My mother was a practicing witch. Deep into Demonology. She and her group of 'friends' who I was raised to consider as my aunts and uncles did a lot of very, very naughty things.
Our relationship was at best strained in my adult life. by the time I hit age 30 I decided the best way to go was to totally stop trying to win her love, approval, her maternal instincts because I figured out she was without love, approval nor maternal instincts.
She died in 2007. I do not know the details, and it took a third party (a virtual stranger) digging through the internet to find a little quote stating her name, DOB and DOD.
I actually felt a great deal of relief to learn she had died.
My mother marked me for life, literally and figuratively. I get the nightmares, rehashing of the same events over and over again. I often wake up screaming at night from these terrible dreams that take me back to my childhood. She also drugged me and tattooed me in a circle... It was part of some dark ritual which included a sacrifice... There was lots of blood all over the place, splattered over my nude body. While the rest of the stuff used was still in or around the circle, what was missing was a body.
It could have been a dog, it could have been a chicken... however there are nights when I lay awake wondering if it was a human sacrifice.
That is the legacy of my mother for me, doubt, fear, terror which will never really end.
And these are the sorts of things this and all Mother's Days bring to my mind.
Other holidays are worse...