Carnival is a festival of pagan origin, which was officially recognized by the Catholic Church for political reasons, and it remains strong today in Brazil, enjoying the acceptance of a large portion of the population.
Source: O Consolador - Weekly Magazine of Spiritism
Every year in February or March carnival time comes to us, so let’s talk a little bit about it. Historians are not sure as to when carnival celebrations started; the scholars say that the beginning was around 4000 BC, when agrarian cults were created in Egypt. At that time, people danced with masks and props around bonfires.
Some time later came the pagan carnival, which begins in the VII century BC in Greece. In the reign of Peisistratus was the official cult of Dionysus, where peasants and farmers attended processions taking the image of the god Dionysus on boats with wheels, called carrum navalis. At that time the society is already divided, slave to one side, nobility to another, the heavy hierarchy shows the discriminatory aspect of the human being. Beverages, orgies, sex and permissiveness gain more and more space in that primitive carnival.
And so goes humanity. A few more centuries go by and the Catholic Church decided to officialise carnival, in 590 AD, tired of seeing their intentions to ban the pagan cults fail because they were already established by the custom of the people. The cradles of this carnival are in the cities of Venice and Nice; then the carnival starts to make a design more similar to the present day when floats, fancy dress and masked people begin to participate in the now traditional parade.
The church found libertine and hedonism of the pagan carnival rooted in the culture of the people. Even after the church officialised carnival, many Christians fought it, including Pope Innocent II (1130-1140), which was against the carnival ideas.
The Church and the State tried to fight the feudal character of the libertine carnival and put some solemnity in parades, however, the attempt was frustrating because the people responded in an ironic way, worrying too little about the prohibitions of moral character.
There is a paradigm that insists on saying that the carnival and the tiny costumes are somewhat necessary to our culture.
Carnival, especially in our country, has earned status of major industry, one of the largest spreaders of our culture, thus promoting the country to the level of "The Country of the carnival." Yes, dear reader, the carnival is an industry that provides thousands of direct and indirect jobs, our economy moves, improves tourism; increase the sales in the beverage industries...
It is a festival of pagan origin and that for political reasons has been brought to Christianity. And yet, for political reasons, it remains today strong in our country, enjoying the acceptance of a large portion of the population.
Some say it is a necessity of the Brazilian people, a suffered and hard working people, which therefore should enjoy with no limits so they forget their problems and celebrate ... and the carnival is the so expected gift. For some days the people forget their difficulties, their obstacles of relationships, the financial crunch, etc. These are moments of freedom for all citizens. After all in the avenue, rich and poor are in perfect sync. Blacks, whites, mulattoes feel they are part of the same family.
It is the dream of equality. Equality so desired by discriminated black people in our country, equality that the poor people want, equality that women dream about... However, in my opinion, carnival only sells illusion!
There is a paradigm that insists on saying that the carnival, the avenue and the tiny costumes are somewhat necessary to our culture. As if in Brazil, that immeasurable multitude of values, people, skills, regions, customs, remained hostage to carnival celebrations to be better, happier and stronger.
It’s an illusion to judge that we will be more or less happy as a result of carnival celebrations. Unfortunately, some Brazilians do not understand the greatness of our country and limit it to carnival and football.
We need to break this idea that Brazil is a country of only carnival and football. Brazil may be the country with honesty, culture, education, health and technology. It only depends on us, a mass awareness of the need to break the sameness.
Brazil is the country where there is the largest and most advanced network human milk uptake.
Brazil is a leading example in combating AIDS.
We are the only country in the southern hemisphere to participate in the genome project.
Our electoral process is all computerized, making record time in the outcome of elections in a country of continental dimensions.
Our Internet accounts for 40% of the Latin American market.
We are the second largest market for executive jets and helicopters.
All these statistics and many more not listed here are other reasons of pride for our country, because they show that we are actually much more than just the country of carnival and football.
Also I would not blame those who are pleased with carnival celebrations of King Momus*, each one knows how to enjoy life; however, I just want to present another point of the matter.
It is an illusion to judge that we will be more or less happy as a result of carnival celebrations. It is illusory to consider that a few days of revelry will compensate the Brazilian people for lacking education, health, leisure and quality of access to culture.
