On the other hand, mardis gras is the celebration of the end of winter before a month of lent for fasting and deprivation, and at the end of lent is holy week with lots of celebrations and worship services. The Romans had their year start in March, which in their climate would put this part of the year squarely in springtime. We have moved to the winter equinox year division because for some reason Christianity celebrated Jesus' birth on Mithra's birthday. Mardi Gras is also closer to the spirit of the old-fashioned roman "saturnalia" that symbolically destroyed the old social order in preparation for the new year to come. I'd think that many Gloranthan theistic cultures would have wild celebrations at the end of sacred time, and that these celebrations would somehow overturn the social order, followed by a time of purification and testing and then the rites that re-establish the world.
-- Loren Miller <loren_at_...> http://ioxy.com The Web is all about communication, baby...
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