Mother’s Day
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
| Mother’s Day is a day honouring mothers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. Mothers often receive gifts on this day. It complements Father’s Day, the celebration honouring fathers. |
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A celebratory Mother’s Day cookie cake.Different countries celebrate Mother’s Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March. |
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The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day. In some countries the Mother’s Day began not as a celebration for individual mothers but rather for Christians. |
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In most countries, Mother’s Day is a new concept copied from western civilization. In many African countries, the idea of one Mother’s Day has its origins in copying the British concept, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that have been there centuries before the colonials arrived. In most of East Asia, Mother’s Day is a heavily marketed and commercialized concept copied straight from Mother’s Day in the USA. Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term “mother’s day” shows two major blips, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent (it is also called ladies day and women’s day), and the larger one on the second Sunday in May. |