February prepares the way for the return of the sun’s reign. In Mediterranean tradition, this is the time to drive away the dead who have wandered among the living and send them back to their own realm. Meanwhile, the figures that presided over the season of misrule are burned; the Fool King of Carnival departs in one final outburst of revelry, soon to be followed by the terrible Old Man and Old Woman who embody the harshness of winter.