Adverts
Carnival, this party that we love so much, didn't start here in Brazil, but it ended up becoming the face of our country. It takes place in many corners of the world, but this is where it really shines.
And look, although today we enjoy Carnival in a very free way, this celebration has its roots in Catholicism, because it takes place right before Lent.
But seriously, this Carnival story is really old, it goes back to ancient times. Find out everything about this holiday below!
Read too:
How did Carnival come about?
The expression “Carnival” comes from the Latin, “carnis levale”, which means “to say goodbye to meat”.
This whole talk has to do with the idea of fasting during Lent and enjoying the pleasures of life.
There are some guys who study these things and think that Carnival is a celebration that came from the Christian tradition, because of this whole connection with the idea of not eating meat during Lent.
But that doesn't mean that we can't take a look back and see that Carnival also took inspiration from some old festivals.
For example, there in Babilônia, there were parties that were perhaps the great-grandmothers of our Carnival.
One of them was the Sacéias, which was very different: they took a prisoner, made him live as if he were the king for a few days, eating the best and even sleeping with the guy's wives.
But in the end, the poor guy was flogged and ended up being hanged or impaled.
In Rome, people enjoyed two top parties: Saturnália and Lupercalia. Saturnalia took place in the middle of the cold December, during the winter solstice, and Lupercalia took place in February, which was the month that people dedicated both to the most sinister gods and to purifications.
These parties lasted several days, full of eating, drinking and dancing.
And the craziest? Everyone changed roles: the slaves became the bosses and the bosses experienced life in the slaves' shoes, but all in fun, just for a little while.
What does Christianity have to do with carnival?
Ah, Carnival and the complicated relationship it had with Christianity at the beginning! So, get this, the parties that people enjoyed in those times were mega popular, but they had a very different vibe, totally pagan.
The Catholic Church, which was beginning to secure itself in power, didn't like this story of everyone throwing themselves at parties and living life crazy.
For the guys in the Church, this was the opposite of what it should be, like, it changed the entire social and moral order that they preached, you know?
It was as if, suddenly, the boss became the intern and vice versa, and this even messed up the relationship between good and evil, God and the devil.
But then, the Church had an idea: “Let’s find a way to add a little of our spice to these parties.” And that's how Lent came about during the High Middle Ages.
Lent is that period of 40 days before Easter, where people had to fast.
Over time, the Church arranged for the festivities to take place during this period before Lent, and they called this whole celebration carnis levale, which was basically the farewell to meat before Lent.
The Church's plan was like: “Alright, let's let people enjoy and let go before getting into that more serious and religious vibe of Lent“.
And so Carnival began to take shape, lasting several weeks, between Christmas and Easter.
What is the date of Carnival in 2024?
The 2024 Carnival will take place from February 10th to 13th, covering Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Also discover the completely free ENEM course: here! Doubts? Leave it below in the comments!
