Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler!

"Let the Good Times Roll!"

Photo cr. Joe Rabhan via Flickr Creative Commons

Mardi Gras - Fat Tuesday - this week is your last chance to party, party, party in whatever manner suits you before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Provided you will be observing Lent. I don't know how many Mardi Gras revelers actually do, but we will be here. I still haven't decided for sure what I'm giving up for Lent this year, (maybe complaining? maybe worrying? I don't eat a lot of junk food, so...hmm).

All I know is that at this bleak, gray time of year, I'm glad for any chance at some festivities! 

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At the same time, I have mixed feelings about this holiday. I can't say I really like the way some people act during Mardi Gras. My adult blog visitors will know what I mean here. (By the way, you'll be relieved to note this man is wearing a flesh-colored bodysuit. Where he might have found one in that size, I can't imagine. And I'm SURE that's just a Coke he's drinking.)

But happily, lots of places have "Family Gras" versions of the holiday that are suitable for kids and those who are not really into depravity. So let's focus on the nicer side of Mardi Gras.

When you're taking part in these celebrations, it's really neat to know that you're participating in traditions that have been going on since medieval times. Take the King Cake for example...

Photo cred. Michael Nayika via Wiki Commons.

Really??

Venetian Carnevale Mask. Photo credit gnuckx via Flickr Creative Commons.

Doused in a sweet glaze dyed the traditional colors of purple, yellow, and green, the King Cake started as a Twelfth Night or Epiphany tradition, the climax of the Christmas Season. The king it's referring to is the newborn baby Jesus, which is why the King Cake has a "baby" or prize hidden inside of it. Whoever gets the baby gets a prize. :)

Parades, music, and games have been a part of Mardi Gras for a very long time. But one of the most familiar Mardi Gras tradition from a way-long-time-ago is the wearing of costumes, like the classic domino and Carnevale mask.

Supposedly, by hiding their identities with a costume, (as if anyone's ever really fooled about who's behind the mask!) people feel freed to act in a way they wouldn't normally behave, letting their worst side come out without having to face the consequences. But some say that only by concealing their ordinary selves does the person's TRUE self come out...

If you think that's kind of dark, you're not alone. So did Edgar Allen Poe, who set his classic tale, The Cask of Amontillado, during the annual Mardi Gras wildness. Mardi Gras always makes me think of this story. It's in the public domain, so you can download a PDF of it here, or check out this chilling reading of the Mardi Gras horror tale with images and sound effects, by Strobie Productions.