Shrove Tuesday

[dot.hawkes]

For as long as i can remember I have understood the signicicance of pancake day, the start of lent, the beginning of Jesus's 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. What i always understood meant the giving up of treats like sweets and chocolate, we used to get a small self assembly collection box from sunday school and we would save our pocket money for the ix weeks and take it into chrch on easter sunday.
pancake day signified the using up of all our sweat things, though we always had eggs sugar and flour in at home anyway.
So my question is, what significance does going to Morrisons and buying ready made pancakes have? Buying endless posh fillings, like lemon and mango, varous jars of fancy preserved fruit. fresh strawberries and cream? I don't understand what that is all meant to do other than create yet another money making season for the retail trade. I used to think selling ready made pancake mix and a squeazy lemon was fairly silly, now you don't even have to make the pancakes, just zap them.
Is this the next big thing then? Pancake season?

[jake-the-peg]

Cultural festivals often have religious origins, sometime's they're more celebrated abroad and then imported into this country

Halloween's a good example, never that big when I was younger in England but was apparently always quite a big event in Ireland.

Shrove Tuesday is of course Mardi Gras - I don't think the fact that Jesus didn't dress up in gold lame and samba into Jerusalem should stop the people of Rio from having what is probably the world's biggest party.


Christmas too now is a major festival celebrated by those of many faiths and none.

Given that many of these Christian festivals were plonked down on top of old pagen events sometimes even taking on their symbolism, I don't think you can complain too much when modern society hijacks the Christian events in it's turn.

[garner]

i understand where your coming from dot, but its a different world we live in today, lets face it how many children go to sunday school today as we did infact how many people go to church today compared with years ago going in another direction, why is everything for the villian and not for the victim oh............moden times,and who knows it might be pancake season next year !!!!

[WendyS]

I like to see the old religious traditions observed, but for the right reasons and hate it when commercial organisations highjack them just to increase their sales, i.e. Christmas presents, Easter eggs, Hot Cross Buns (which are now available all year round), pancake mix, etc.
What gradually happens, especially with the reduction of religious teaching in schools is that the true reasons for the celebrations are lost and it becomes one great commercial heist with the retail trade depending on these occasions to boost their profits.

[makemesmile]

jake-the-peg, I totally agree. As you say, many pagan traditions were taken over and re-hashed to suit Christian tastes so they can hardly complain now!