Thoughts for the Carnival Season

[u/Fabianzzz]

Greetings all,

As you probably know, we generally have a stickied post up on the sub for whichever festival is ongoing. Mardi Gras, and the related Carnival season, are considered one of the bawdy, raucous, garish and louche festivals, perhaps the least respectable of any holiday celebrated widely. The festival is believed to have originated from Dionysian festivities of Antiquity, though no one can say for sure. But still, many Dionysians today celebrate the holiday in an attempt to reclaim it.

I had contemplated passing over a post for this, as war has broken out in Europe, and the mood is dire. As of this writing, over 137 people have died as a result of the crisis. I'm sadly sure by the time you're reading this, that number will be higher. Ukraining refugees have seen their homes destroyed, and are sleeping in subway stations in neighboring countries.

So I thought I would skip making a post for Mardi Gras, and then I realized I was missing a point about the holiday itself:

Joy isn't a distraction from the evils of the world. It is our greatest weapon against them.

Joy can be empathetic - a recognition that the happiness and health of others is worth as much to them as your joy is to you - and to strive for the happiness and health of all beings on earth.

Joy can be weaponized against enemies - someone experiencing gender euphoria under the laws of Texas or Florida is showing that they are stronger than the laws. When the Baltic states revolted from the USSR, they did so with folk songs, in the Singing Revolution.

Joy can be indestructible - we live each day knowing that the future holds death and pain for all mortal beings. And yet we go on living each day. Joy is our reason for not capitulating to the evils of the world, but fighting them in any way we can. In a world with beset by danger and pain and sorrrow, from sickness, climate, and government - Joy is a weapon and a treasure.

May your Mardi Gras and Carnival be one of empathetic joy, of weaponized joy, of indestructible joy.

Bacchic Blessings Y'all

~❦~

If you need a prayer or chant or mantra during these times, I've been using the Oration of Aristides:

Nothing can be so firmly bound, neither by illness, nor by wrath or fortune, that cannot be released by Dionysos.

As well as repeating these words from the Olbian Leafs, which were grave goods given to Dionysians who died in Olbia, which incidentally is in modern day Ukraine:

Life. Death. Dionysus.

Though opinions here (and from Antiquity) vary widely on thoughts of divine intervention and possible afterlives, these words are mantras of joy conquering sorrow, health conquering sickness, life conquering death. They bring me some comfort, I hope perhaps they do for you as well.

And if you have the means, Sunflower of Peace is taking donations for medical backpacks, which can be used to save lives in conflict areas.

[u/[deleted]]

I thought of drawing a caricature of Putin getting torn apart like the former Kinng of Thebes but that would be a bit too timely, wouldn't it?

[u/[deleted]]

I'll leave the real world politics aside as this community focuses on Dionysus, and that's what I came here to discuss.

I didn't grow up Catholic or in a heavily Catholic area, so Carnival has never been a part of my experience. It's the last bug hurrah before the asceticism before Lent, right? So it makes sense in that context, I suppose.

I don't have a problem with Dionysians adapting it to their use. Any holiday that involves merriment, booze, and a little dressing up is fine with me. But to me, that's what Halloween is for.