Mythological Mothers Day Celebrations
Whenever Mothers Day comes around, there is always talk of the early beginnings of this celebration for Mothers, and you will find much mention made of Rheia.
Now Rheia was an excellent mother to be sure, and her trick with the stones to outwit Cronos and save her children is admirable, but there are plenty of other mothers in mythology worthy of our respect and gratitude on this, or any other day.
Rhea’s husband Kronos was warned that his own son would someday depose him, so in fear he swallowed his first children as they were born, but Rheia tricked Kronos and when the sixth child, Zeus, was born, she substituted a stone for the infant and Kronos swallowed it down. Zeus was hidden and raised in secret until he was old enough to fulfill his destiny.
Devaki
Devaki was another mother who had her children slaughtered by a male relative. Her brother, the demon- king Kasma, learned in a prophecy that a child of Devaki’s would kill him, so in true mythological fashion he got in first and killed each infant when it was born. In this way he slaughtered the first six of Devaki’s children.Then Vishnu stepped in. As legend tells it, he impregnated Devaki with two hairs, one black, one white, and two infants appeared inside her, one of whom was Krishna, who grew to be dark skinned, and the other Balarame, who grew to be light skinned.. To ensure the safety of the embryos, they were transferred before birth into surrogate mothers, Balarama was moved to the womb of the goddess Rohini, and Krishna to the womb of Yasoda, the wife of a cowherd.
Needless to say, Balarama and Krishna eventually killed Kamsa and fulfilled the prophecy.
Frigg
Balder the Beautiful had a loving mother in Frigg. For it was Frigg, on learning that Balder would be killed, who set out on her quest to save her beautiful boy, personally pleading with all the living creatures on the earth. Sun, fire, water, earth, iron, every sort of metal, tree, disease, beast, bird, fungus, poison, serpent and even the very stones themselves she made swear that they would not harm her son Balder.
(Sadly, she overlooked the mistletoe, but that’s another story)
Hsi-Wang-Mu
One name for Hsi-wang-Mu is Royal Mother of the Western Paradise, for she is the Highest Goddess of ancient China, and may be invoked by anyone needing the solace of a mother, especially in times of illness. For Hsi-Wang-Mu is responsible for growing magical peaches which give the recipient eternal life and this is a useful gift when you need healing. These peaches are known in Norse myth as the Apples of Youth and indeed, apples abound in mythology.
There are many more mothers (and grandmothers) who play large roles in mythology across the globe, each one is individual and unique but all of them demonstrate that great flow of love that is unparalleled on earth, the love of a mother.
Stumble it!
