The RITUAL of Carnival

"We think that because we're in control of our instincts and aggressions that we're superior to primitive people, but our basic emotions have not changed. I asked my friends to explain the difference between the modern ritual of a birthday party and a dance around a fire or a rhythmic chant. … When young people get together for a rock concert, perhaps without even knowing it, they're participating in a ritual that draws them into a unifying consciousness.  A rock concert is really one huge cultural ritual, a gathering that puts everyone in the same frame of mind…

On a deeper level, ritual puts our conscious mind to rest so that our subconscious can express itself [my emphasis]."

Risha Henrique "The Lighted Path" pg 31 

When I read this passage a few weeks ago, it illuminated what I have always felt and thought about our Trini Carnival.

It is a ritual.

Now, I know that I am no pioneer when it comes to this perspective. Artists such as Peter Minshall and 3 Canal have always talked about "The Ritual of Carnival"

However, it became crystallized in my mind from my point of view as a witch. Especially one that is based in the Caribbean. One that is aware, as many on us on this blog are, of the importance of creating a form of Wicca and Witchcraft that has that Caribbean flavour.

This concept was further established as I watched the video for Machel Montano's song, celebrating the return of 'THE STAGE' (a huge stage placed in the Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain).  Over history, THE STAGE became the climax point for the masquerader, the high point of the (very long and patience-testing) journey through Port of Spain. On the stage, masqueraders dance with wild abandon and a joy that transmits to even the far away television audience.

For me, this experience is paralled by two aspects of ritual in witchcraft: Sacred Space and the raising energy. 

My defintion of sacred space is any area that is dedicated to a focused action by one or more participants, that bypasses the conscious world, into the subconscious. It is the place where we - for specific period of time - access and give voice to the 'Younger Self'

"It is the Younger Self that directIy experiences the world, through the holistic awareness of the right hemisphere... Yonger Self's verbal understanding is limited; it communicates through images, emotions, sensations, dreams, visions, and physical symptoms." Starhawk, "Spiral Dance" pg 45 .

When I observe the wild abandon and utter joy expressed by the masqueraders, I see people who - if just for two days - put aside all their hang-ups and self-repression to access that 'Younger Self'. Most times without even knowing it. They may just say that there is just 'something' about the experience that they cannot pin down or describe. We Witches, can ;)

Hence the importance of THE STAGE. It is that climax, that 'sacred space' where thousands come together to put aside their conscious selves and experience that child-like, powerful self.

Then there is that aspect of raising energy.  Just think of the energy raised by thousands upon thousands of masqueraders parading through the streets, expressing their Younger self ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Then the music itself is infectious, designed to keep us going for two days straight. To me, reference to the 'spirit of Carnival' and the 'reign of the Merry Monarch' is our way of describing the energy that is released and becomes even an entity that 'possesses' all of us, to varying degrees.

No wonder people are being sent from other countries to learn how to reproduce this experience.

  "Governments across the globe have recognised how carnival brings people together. They all have their own festivals, but love the style of Trinidad Carnival. ...Around the world it's all about dancing through the streets in total abandon and being the centre of attention... Everyone wants Trinidad Carnival now."
Wrenwick Brown of the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA)  Source