Mōdraniht

Mōdraniht is a celebration that was observed by Bede in the Northumbrian region of Great Britain. Judging by his account, it seems to have had some connection with the Matronae, which makes the question of its roots (Germanic, Celtic, Roman, or a combination thereof?) as questionable as the Goddess figures themselves.

Back in the early days of Ásatrú, there was a trend of seizing upon everything that seemed vaguely “pagan” in any of these Northern European cultures, particularly where holidays were concerned. Thus you have Ásatrú Yule celebrations combining the British “Mother’s Night,” the Roman (?) “Boar’s Head Feast,” the Scandinavian Yule Goat, the Germanic “Yule Tree,” the Celtic Yule Log (on occasion), and the Sun Wheel, which appears to be of mixed origins. When you don’t have much to go off of this kind of “cherry picking” gets the job done, though it spreads a lot of misinformation in the process.

In defense of Mother’s Night, many Ásatrú groups try to make the argument that it is a form of the dísablót. However, the scant sources we have on the topic simply don’t support that claim.

Am I saying that you shouldn’t attend your kindred’s Mother’s Night ritual? No. It’s always good to honor the “mothers,” whether that is taken to mean Frigga, Frau Holle, the Matronae, or the Dísir. I’m also not saying that Ásatrúar cannot post about Mother’s Night (Hel, I’m doing it!), as “Mother’s Night” has become a kind of Ásatrú holiday through appropriation, for better or for worse. Many holidays result from some kind of religious mixing (look at Christmas!) and I am certainly unopposed to that. As someone so aptly said on Facebook earlier this month: “The more holidays, the better.”