Bel Homme

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Running Hare

Image: Photographer unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• Afoot
• Solitary Adapter
• Field Runners
• Meadow Hare
• A Different Dimension

Carnival

Today is Shrove Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras), the last day of Carnival, a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent.

Carnivalesque/Shrovetide events typically take place during February or early March. In a number of places around the world, members of the LGBTQI community have become a visible part of Carnival, imbuing these annual celebrations with a unique perspective and a deeper meaning that harkens back to Carnival’s indigenous European (i.e., pagan) roots and thus an emphasis on renewal through transgression and upendment. (Halloween, it should be noted, has similarly been reclaimed by queer folk.)

Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including parades, street parties and other entertainments, some of which combine some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent.

The characteristics of the celebration of Carnival take their origins from ancient European festivals, such as the Greek Dionysian (the Anthesteria) or the Roman Saturnalia. During these festivities, there was a temporary release from social obligations and hierarchies to make way for the overthrow of order, joking and even debauchery. From a historical and religious point of view, the Carnival therefore represented a period of celebration, but above all of symbolic renewal, during which chaos replaced the established order, which, however, once the festive period was over, re-emerged new or renewed and guaranteed for a cycle valid until the beginning of the following Carnival.

From an anthropological point of view, Carnival is a reversal ritual, in which social roles are reversed and norms about desired behavior are suspended. During antiquity, winter was thought of as the reign of the winter spirits; these needed to be driven out in order for summer to return. Carnival can thus be regarded as a rite of passage from darkness to light, from winter to summer: a fertility celebration, the first spring festival of the new year.

The following explores the queer dimension of Carnival and is excerpted from Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit by Randy P. Conner, David Hatfield Sparks and Mariya Sparks.

________________________
A. Orloff writes of Carnival, “Nothing can resist this tidal wave of juggernauting chaos as it turns our ordered world on its head. . . . [T]his is a magical time outside of time in which one and all are changed, everything is reversed, inverted. . . . Through orgiastic excess and folly, through the embrace of the opposite within us, through the baptism of frenzied chaos we are reborn”

The association of homoerticism and transgenderism with the carnivalesque is an ancient one. In late antiquity, Christian authorities commenced their attempt to control or abolish carnivals, which they correctly perceived as celebrations of the exiled gods. “The remains of heathen superstitions of all kinds are forbidden,” the Quinisext (or Trullan) Synod found it necessary to declare almost seven hundred years after the triump of Christianity: “the festivals of the Kalendar, the Bota (in honor of Pan [left]), the Brumalia (in honor of Bacchus), the assemblies on the first of March, public dances of women, clothing of men like women, and inversely, putting on comic, satyric, or tragic masks, the invocation of Bucchus at the winepress, etc. . . . [A]ll these activities are forbidden.”

Despite these efforts to destroy Carnival, however, the phenomenon, including its expression of transgenderism through transvestism, persisted. Indeed, in many sectors during the Middle Ages, Carnival was quietly acknowledged as a necessary release of pagan expression in a Christianized world. In the words of Mikhail Bakhtin, “the carnival processions . . . were interpreted as the march of the [officially] rejected pagan gods.”

See also the following related posts at The Leveret’s brother site, The Wild Reed:
• The Pagan Roots of All Saints Day
• The God from the House of Bread: A Bridge Between Christianity and Paganism
• Pagan Thoughts at Hallowtide
• Recaiming the “Hour of God”
• Celebrating the Coming of the Sun and the Son
• Advent: A “ChristoPagan” Perspective
• Beltane and the Reclaiming of Spirit
• Thomas Moore on the Circling of Nature as the Best Way to Find Our Substance
• Gabriel Fauré’s “ChristoPagan” Requiem
• Biophilia, the God Pan, and a Baboon Named Scott
• The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
• The Devil We (Think We) Know
• Cernunnos
• Beloved and Antlered
• Integrating Cernunnos, “Archetype of Sensuality and the Instinctual World”
• A Day to Celebrate the Survival of the Old Ways
• The Prayer Tree

Images: Subjects and photographers unknown.

