Mardi Gras Links And Lupercus

This opinion piece was posted in 2012 by a local New Orleanian  C. W Cannon. It contrasts the "rich person's Mardi Gras" with the Mardi Gras that developed in the past 20 years since the old line Krewe's were forced to integrate.  The Mardi Gras we have today is better than the Mardi Gras of 20 years ago because we New Orleanians have begun to move back to smaller scale groups of individuals who costume and parade without enormous budgets.  'Tit Rex is a parady of the old line monied Rex and pays tribute to the shoebox float that ever New Orleanian school kid has made at least once.  Krewe du Vieux makes fine art of satire. I will love them forever for the 2006 Mardi Gras "Corps of Engineers we hold nothing back" and "Meet me at the Breech" displays.  Carnival is where we turn our ordered patterned world on it's head. Where we break loose and, as Cannon says, "the cultural concept of Carnival is to turn against, invert, or critique the broader culture in which it is enveloped."

And Mark Folse a local blogger posted about another blogger who wrote extensively about France's Occtican Carnival.  (One of my favorite parts of the world).  This talks about how Carnival prepares us for the shift between Winter and Spring. How we revel in the wild and cleanse the old year away.   If the pictures of "Spring's Wild Forces" doesn't make you think wild thoughts, nothing will.

I have always said that Mardi Gras was perfectly aligned with Lupercus these posts reinforce that for me.  So please take time to howl for Lupercus and this carnival season.  People have known for centuries that it's good for the body and the soul.