The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

With Carnival arriving in The Bahamas we should have a clear understanding exactly the history behind Carnival. The commonly accepted view is that carnival originated as a final fling on the part of good Christians before they began their forty days of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter.  It is written in encyclopedias and taught in universities that the word Carnival is derived from the Latin carne levare, meaning the putting away of the flesh. Thus it is thought to refer to some festive, last minute, pre-Lenten carnivorousness, for during Lent the faithful must abstain from excesses.

This is propaganda, foolishness.

The carnival celebrated in Catholic lands is actually an adaptation of an ancient pagan festival, the Festival of Dionysus, which in turn was adapted from the still older Haloa and Thesmophoria, two of the fertility festivals of the goddess Demeter. In truth, the word carnival is derived from carrus navalis or cart of the sea. This was a boat shaped vehicle with wheels used in the procession of Dionysus, and from which all kinds of lust-inducing songs were sung. These ship carts, carri navales, made reference to Dionysus’ fabled underwater retreat in the grottos of the sea goddess, Thetis, emerged at carnival time accompanied by musicians and dancers of both sexes, skimpily clad or nude.

They continued to be pulled through the streets of European festivals until the latter Middle Ages, and today have their less nautical and less naughty counterparts in the floats of Mardi Gras and Carnival.

These pagan festivals were deeply entrenched in the hearts and minds of the people, and they weren’t inclined to give them up. So the church shrewdly compromised. They permitted carnival, but conspired to give it Christian significance, divorcing it from carefree fertility and associating it with the crucifixion of Christ.

URSULA WELLS

Nassau,

April 28, 2015.