CARNEVALE

The Carnevale festival derives from an ancient Latin feast called Lupercalia, a festival held around 15th of February before the coming of Christianity. The feast was in honor of Lupa, the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of ancient Rome.

The priests, luperci (brothers of the wolf) conducted a ceremony dressed in goatskins. The feast began with the sacrifice of a dog and two goats. After the sacrificial rite, two priests approached an altar where another priest took the knife used to kill the dog and goats, and anointed their foreheads with the bloody knife.

The anointer then took a wool cloth, dipped in milk, and wiped their foreheads and the knife. After cleaning the forehead, the continuing ritual required the two priests to smile and laugh. Following that, the priests cut thongs of skin (called februa) of the animals slain and ran along the city walls waving them. Spectators would position themselves close enough for the flailing februa to strike them. This ritual, many believed, would drive away evil spirits, ensure fertility in young girls and women, prevent sterility and relieve the pains of child-birthing.

It is interesting to note, at this point, that the month of February received its name from februa, and the Italian word carnevale (pronounced car–nay- vah-lay) comes from the Latin carnelevarum, meaning, to remove the flesh. The English word is carnival.

This ritual continued until 494 AD, when Pope Gelasius did away with the februa rite and replaced it with a Christian ceremony of purification and sacrifice (lent). The festivities that occurred prior to lent, spread throughout the Roman Catholic world. Lent is a time of sacrifice and many interpreted the Latin word to remove the flesh, also as meat free.

Carnevale was mainly a Roman feast; however, over time Venice became a city renowned for its celebrations. There a unique cultural phenomenon developed where the well-to-do residents of the city randomly throughout the year wore masks while engaging in questionable behavior.

The Signoria, the city council, frowned upon these behaviors and passed laws restricting the times of the year for the wearing of disguises. They allowed them between the twenty-sixth of December, St. Stephen’s Day, and on up to and including the day before the beginning of lent, Shrove Tuesday. Consequently, that day became a greater day of merriment and indulgence than those leading up to it.

 That Tuesday goes by many names, Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Martedí Grasso, in Italian, and Mardi Gras, in French. Both Italian and French terms mean Fat Tuesday. Fat and meat, two major foods used before lent become taboo during the Lenten period. Shrove is an old English word meaning to obtain absolution. Among many English-speaking countries, it is also known as Pancake Day, the last day to cook pancakes since pancakes are cooked using fat.

Members of the poorer classes also wore masks, allowing them to mix freely with aristocrats. The mask was a great equalizer for revelry. Today many consider Venice a leader in celebrating Carnevale; however, two other cities are renowned for their celebrations, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and New Orleans, Louisiana.

In Venice the main festivities take place in St. Mark’s square. The activities are parades with floats, people marching in costumes, people dancing, orators spouting their ideas, individuals performing acrobatics, people engaging in varied antics, and there is dining, and music. The major theme of the music for the festival is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

The origins of Mardi Gras in the United States lie in Mobile, Alabama, dating back to 1703, making it the oldest annual Carnival celebration in America. Nicholas Langlois, a Frenchman, initiated it in Mobile, the year after it became the capital of French Louisiana. It was a traditional French Catholic activity. Over the years it evolved across the many different cultural, religious, and governmental aspects of the city to become what it is today. In recognition of the popularity of the event, the Monday and Tuesday of the week of Mardi Gras, are system wide school holidays. Below is a 1900, poster parade float of King Felix and entourage. And Venetian revelers.

Felix is the Latin word for joy.