The Mother of All Mothers

When I think of motherhood, I think of love, care, compassion, selflessness, acceptance, and fairness. (If I’m completely honest, I also think of soul-sucking exhaustion and...wine. But I digress.)

In the last few days, I’ve been basking in all the expressions of love and gratitude that come along every year for Mother’s Day. And that got me thinking about the mother of all mothers, the one that has been venerated and celebrated since the dawn of time for being an unstoppable force: Mother Nature. 

For as far as recorded history goes, storytelling has been a way to simplify otherwise complex ideas and as a result, every ancient culture has had their own Mother Nature, their own guiding force of creation.

To wit: In Greek Mythology, Mother Nature is known and worshipped as Gaia (or Gaea), the goddess of earth who created herself out of primordial chaos. (Sheesh, that sounds familiar!) From Gaia, everything came to life including the gods, the mortal beings, and all living things. In Ancient Roman mythology, Tellus Mater (or Terra Mater) was considered one of the 12 agricultural deities. In parts of South America where the entire Inca economy was based on agriculture, Pachamama was worshipped as the feminine soul of nature and provider of everything. In Buddhist mythology, Phra Mae Thorani—the literal translation of Mother Earth— appeared as a serpent-like guardian of the crops (and of Buddha himself). 

Though we continue to celebrate our own mother’s with fierce aplomb every year, I think it’s sad that we no longer worship mythological deities depicting Mother Nature anymore. Nonetheless, she is honoured across the globe through science, research, and activism. And we’re seeing more and more action to protect the planet every day.

To say thank you for YOUR continued commitment to protecting our main mama, we’re offering 10% off all your favourite etee products.

SHOP THE MOTHER'S DAY SALE

Keep on lovin'
Chantal and the whole crew at etee