The merry month of May is named after the goddess Maia Majestas, who is foremost of the Greek Seven Sisters (the Pleiades) and the mother of Hermes. It is a month associated with flowers and mild weather in the northern hemisphere. The first day, called May Day, was once a popular festival honoring Flora, the goddess of flowers.
The month of May also includes Mother's Day, which is a modern American invention. Its creator was Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a West Virginia schoolteacher who undertook a letter-writing campaign in 1905, petitioning ministers, businessmen, and congressmen to support the idea of a national day set aside to honor mothers. In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to proclaim a national day of observance, and within a year the rest of the union followed suit.
Copied from STRAIGHT FROM THE GARDEN May Newsletter
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