Pubic Hair: “An Inimitable Part of Our Anatomy”

Writes Matthew Rozsa of Salon . . .

For such an uncomfortable subject as pubic hair, people sure are vocal about their opinions. A 2015 study found that women tend to have strong convictions regarding their partners’ pubic hair. Meanwhile, pubic hair styling has grown into a genuine industry. And serious injuries that take place while shaving one’s pubic hair are not uncommon.

Whether we are comfortable talking about it or not, public hair is an inimitable part of our anatomy. But why, exactly, do we have the stuff?

Pubic hair does not serve a self-evident purpose, like other body parts such as one's heart or bones.

As it turns out, scientists are not sure why we have pubic hair — but they do have some fascinating theories.


To read about these theories, click here.

Images: Subjects and photographers unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• Bel Homme – August 30, 2022
• Bel Homme – June 5, 2021
• Bel Homme – August 15, 2020
• Bel Homme – November 9, 2019
• Bel Homme – February 28, 2018
• Bel Homme – August 28, 2017
• Bel Homme – October 23, 2014

Yoga for Burning Belly Fat

The following 15-minute video by Man Flow Yoga is a “quick power yoga routine [that] helps you with weight loss by building and toning your muscles, elevating your heart rate, and helping you burn more calories.”




See also the previous posts:
• The Body Coach’s “Ultimate Beginners” Workout
• The Body Coach’s “Super Beginner” Workout
• The Body Coach’s 10-Minute Ultimate Beginners Workout
• “5 Minute Abs” with The Body Coach
• Day 1 of The Body Coach’s “7 Days of Sweat Challenge” | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7
• Jordan Yeoh’s 10 Minute Bodyweight Workout
• Funk Roberts’ 10 Minute Bodyweight Workout

Related Off-site Link:
• Man Flow Yoga’s Official YouTube Channel

Hare Décor

Bowl Art: Artist unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• Hare Décor – August 22, 2019
• Hare Décor – April 20, 2018
• Hare Décor – July 28, 2017
• Hare Décor – January 25, 2017
• Hare Décor – May 6, 2015
• Hare Décor – December 13, 2012
• Summer Herbs and Hare

Opening the Door for Vulnerability and Flourishment

Yung Pueblo writes the following on what makes a relationship flourish.

Two people who seek to know, love and heal themselves as individuals will have harmony flow between them as a couple. Control creates tension, but trust gives them space to be their own person and opens the door for vulnerability. Calm communication, clear commitments and the willingness to support each other’s happiness makes the union strong.


Image: Subjects and photographer unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• Luminous and Safe in Vulnerability
• Divine Expressions
• Face Your Darkness
• Reaching Out
• The Role of Reevaluation in the Gay Man’s Quest for Authenticity
• Love
• Mindful Lovemaking
• A Source of Joy for the Beauty of Life Itself
• Not a Weapon or a Mere Tool
• Affirming Our Essential Goodness
• The Gay Male Quest for Democratic, Mutual, Reciprocal Sex (Part 1)
• The Gay Male Quest for Democratic, Mutual, Reciprocal Sex (Part 2)
• Animal Energies

Winter Hare

Image: “Winter Hare” by Angela Harding.

See also the previous posts:
• Winter Hare 2020 | 2017 | 2016) | 2014 | 2011
• Hares in Winter
• Wintry Scene
• Sub-Zero
• In Winter Field
• Winter's Herald
• Snow Is in the Air
• Across Winter Fields
• The Winter King
• In the Winter Garden
• Winter Rest
• Hare in Snow
• The Promise of Imbolc

In the Arena

See also the previous posts:
• In the Arena | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII
• Wrestling: "The Heterosexually Acceptable Form of Homosexual Foreplay"
• The Domain of Eros
• "Deal with It": Joe Kort's Message to Straight Men Who Shower with Gay Men
• Olympic Male Beauty
• Olympic Male Beauty II
• Ball[s] Sports
• Colin
• LeBron
• In the Arena, a Call for Justice

Images: Photographers unknown.

