Technically, Mardi Gras is only one day, the “Fat Tuesday” before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. In reality it’s just part of an entire carnival season of feasts and revelry, starting with Kings Day (Feast of the Epiphany). The traditional date for the Kings’ Day feast is January 6, but the celebration is held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1.
Let’s just say we start partying in January and end when it’s 46 days before Easter. Look at your calendar. Do your best. Have fun! These are Christian feasts rather than those of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica.
This year for the first time, Krewe What Thou Wilt brought O.T.O. to Mardi Gras in New Orleans this year. In honor of Alombrados Oasis and Krewe What Thou Wilt, here are two recipes for King Cakes from Southern Living.
Here’s an official statement from one of the Krewe organizers about the experience of arranging for and participating in this event:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
“Krewe what thou Wilt” was willed into existence by Brother Cesare Andrea Evola and myself as an intervention to promulgate Thelema in general, and in particular to develop our local Body’s presence within our greater community. It has long been my objective to represent our southern roots, and being situated in New Orleans gave us the unique opportunity to utilize the Bacchanalian revelry of Carnival to do this. I believe strongly that Thelema is needed in post-Katrina New Orleans more than anywhere in the United States. Unchecked corruption of authority, disparity in wealth and privilege, racism, religious dogma, displacement of families as part of a corporate agenda of gentrification; all of these factors place Alombrados on the frontlines of the war against the dying aeon of Osirian oppression. While the parade was fun and presented a playful, palatable façade to onlookers, the deeper and more permanent outreach was done in our collaboration with other sub-krewes within the larger krewedelusion. I had some of my most earnest and organic conversations regarding Thelema and oppression with some of the other krewe members–many indigenous New Orleanians–in which people of an entirely different background than myself were receptive to the Law. This grassroots community outreach solidifies the cultural relevance of the Book of the Law a full century after it was received. Brother Cesare Andrea Evola and I forged bonds with locals which will endure for years, and furthermore established a reputable presence within our community as an organization that stands against oppression and embodies justice, freedom and deviance. In the south we are afflicted with struggles often seemingly insurmountable, but we came together in triumph on this day. I am very proud of all my brothers and sisters in this moment and moreover, proud to be a member of a body which wholly represents the south.
Love is the law, love under will.
Soror Edward Kelley 0°
