Happy Matronalia An Ancient Mother Day
magick, matronalia, roman goddesses 0 Comments »
Matronalia seems to be kind of a Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and anniversary of a marriage, and fertility holiday all rolled into one!
Wikipedia describes Matronalia (or Matronales Feriae) as a festival that is similar to Mother's Dayy. The festival celebrates Juno Lucina, the goddess of childbirth ("Juno who brings children into the light"), and of motherhood (mater is "mother" in Latin) and women in general. In the original Roman calendar traditionally thought to have been established by Romulus, it was the first day of the year. As the first day of March (Martius), the month of Mars, it was also the Feriae Marti.
The date of the festival was associated with the dedication of a temple to Juno Lucina on the Esquiline Hill circa 268 BCE, and possibly also a commemoration of the peace between the Romans and the Sabines.
At home, women received gifts from their husbands and daughters (not sons?), and Roman husbands were expected to offer prayers for their wives. Women were also expected to prepare a meal for the household slaves (who were given the day off work), as Roman men did at the Saturnalia. (Hmmm...seems these Romans may have shown at least a little gender equality then.)
About.com seems to describe it more like a combination of Valentine's Day and a fertility holiday. In honor of Juno Lucina's temple foundation on the Esquiline, both matrons and husbands visited the temple, laid flower wreaths, and prayed for the protection of their marriages. Lambs and cattle were sacrificed to Juno Lucina, husbands gifted their wives, girls received presents from their lovers, and mistresses gave their female slaves a feast.
Judith Hallett, Classics Professor at the University of Maryland, describes the Matronalia as a love devotional from husband to wife. "On that day husbands would pray for the health of their wives and give them presents, and wives would dress up...." (Newswise Jan. 11, 2008.) Wives dressed up by dressing down: undoing their belts, leaving not a single knot in their robes, and loosening their braided hair, thereby encouraging Juno Lucina to loosen their wombs and bring forth their "children into the light" -- a phrase attributed to Juno Lucina as the patron goddess of childbirth. (I have to wonder, is this where the term "loose" came from?"
But according to About.com, this beautiful holiday seemed to have gotten used as a political motivation to save. (I guess they didn't have Hallmark back.) The Matronalia gained added favor in the Roman calendar under Augustus' rule (27 B.C. - A.D.14). With a dwindling population, Augustus focused on the sanctity of marriage and procreation by creating new laws governing childbirth, adultery, and divorce. (So does this mean Augustus was encouraging married couples to "get it on" in celebration of the holiday so he would have people to rule?)
It seems this resembalance to Mother's Day is no coincidence. According to Paganwiccan.com, evolved into Mother's Day in Europe, and was shifted to the fourth Sunday of Lent. Although the "mother" her wasn't just the woman who birthed you, it was the church. During the Middle Ages, those who had moved away from home would return on this day to their "mother" church which in turn meant visiting their families who still remained in the village. Servants were allowed to pick flowers from their masters' gardens, and given the day off to return home for this special holiday. This is where the tradition of giving Mom flowers on Mother's Day came from. (So everytime you give flowers to Mom, remember how it was the one day servents got the day off. Nice.)
So as you can see, the holiday of Matronalia was like seveveral modern day holidays rolled into one! Mothers and wives were honored, servents and slaves got treated like human beings for once, and you were encouraged to make babies! I like this holiday!
