. In the past, societies tended to celebrate Goddesses and symbols rather than actual Mothers. The personal, human touch to Mother’s Day is a relatively new phenomenon. The majority of countries that celebrate Mother's Day do so on the second Sunday of May.
In the United States, Julia Ward Howe, a pacifist to the Franco-Prussian War, proclaimed Mother's Day in 1870 but the modern Mother's Day as we know it was first celebrated in 1908 when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in America. She went on to campaign and worked for a recognized holiday in honor of Mothers and Motherhood. Her efforts were rewarded in 1914 but the subsequent commercialization of the event in the following years brought great disappointment to Anna. The holiday Anna Jarvis fought so hard for was adopted by many countries and is now celebrated all over the world.
I have put together photos of Animal Mothers and their babies in a slide show to honor Mothers and Motherhood around the world. Visit my website to see more wonderful photos of these amazing and hard working Mothers from around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment