CARNIVAL COMES once a year - a time for merriment and fun, dancing, drinking, singing and women. How did this festival start in the first place?
Bacchanal is a feast to Bacchus (Dionysus). It is named for the Roman god of wine.
Self-Portrait as Bacchus, 1593-94
Word Origin & History
Bacchanalia
"drunken
revelry," 1630s, from the name of the Roman festival held in honor of
Bacchus, from L. neut. pl. of bacchanalis.
A participant is a Bacchant (1690s), fem. Bacchante, from French. Bacchanalian
(adj., 1620s)
rubens-bacchanal
The Bacchanalia were Roman festivals of Bacchus, the Greco-Roman god of wine, freedom, intoxication and ecstasy. They were based on the Greek Dionysia and the Dionysian mysteries, and probably arrived in Rome c. 200 BC via the Greek colonies in southern Italy, and from Etruria, Rome's northern neighbour. Like all mystery cults, the Bacchanalia were held in strict privacy, and initiates were bound to secrecy; what little is known of the cult and its rites derives from Greek and Roman literature, plays, statuary and paintings.
Terminology
Bacchus and Dionysus are interchangeable names of the same deity. Bakchos was his common Greek name and his followers were called Bacchoi. The Roman adaptation was Bacchus. Dionysus also derived from Greek was a term for “son of Zeus.” The Cult of Dionysus and the rites of his mysteries were practiced in both public festivals and in more secretive bacchanals.
His later Bacchus is exotic, Japanese-looking, white, soft and effeminate. His Self-Portrait is unclean, sickly perhaps indicative of the influence wine had in his personal life contributing to his propensity for getting into trouble.
Bacchanalia Iconography
Besides his unusual retinue, Bacchus had special attributes and symbols.
bacchus-ariadne Bacchanal
The Dithyramb was poetry in choral song and dance praising Dionysus and essential in the ritual. Maenads sang and danced and satyrs played musical instruments (tambourine, pipes, clappers) thereby enhancing the intoxication of the wine. Loud music provided passion in the reverie and created the spirit of wild abandon.
The thyrsos was the iconic fertility symbol of the Cult of Dionysus heralding the Bacchic celebration. It was carried by either Bacchus or Maenads. The thyrsos was a staff tipped with a pine cone and sometimes wrapped in ivy or grape leaves.
Goats were Dionysus’ sacrificial animal. They are present in most bacchanal scenes usually being restrained by the horns or ridden by satyr-putti trying to protect the tender grape leaves from being eaten. Roman poet, Virgil said, “Beware of the rough-toothed goat.” Goat skins were used to hold wine.
Snakes sometimes in Bacchic celebrations were possibly from Minoan tradition as symbols of rebirth and rejuvenation because snakes shed their skins. In ancient periods in this context they were not symbols of evil.
Masks relevant to Greek theater were important attributes of Dionysus.
Leopard skins were worn by Dionysus and he traveled by chariot pulled by lions. Wild cats with their capricious behavior symbolized Dionysus’ irrational wild nature. Hunt animals as dogs referred to the story of Dionysus driving lions from Mt. Nysa.
Goats were Dionysus’ sacrificial animal. They are present in most bacchanal scenes usually being restrained by the horns or ridden by satyr-putti trying to protect the tender grape leaves from being eaten. Roman poet, Virgil said, “Beware of the rough-toothed goat.” Goat skins were used to hold wine.
Snakes sometimes in Bacchic celebrations were possibly from Minoan tradition as symbols of rebirth and rejuvenation because snakes shed their skins. In ancient periods in this context they were not symbols of evil.
Masks relevant to Greek theater were important attributes of Dionysus.
Leopard skins were worn by Dionysus and he traveled by chariot pulled by lions. Wild cats with their capricious behavior symbolized Dionysus’ irrational wild nature. Hunt animals as dogs referred to the story of Dionysus driving lions from Mt. Nysa.
History of the Cult of Dionysus and Bacchanal
The origin of the Cult of Dionysus is unknown. Fertility worship was prevalent in early Bronze Age Mediterranean area. Scholars postulate that some Bacchic elements may have their source in cultures of Asia Minor (Phrygian, Lydian) and in the Minoan civilization of Crete. It has been substantiated that by 1250 BCE, Dionysus was accepted as a god and rituals were part of Mycenaean religion.
Bacchanalia Celebration in Greco- Roman World – “Wine, Women and Song”
Bacchanal
The actual ritual practice of the bacchanal in the Greco-Roman world varied by region and cannot be described with singular complete certainty because the mysteries were not written down and were known only to the Bacchoi. However some Bacchic characteristics were known and universal. It was celebrated at night, outside in a wooded location lit by torches and led by Bacchantes (priestesses) and Bacchants (priests).