The carnival sells the illusion that those days will never end, that they are timeless, so now carnival starts before the official date and extend it after its official end.
It sells the illusion that life is to take drugs with exaggerations, spending sleepless nights drinking, where often sex without commitment to the heart is the norm.
Many people get inspiration for their grotesque expressions during visits to lower regions of the spiritual world
Few are the spiritual works that focus in depth the issue of carnival and its issues. One of them is the book called ‘The Frontiers of Folly’, written in 1982 by Manoel de Miranda Philomena (Spirit), by the mediumship of Divaldo P. Franco. The excerpt below, (from the cap. 6, pp. 51 to 53), in the book mentioned, shows a facet of the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, a party talked extensively through the media, especially the Globo Television Network.
In the days of carnival - Philomena reports - the, regurgitating city, was a pandemonium. Crowd of spirits, which are mixed with the sluggish humans’ excitation of their senses, dominating the landscape of dark avenues, streets and squares, the lighting, although fairy, I could not win the psycho sphere loaded with low vibration.
Groups of masked people were lead by frenetic mass of voluptuous spirits, as they performed sexual malpractices and regrettable orgies, inconceivable from an earthly point of view. Some entities attacked the burlesque passers-by trying to hurt them with their harmful inductions. Other sought potential victims to incline them out of balance, initiating wicked processes of long lasting obsessions.
Many people in costumes had received inspiration for their grotesque expressions during visits to lower regions of the spiritual world. Indeed, the incursion to places of despair and madness is very common to people who link up, by invisible threads of thought, to spirits living there, on account of their preferences they receive and pleasure they provide in the intimate world.
The succession of scenes, some depressing, others wild, were embarrassing, which Dr. Bezerra de Menezes gave the following comment: "Great, expressive range of humanity on earth moves between the limits of instinct and the beginnings of reason, more eager to feelings of anxiety than to the higher emotions. It’s natural to allow, in these days the repressed excesses throughout the year, tuned with entities in the same frequency as them. It is unfortunate, however, that many were present themselves in normal days, as disciples of Jesus, preferring now Bacchus and his advisers of the orgy over the Loving Friend…"
Charity is all about enjoying life, getting rid of the influence of less happy spirits
Freedom gets confused with libertine vices, when you can do anything, everything is fine and the vibe is high. We promote in ourselves mental and physical disorders, which over the years have been undermining our physical strength and committing us spiritually, because in-tune with spirits that keep affinity with those ideals of profligacy. The result is not difficult to predict, these spirits exert harmful influence on us and ultimately maximize increasingly our less happy tendencies.
If you do not fight to free yourself from these chains of madness, we are easily manipulated by those discarnate spirits, which I emphasize dear reader, can influence only because we leave the door open when we delight with the decadence and vice.
In particular, to avoid the influence of unhappy spirits is mister to observe the sublime phrase coined by Allan Kardec: "Without charity and love there is no salvation."
The friend reader may ask: - But what charity has to do with carnival, the influence of less adjusted spirits and enjoying life?
The charity, dear reader, is all about enjoying life getting rid of the influence of less happy spirits that stimulate our fall in excesses of all natures.
The charity that we do to ourselves frees us of the vices, of excesses, of the useless nights out, when we bash our physical body to the pretext of pleasure. Where many misjudge the best way to enjoy life, which should be to enjoy your moments with the best of pleasures: the conscience in peace with the certainty that we did the best for ourselves and for our next.
Charity also allows us to see the virtues and abilities of our people, and not reducing our potential to only the country of carnival and football.
From: Wellington Balbo
Translated by: Mani Fagundes dos Santos
* King Momus, (Rei Momo in Portuguese or Rey Momo in Spanish) is considered the king of Carnivals in numerous Latin American festivities, mainly in Brazil and Colombia. His appearance signifies the beginning of the Carnival festivities. Each carnival has its own King Momo, who is often given the key to the city. Traditionally, a tall, fat man is chosen to fulfil the role because the original King Momo was of that physical stature. (Source: Wikipedia).