Merry Mōdraniht!



Tonight I celebrate Modraniht, the heathen holiday of Mothersnight. Of course the date itself is not set in stone, but as the solstice starts at midnight, I begin my own Mothers Night celebration at dusk. For me Mothers Night is an especially important holiday, a celebration of both my Goddess Freyja, and the Disir, my own ancestral mothers.

For those unfamiliar with this night, I have included the following. This is an excerpt explaining the Yule season for heathens, including Mothers Night from Thorshog.org's Celebratory Cycle page


For the Germanic peoples this first major feast was also the start of their New Year. It may have started on the winter solstice which is the shortest day of the year (when the sun moves into Capricorn) and occurs approximately on 21st December. . The boar is anciently connected with the Yuletide feast and this is the sacred animal of Freyr, Freyja and Nerthus.
Yule ran for a number of nights, depending on the country in question. In England it became the Twelve Nights of Christmas (after the christian festival designed to take-over the pagan midwinter festivals).
Bede talked of this festival starting on Modranect, or the "mothers night" i.e. the Night of the Mothers (plural) and not the Night of the Mother. This might suggest some connection with the disir or mother goddesses The Anglo-Saxon name for this festival was Geol, a word which is etymologically linked to a root word meaning 'wheel'. This festival was called Weh nights in Germany and it ran for thirteen nights. Yule is the Norse name for this festival and their Yuletide ran for about three nights from Höku night.

I have never been one for formalized ritual, to be honest I prefer a meditational observance, especially with a holiday such as this. I prefer to simple sit before my altar and commune with the Disir and Freyja, to give them my gifts, to share a drink and a bit of food, and listen carefully for any wisdom they may choose to bestow.

I painted a small wood painting of the full moon rising over rolling hills, with blackened clear skies filled with stars. I had not intended it as a gift but halfway through the painting I realized how special a gift it would be to the ladies, the Disir. It reminds me strongly of Nerthus in particular. Though a painting of the night would remind most of a gloomy mood, this one simply makes me feel at peace.

Lady Freyja and the Disir give me peace as well, and have blessed me in so many ways this past year, and since I journeyed through that terrifying path from maidenhood to motherhood. I am thankful, thankful for my daughter and her health, thankful for their guiding hands which led me to an extraordinary man just when I needed someone to lift me back onto my feet again, thankful for going back to school and finding such fulfillment from what I love. Thankful that my brother is safe and sound overseas. Thankful for blessing me with the most trying yet amazing mother I could imagine. Thankful for helping me scrape through another year.

The Mothers are apart of me and a thing outside me. The Mothers have lived and breathed, so that I might be here today, and one day I will join them, just as today I live and breathe to create the future. With a bit of help from the "Fathers" of course...   ;)

In Frith
Cena


Comments

  1. AnonymousDec 23, 2011, 10:48:00 AM

    Thanks so much for posting this ! I really did not know of it ☺ and being a Mum I am really thankful I think we need more mother's days ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nico Dec 26, 2011, 4:27:00 PM

    Your welcome! Glad u enjoyed. =)

    ReplyDelete

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