As those of you who know me will not be surprised to find I found some pagan origins of pancake day!
The custom of eating pancakes at Shrove Tuesday was popular in many parts of Europe, including many parts distant from Britain, such as the Zemaitija province of Lithuania where it was an important celebration.
People traditionally ate bacon, meat and black puddings as well as pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. There was dice and card playing, mumming and revelry. Wagons were drawn by horses today, all decorated with hundreds of bells. Today was apprentices' holiday in old England. They also presented their petitions to parliament on this day.
The lunation immediately preceding the Egg Moon is the Lenten Moon. This is an old Saxon name basically meaning lengthening, signifying the period when the days are getting noticeably longer, but still preceding the Vernal Equinox. The true definition is the month that contains a full moon in the solar month of Herthamonth, which runs from 19th February until 20th March.
Lent originated in the ancient Babylonian mystery religion. "The forty days' abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess
Lent developed from the pagan celebration of weeping, fasting, and mourning for 40 days over the death of Tammuz (one day for each year of his life), the son/husband of the Babylonian idol Ishtar, who was killed by a wild boar and then allegedly resurrected.
Another shrove tuesday tradition; the energetic rituals of Shrove Tuesday football ties in neatly with spring festivals and that the round ball representing an egg links it to fertility rituals.
Enjoy your pancakes! blessings, Alison xx
Origin: wiccalessons.blogspot.com