Celebrating Mother's Night
Tonight is Mother’s Night, or at least it is when I celebrate it within my hearth. Bede recorded it as being the Eve of December 25th, or Christmas Eve. However, it likely shifted to that date after the introduction of Christianity. Some modern heathens celebrate Mother’s Night on the Eve of the Winter Solstice, and some celebrate it on December 24th. Others don’t celebrate it at all.
So what is Mother’s Night? It is the celebration of the female ancestors, or Disir. It is similar to, or may be the same celebration as Disting of Disablot, which doesn’t seem to have a set date in the sources. Some modern heathens celebrate both separately, with Disting usually falling somewhere between January 31st and mid-February. Others celebrate one or the other, and some celebrate neither. The truth is modern heathens don’t really agree much on what holidays to celebrate other than the major 3: Sigrblot, Winter Nights, and Yule. (And often with the addition of a 4th at Midsummer.) It is up to the tribe or hearth what days are celebrated (and when) beyond that.
For me, it makes sense in the winter to celebrate ancestors, and this is a common practice in many cultures throughout the Northern Hemisphere. We already associate this time of year with the dead, and with the Wild Hunt, as well as many other spirits. The long nights are the perfect time for connecting with your living family around a fire, for telling old stories, singing songs, reading books, playing games, and crafting. We spend the long nights turning inward, feeling the tug to hearth and home, spending long hours in introspection. This is the time for ideas to be born, but it is also the time to connect to our roots.
Modern Heathens who celebrate this holiday connect with their female lineage, but also may give offerings to Frigg as the Mother of Mothers. There are many ways to connect with your female ancestors, and as a woman, I strongly suggest it, especially for other women. It is an empowering experience. If you don’t already have an ancestor cult in your hearth this is a great opportunity to start building one. And if your ancestor cult is already well-established, this is the perfect way to further strengthen it.
You want to build bonds of reciprocity with your ancestors, and in this case the Disir, by engaging in the gifting cycle. One thing I like to do when connecting to my female ancestors is sitting and having tea with them. This is not something I do strictly on Mother’s Night, but to connect with the Disir in general. Pour the tea in a cup for them and a separate cup for yourself and sit in sight of your ancestor altar and just talk, like you would with your girlfriends over tea. It might seem silly at first, but you will build a connection that way. Tell them about your family, about your life, major events that have happened since you last spoke to them. Ask their advice if you don’t know how to proceed with something. They are family. If you are just establishing your ancestor cult you may also want to connect to the Disir through meditation or trance, especially if you didn’t know any of them well in life. If you reach out to them and engage in the gifting cycle, they will connect with you.
Of course, that is not the summation of my rite for Mother’s Night, that is just one thing I do. If you are looking for more ideas there are some in the links in the Further Reading section below. Have a Wonderful Mother’s Night!
Further Reading:
“Modraniht: Mothers Honored During Norse Celebration.” https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2019/12/modraniht-mothers-norse-celebration/
“Mother’s Night – The First Night of Yule.” https://chasehillvt.org/2015/12/19/mothers-night-the-first-night-of-yule/
“Mothers Night: Its connection to the Matronae Cult, and a different holiday than Yule/Mid-Winter” https://www.aldsidu.com/post/the-mothers-night-dating-problem
“Mothers Night.” http://heathenhearth.blogspot.com/2019/12/mothers-night.html
“Mothers' Night/Mōdraniht.” Heathen on the Heath Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZgPP8Kx6HI
“12 Devotional Days of Yule.” http://www.heathenhof.com/12-devotional-days-of-yule/
“Disablot - In Honour of the Disir, Female Spirits” https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/disablot-in-honour-of-the-disir-female-spirits/
Image Source:
"A Viking Mother" by Frank Stick (1929).
