Let the good times roll! It's Mardi Gras season.
Mardi Gras, a French phrase meaning "Fat Tuesday", is the day before the Catholic holiday of Ash Wednesday. It is a celebration of all things pleasurable before entering the Lenten period of fasting and penance before Easter.
Celebrating a day of indulgence before a noteworthy Catholic holiday or period is not unique to Mardi Gras. Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, is the most popular one, a celebration of the ghosts and goblins of the netherworld who resurrect to create mayhem before All Saints Day. Mexican cultures, who hold reverence for their ancestors, follow All Saints Day with el Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. After all, what better way to prepare for sacrifice than throwing a party!
The actual calendar date of Mardi Gras varies year to year, because Ash Wednesday does. That day is set to 46 days before Easter, which is set to occur on the first Sunday after the Full Moon date, based on mathematical calculations, that falls on or after March 21. If the Full Moon is on a Sunday, Easter is celebrated on the following Sunday.
No, there won’t be a quiz on this.
Which gets us to the Mardi Gras “season”, otherwise known as Carnival. It begins on January 6th, the Catholic observation of Kings Day, or the Epiphany. That day celebrates the visit of The Three Kings to the newborn Jesus, where the story has it they bestowed the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is precisely about that duration between Christmas Day and Kings Day, and gathering gifts for loved or admired ones. In truth, it wasn’t 12 days after Jesus’ birth, nor in December, but there’s 30-ish years of His life to squeeze into our annual calendar, so packing it all in requires some allowances.
The variability of Easter means the Mardi Gras season can last between 76 and 110 days. The latter part of that stretch is a series of scheduled parades and events that lead up to and include Mardi Gras itself. In New Orleans, that duration tends to be about two weeks.
Prior to that is “preparations” time. Parade floats, costumes, foods and festivity plans. Short years just mean working in more celebratory moments, but make no mistake, celebration of life will occur throughout that time!
It all starts with Kings Day, and the consumption of a King Cake. It's a ring-shaped loaf, often brioche-based and decorated with the traditional colors of purple, green and gold. Somewhere within the cake is a trinket, and the person who finds it in their slice of cake is said to be blessed with good fortune. While the common trinket is a baby, a coin or other object too big to be accidentally swallowed has also been used. I like to insert a large, sweet marzipan or chocolate ball instead. It provides sufficient texture variance to be obvious instead of a trinket, without the risk that someone swallows the item before realizing it, or damages a tooth. It is also presumed that the winner will provide the following year's cake. A mild curse, given the presumed reward.
Mardi Gras itself tends to be an culminating salute to joie de vivre. Whether celebratory, hedonistic, playful, or any combination thereof, it's best when grounded in celebrating the people and memories that bring or have brought us joy. Reconnect us in the human experience. Remind us that it’s fleeting, and to share and embrace all things that make life worthwhile.
Laissez les bon temps rouler!
