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Origin
and History of Carnival
Pre-Christian Traditions
Carnival originated from pre-Christian traditions of the
peasantry of Europe and other continents.
Peasants live
intimately with nature. They depend on good weather for
good harvests. They rejoice when they reap abundantly.
That's why they tried to influence the insecure factors
affecting their crops by means of ceremonies and
rituals.
The European climate with its four seasons,
among which the cold and dark winter, and spring when
nature appears to rise from death, had a profound
influence on those traditions. To this day elements
derived from these folk-traditions can be recognized in
the celebration of our carnival.
Winter and Spring
The Romans considered the month of February a period of
cleansing, during which they had to chase away the bad
spirits of winter. Everything had to be taken out,
dusted, cleaned and washed, to get rid of the influences
of the cold and dark season. In this way the people
prepared themselves to start a new year with a clean
slate.
The Leeward islands of
the Netherlands Antilles still have
such a tradition, taking place at the end of December
and called SakaFuku - 'Throwing away Bad Luck'. But this
is probably of African origin.
The new year we are talking about here, is not the
calendar year as we know it now, but the Year of Nature,
which stretches between the end of winter and the
beginning of spring, the months of February and March.
The Romans celebrated the beginning of spring at the end
of February, which they called Februarius.
The event lasted three days, exactly like our
celebration of Carnival. On the second day there was
abundant eating and drinking, and a procession was held.
On the third day the Roman peasants prepared pots of
beans and other offerings for the deceased.
Carne Levale / Carnival
We know that the name carnival dates from the 13th
century, but existence of the term Carne Levale is
confirmed by an Italian document as early as the year
965. The
interpretation given to carnival as the renouncement of
the consumption of meat, in Latin ?carne vale' clearly
dates from the time of Christianity. Carne Levale
originally were certain dues the farmers had to pay in
connection with their festivities. |
