It’s pancake day here in the UK!
Thought to have been introduced as a way of using up fresh ingredients before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday (tomorrow) it is a festival that matches Mardi Gras in the USA.
At my adoptive home in Sweden we don’t have pancakes but instead indulge in sticky buns filled with almond paste and cream. These were traditionally eaten with a cup of hot milk.
We’ve just had the pagan festival of Imbolc and St Brigids Day and Candlemass has just been and gone too.
I find it fascinating to explore the links between the different cultures and religions and their festivals and am always delighted to find a common link. I dislike the way religion segregates us, encouraging us to make others wrong in order to prove ourselves right.
Innocent festivals such as Shrove Tuesday restore my hope that we are all in fact talking about the same thing and are linked to the same god (or goddess) – there are just too many similarities between the festivals to deny this.
So, Happy Pancake Day. Happy Mardi Gras. Happy Sprengidagur. Happy Fettisdagen.
Whichever one you will be enjoying today!
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Then, of course, you have the phenomenon of Super Tuesday here is the United States, which, believe me, has absolutely nothing to do with religion or spirituality. It’s a big-ole primary voting day for our candidate for President where the voters for 20 of the states go to the polls.
Isn’t it a shame that falls on the same day as all the other festivals you mention?
I wonder what god (or goddess — we do have a female running this time) that fiasco is linked to!
However, you are right — we are all linked together — we are all part of the whole.
Now, let’s all share in one of those scrumptious sticky buns!!
Peace …