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I've done a bit of research on Mardi Gras and am wondering why this mass celebration occurs the day before major holy days. I learned that Mardi Gras is not just before Ash Wednesday, but other holy days as well that date back to the 12th century.
So why the big carnival and utter craziness? Why not any other day of the year besides before a holy day?
I was curious this morning about the Mardi Gras also so I went and googled it... !!
Down below are just a couple of web sites about it's history... but I thought it was interesting how it began and why......
Below is just a tibbit of what I read followed with a link to the page!
When Rome embraced Christianity, the early Church fathers decided it was better to incorporate certain aspects of pagan rituals into the new faith rather than attempt to abolish them altogether. Carnival became a period of abandon and merriment that preceded the penance of Lent, thus giving a Christian interpretation to the ancient custom.
The mid-February festival known as Lupercalia honored the god Lupercus, alternately known as the god of fertility and the god of agriculture and pastoral shepherds. In either case, his party definitely had Mardi Gras-like qualities, including days of feasting and drinking. And a little enjoying the "pleasures of the flesh", probably, too -- in fact, the term Carnival, often synonymous with Mardi Gras, is derived from the Latin expression meaning "farewell to the flesh."
Like most of the ancient Roman and Greek festivals, Lupercalia was adopted and adapted by the Church as a way of subtly converting the local pagans to Christianity. The carnival-like celebration of Lupercalia thus morphed into a last "fling" before the beginning of the Lenten period.
Yes, it does have a distinct correlation to holy days. The most benign versions involve simply going through (indulging in) your stores of food or other resources in order to celebrate your abundance before going into a period of religious austerity (for Lent or some other thing).
In some old European cultures, carnival was a massive party (with various degrees of hedonism) that people had before some religious event or period that would require them to be pretty quiet and conservative for a while. Stuff like that led to Mardi Gras.
I guess some people see this as a celebration of sin but I have always thought that it speaks to the core of human nature. We all have struggles and pain that are dealt with through both hedonistic glee and religious reverence (at different times usually) and I think that it is natural for humans to seek both.
Historically speaking, it makes a lot of sense to me that people would want to party like it's 1999 right before they are going to get introspective and focused on prayer and righteousness. It's probably shameful to today's brand of Protestant Christian, but it does go along with the notion that we can revel in our sins and then later repent for them.
Absolutely, there use to be decency laws, i think they are still on the books.
It appears that the local authorities are more interested in the financial benefits of debauchery than the social and moral implications.
Tares gone wild, will get burned.
godspeed,
freedom
I imagine in this economy, and especially in New Orleans, they'll take money any way they can get it!
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