|
The season of Mardi Gras began as
ancient spring fertility festivals… a religious
holiday. Mardi Gras, French for "Fat Tuesday",
is the single-day culmination of the Carnival Season
between Jan 6 and March 9. It's traditionally known
as the "Greatest Free Party on Earth" and
includes over 70 parades, manned by costumed Revelers
that roll through the streets of New Orleans. Mardi
Gras is always 47 days before Easter Sunday and the
Tuesday before the forty days of Lent became known
as Fat Tuesday. It gained that title because it was
a Christian's last chance to over-indulge before Lent
began. Lent is a time of solemnity before the Easter
resurrection of Jesus.
It means different things to different groups of people
and originates from the Early French explorers who
celebrated this holiday on the banks of the Mississippi
River. The Orleanians added to the celebration by
establishing krewes (organizations) which host parades
and balls. It has become an exciting holiday for both
children and adults.
The Greek version of Mardi gras was to guarantee fertility
in their women. The celebration usually meant animal
sacrifices, masking, overindulgence and a good time.
The men would smear blood from the animal sacrifices
all over themselves and whip their women with whips
made from the animals. The lash on the women's bare
skin was thought to guarantee fertility. In order
to make the spring rites acceptable, leaders of the
church attempted to revive the Greek version of Mardi
Gras by allowing acceptable feasting before the Lenton
season. The period before Fat Tuesday came to be known
as The Carnival, and it spread across Europe.
The Romans celebrated it as "Lupercalia"
in honor of their pastoral god, Lupercus. But the
festival transformed into an excuse to have orgies
and the masks worn were used for secrecy while committing
various acts, not excluding murder. Citizens used
the masks as a license to do just about anything including
cross-dressing among the sexes.
By the middle ages, the parade expanded with boats
in Florence and Venice. But, it took five centuries
for the Roman Catholic Church to turn Lupercalia into
a tame celebration just for fun…and today…when
Mardi Gras is finished…the streets are lined
with trash, broken beads, doubloons, discarded masks
and beer cans, but there is no longer the fascination
with violence that marked the earlier celebrations.
|
