Divine Definitions: (1) The co-head of the universe; devoted to the care, welfare, and rearing of the family; (2) The second person of the Trinity; (3) The nurturing aspect of God; (4) The source of abundance and plenty; (5) The Eternal Mother
Comment: God is not male or female, those are human biological designations. Yet God has been referred to as both Father and Mother from time immemorial. Even though there is only one God, there are many facets, many personalities, and many positive aspects we can differentiate and appreciate from our finite point of view.
MATERNAL
Human Definition: characteristic of a mother or motherhood <as loyal, supportive, protective, loving, giving, and generous>
See also: Paternal
Quote: Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth. — Chief Si’ahl [Seattle] (c. 1780-1866) Native American peacemaker
Prayer:
Gratitude to Mother Earth – sailing through night and day and to her soul, rich, rare, and sweet.
Gratitude to plants – facing light, changing leaf, and fine root hairs, standing still through wind and rain.
Gratitude to air – bearing the soaring, the swift, and the silent owl at dawn.
Gratitude to wild beings – our brothers, teaching secret ways of freedom; who share with us their milk, their self – complete, brave, and aware.
Gratitude to water, clouds, lakes, and glaciers – holding or releasing, streaming through all our bodies salty seas.
Gratitude to the sun – blinding pulsing light through trunks of trees, through mists, warming caves where bears and snakes sleep.
Gratitude to the great sky – holding billions of stars – and yet goes beyond, beyond all powers and thoughts – and yet is within us.
— Mohawk, The People of the Shards of Light
Symbols: 1) water; 2) the oven; 3) the goose; 4) the gorge; 5) the ocean; 6) the forest
Historic Figure: Anna Maria Jarvis (1864–1948) American teacher & business woman, proposed Mothers Day in 1905 in honor of her mother who wished for a “Mother’s Day for Peace.”