!!! Open for your submissions next Sunday May 14th at 7.00 PM (CET) !!!
Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,
Welcome at a new “weekend-meditation”. This week I have a nice episode of “Namasté, The Spiritual Way” for you and I think you will love it.
Next Sunday, May 14th, it's Mother's Day and therefore our prompt for this “weekend-meditation” is Mother's Day, but what is Mother's Day? Is it just a celebration day for Mothers? I have sought the Internet for some information about this holiday and I ran into the following.
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. She then began a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States. Although she was successful in 1914, she was already disappointed with its commercialization by the 1920s. Jarvis' holiday was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world.
In ancient Greece there was already a Mother's Day for Cybele, but who was she? Or what kind of cult was it?
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| Source: Cybele |
Cybele was the great Phrygian mother of the gods, a goddess of fertility, motherhood and the mountain wilds. Her orgiastic cult dominated the central and north-western districts of Asia Minor, and was introduced into Greece via the island of Samothrake and the Boiotian town of Thebes.
Cybele was closely associated with a number of Greek goddesses, firstly Rhea, the Greek mother of the gods (Meter Theon), but sometimes also Demeter, Aphrodite and Artemis.
Cybele was portrayed in classical sculpture as a matronly woman with a turret-crown, enthroned and flanked by lions.
In ancient Greece Cybele was called 'Meter Theon', and there were great festivals to celebrate her. These were called: The Orgia (Orgiastic festivals) of the Meter Theon.
These festivals were introduced into Greece from Phrygia via the island of Samothrake. They were closely related to those of Dionysos, whose Phrygian form, Sabazios, was named as a son of the goddess.
The Phrygian Orgia were overseen by eunuch priests called Gallai, who led devotees in nocturnal mountain rites involving much drinking, and frantic dancing accompanied by the music of rattles, kettledrums, flutes and castanets and the ritual cry 'evoe saboe,' 'hyes attes, attes hyes'. Young men armed with shield and sword also performed the high-footed, shield-clashing Korybantic dance. The rites also involved ritual mutilation, ranging from flagellation to the act of self-castration performed by the Gallai priests.
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| Young Greek man performing the Korybantic Dance |
OK ... enough about the background of Mother's Day. It's just a holiday especially for mothers and I think you all know why you are visiting your mother, grandmother, mother in law. Let us try to compose a few haiku on Mother's Day to honor our mothers and grandmothers.
she is the best
mother takes care of me
I cherish her
when I was little
she always sang her lullaby
to scare bad dreams
© Chèvrefeuille
That was it for this “weekend-meditation” prompt Mother's Day. Have a nice Mother's Day and ... well cherish your mom ... she has given birth to you.
This episode, as you all know I think, is open for your submissions next Sunday May 14th at 7:00 PM (CET) and it will remain open until May 19th at noon (CET).
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