The Epiphany, Festival of the Three Kings & Carnaval

Today is the Epiphany or the Festival of the Three Kings. The day on which the Western Church and most Protestant Churches traditionally celebrate the arrival of the "Kings from the East" in Bethlehem to honor the new born Baby Jesus.

"Adoration of the Magi" Hieronymus Bosch

By the middle ages, veneration of the Wise Men had become popular throughout Europe and Epiphany was known as the the Feast the of the Three Kings … all of which coincided with Twelfth Night, and the end of the ancient season of Yuletide. This pagan holdover was a time of "misrule," and in many cultures the custom of wearing costumes and hiding one's identity with a mask became popular. Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, employs the idea of things not being what they seem, or should be.

Twelfth Night festival was celebrated with the preparation of a "Kings Cake," and was also regarded as the beginning of the Carnival season. The custom of masquerade and costuming evolved into the custom of elaborate entertainments known as "masques," and later expanded into the extravagant social events which featured elegant balls and banquets for the very rich, and street celebrations and festivals for the lower social classes.

It is symbolic of the tension between the pagan past and the Christian West that the season of rowdy Carnaval begins on the Feast of Epiphany and ends with the beginning of Ash Wednesday and preparations for the Christian observance of Lent. Twelfth Night is still regarded as the initiation of Carnival Season in much of the world, and this evening, television news station WDSU in New Orleans reported on the first parade of the Mardi Gras season to "roll through the streets of the city!"

"Let The Good Times Roll!"