A Mystery No More

Dr Pirrello et al. state: “Lagophthalmos derives from the Greek terms λαγος (hare) and οφταλμος (eye). It is a condition in which the eyelids are unable to close the palpebral aperture completely and cover the whole eye. Hares in fact sleep with their eyes open.” This statement requires some etymologic remarks.

The belief that hares sleep with their eyes open can be found in the literature ever since the ancient Greek and Roman societies. For a long time the hare’s habits were hardly known. The hare was a mysterious creature and became the subject to much folklore. Nowadays, however, many of the mysteries about the hare are disproved as we are now better able to observe hares with our modern filming techniques. We now know that hares are able to close their eyes and that they do not sleep with their eyes open.

– Source

See also the previous posts:
• Golden-Coloured Eyes
• Amber Eyes

Images: Photographers unknown.

Bel Homme

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Sub-Zero

The head of my ornamental moon-gazing hare, protruding out of the snow and into the sub-zero temperatures currently being experienced in Minnesota.


See also the previous posts:
Minneapolis Weather: Brrring on the Coldest Night of Winter – Sven Sundgaard (Bring Me the News, February 3, 2023).
Bitter Cold Friday Morning Gives Way to a Big Weekend Warmup – Minnesota Public Radio News (February 3, 2023).

See also the previous posts:
• In the Winter Garden
• Winter Hare
• In Winter Field
• Winter Light
• Hares in Winter
• The Promise of Imbolc

Image: The Leveret.

Morning Light

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

See also the previous posts:
• The Body: A Holy Place of Romp and Renewal
• The Body’s “Holy Hole”
• A Source of Great Pleasure
• “Downtown Heaven”
• Morning Light – November 26, 2016
• Morning Light – August 30, 2013

The Promise of Imbolc

Writes Carl Neal in Imbolc: Rituals, Recipes, and Lore for Brigid’s Day:

When the dark days of winter seem to have gone on forever, the first sign of spring refreshes our souls. It is a promise that winter will not last forever and that warm and fertile days will come again soon. Even through snow, the daffodils will push their heads up with a startling flash of green and yellow against the otherwise unbroken glare of winter’s white. While you can still see your breath like steam in the chilled air, the first taste of fresh milk means that new life will soon be born. Weary from winter’s dark, it also means that the soul will soon be reborn in the growing warmth of the sun. There yet may be snow on the ground but there are new plants sprouting just beneath that protective layer. As bears awaken from their winter slumber, so too does the earth, and life everything reawakens.

Also known as “Imblolg,” “Oimelc,” and the “Feast of St. Brigid,” Imbolc is the sabbat midway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Imbolc is celebrated on February 1 and precedes the more recent Christian reinterpretation of Imbolc called “Candlemas” which is celebrated on February 2. Although you might often see the terms Imbolc and Candlemas used interchangeably, they are actually different holidays. Imbolc is the time when life begins to awaken from its winter sleep and prepare for the warmth and longer days that are soon to start. During the depths of winter, it can feel as though the warm sun and soft breezes of spring will never return and the cold might go on forever. Imbolc marks the turning point when life eagerly begins to look forward to the increasingly warmer days.

Imbolc is a time when new plans are made and new ideas are “planted.” It is also traditionally a time to examine the people, objects, and philosophies in our lives. It is an opportunity to discard the things we don’t need or that are holding us back. It is when we make new plans and improve old ones. In a sense, the Imbolc part of the Wheel of the Year is a winter cocoon. Upon emerging, we may be greatly changed indeed from the beings who celebrated Yule only weeks before.


Image: “Imbolc Hare” by Wendy Andrew.

See also the previous posts:
• Sacred
• Let the Spiral Turn and Turn
• Sol Invictus

And at The Leveret's brother site The Wild Reed, see:
• Imbolc: Celebrating the Freshness of New Beginnings
• Imbolc: Festival of Light
• Taking the High Road . . . in Imbolc’s Time of Growing Light and Emerging New Life