The thyrsos (reed and pine cone) was carried by the celebrants. Women were essential members of the Bacchoi in the role of Maenads or Bacchantes. Sometimes they practiced animal sacrifice but it is doubtful Maenads tore animals apart in wild frenzy. Music was another necessary element of the rite and it was used in the dithyramb praises of Dionysus in song and dance. Loud rhythmic sounds intensified the euphoria.
Wine liberally drunk gave Bacchoi the exultant power of feeling divine. Wine meant that the god was not only outside them, but when consumed he was within them too. Sexual involvement may have been a component of the activity but it was not a necessary inclusion in the ceremony. The reverie of “wine, women and song” was important because it represented Dionysus’ wild spiritual release and freedom. The Bacchanal was practiced by people of all social classes, but it was especially popular with the disadvantaged because it didn’t require expensive votives, women could participate and worshippers did not need a temple.
Zürich_-_Seefeldquai_-_A__Meyer_Bacchanlia_IMG_1923
The Bacchanalia, or Dionysia, were initially attended only by women, and later men were permitted to join. What started as a celebration three days each year later became a weekly, or even prolonged event.
Women abandoned their families and took to the hills to perform their festive rites. They danced to flute and drum, dressed in skins and leaves. While under the god's inspiration, they were believed to possess occult powers. There was a wild orgiastic meal where there was free use of wine to produce ecstasy, and animals were ripped apart with bare hands and devoured by the participants through their supernatural powers supplied by the god. The celebrations had such a bad reputation for orgies that by 186 BCE, they were outlawed in Rome, but they were still practiced in secret for over 700 more years. To this day, the word 'bacchanal' is still used to describe a drunken orgy.
Nicolas_Poussin_-_Bacchanal_before_a_Statue_of_Pan_
Modern Day Bacchanal
Theology of Bacchanalia
Worship in the Bacchanal had obvious pleasurable orgy-like aspects, but it was the Cult’s theology that made Dionysus such an important god in ancient societies. Dionysus, a fertility deity, was life and rebirth. He was the vine painfully and severely pruned, left as bare stock to emerge alive again in joyful resurrection. He had rescued his mother from death. He was assurance that death didn’t end all. He was the expectation that the soul lived on forever. A poignant reference to this was in a letter written by the Greek writer, Plutarch, 80 CE, to his wife after news of the death of his little daughter:
Church 'saving' festivals
The festival which was celebrated before Lent was the Carnival. The word carnival can be traced back to its medieval origins. Carnem lavare or carnele varium both meant to take away or remove meat. It was a time to have a final fling before the lean times, when no fun or partying would be allowed. In the Catholic regions of Europe, the clergy demanded a strict break with pre-Christian ideas and practices, but the customary ceremonies and symbols were adapted with a Christianized reinterpretation.
Lovis_Corinth_Heimkehrende_Bacchanten_1898
Modern Day Bacchanal
Carnival takes all
Sarcophagus_with_Scenes_of_Bacchus_
Titian_Andrians Bacchanal
First, there was UWI Carnival, which was later followed by Orange Carnival, Oakridge Carnival, Caribbean Carnival, Bacchanal and among many others.
Modern Day Bacchanal
Trini Dictionary
Bacchanal - party atmosphere; arguments, confusion e.g. "If dey find out, it will be rel bacchanal."
Bac·cha·na·li·a
Show
Spelled [bak-uh-ney-lee-uh, -neyl-yuh]
Noun, plural Bac·cha·na·li·a, Bac·cha·na·li·as.
1. (Sometimes used with a plural
verb) a festival in honor of Bacchus.
2. a
drunken feast; orgy.
Bacchus (ˈbækəs)
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— n
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(in ancient Greece and Rome) a god of wine and
giver of ecstasy, identified with Dionysus
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[C15: from Latin, from Greek Bakkhos ;
related to Latin bāca small round fruit, berry]
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or·gy
noun \ˈȯr-jē\
: a wild
party and especially one in which many people have sex together
: something that is done too much and in a
wild way
Full
Definition of ORGY
1: secret ceremonial rites held in honor of an ancient Greek or Roman deity and
usually characterized by ecstatic singing and dancing
2
a
:
drunken revelry
b
:
a sexual encounter involving many people; also
:
an excessive sexual indulgence
3:
excessive indulgence in something especially to satisfy an inordinate appetite
or craving <an orgy
of destruction> a
national orgy of
thrill seeking and risk taking.
Galatians 5:19-21
King James Version (KJV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
A MESSAGE TO ALL CARIBBEAN/WEST INDIANS, As Children of the Most High Ahayah, we have to STOP celebrating these PAGAN FESTIVALS.
Carnival is foreign to our birth countries, our culture and our faith.
We MUST NOT support it.
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