How did it this celebration start?

Paris Marathon Training: Week 11 of 18
Today’s target run: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Today’s completed run: 3 hours, 30 minutes
(Yes…you read that correctly…)

Maybe you know all of this…I confess, I did not….

My reading on the subject tells me that Carnival started out as a pagan event to drive out the winter and its “ghosts of darkness” who were beginning to lose their powers with the advent of spring. Thus, the parades where one sees partiers wearing grotesque masks to scare away the evil spirits.

Other legends point to Carnival as a time to honor the pagan Goddess Freya and to celebrate fertility with the beginning of spring.

Whatever the reason, early Christian missionaries decided “enough is enough” and they shifted the celebration to supposedly a more Christian event….the start of Lent. Now, “us Baptist folks” don’t really observe Lent, but we kinda know the drill. Supposedly, it is a time of reflection and abstinence which lasts for a period leading up to Easter, whereby people “give up” something during this period of time. Traditionally, this might have included meat, eggs, milk, and any food made of these items, but of course, now, people select an item they “enjoy” to show the sacrifice being made. Apparently, celibacy was also practiced during Lent.

Since the last opportunity to partake of these foods and activities, it is not unexpected that people would celebrate in a rather “enthusiastic manner”. Moving up to the Middle Ages, this custom was easy to follow because the food stocks were typically running a bit low at this time of year. Hence, the origin of the name Karneval, as derived from Latin carne vale, meaning “farewell to meat”.

Traditions have a way of evolving, and Carnival was no different. OK, fast forward to the Middle Ages, where another tradition, particularly in Germany and Central Europe revolved around Starkbier (stout). This potent beer was brewed by monks for use during Lent since they were not supposed to eat meat. History tells us that they made up for the calories by drinking this darker, richer beer. Hmmm…nice story but not sure I buy it. Yes, this tradition has stuck….just look at Carnival in Germany today, and man…the beer does flow.

Moving on to the medieval period….During this time each year, it was the practice for “common people” to hold up a mirror to the face of their lords, which led to the tradition of the Hofnarr or Court jester. The jester was the well-known fool at the side of the king who was allowed to tell every truth without being punished provided his criticism was disguised as a joke. Even today, the court jester costume is one of the favourite costumes worn by Carnival revellers. I’ll save the whole “costume thing” for another day.

OK…so now that we are all armed with the history of how Carnival celebrations and traditions began, we’ll move on to what we can expect in the way of today’s Carnival revelry.