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[Odler]

When did the first carnaval take place? About 4,000 years before the

birth of Christ, on the banks of the river Nile in Egypt. It was a

thankful celebration in honor of Isis and the ox Apis for bestowing fertility upon the valley.

Two thousand years later, the Romans and Greeks spiced the event with

sex and alcohol, throwing huge parties in the name of hedonistic deities like Baco and Saturn, but also in honor of the goddess of fertility, Lupercalia. What form did liquors take in those times?

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic church took over the celebrations, stripped them off the use of libations and "fornication". The festivities fell into the domain of the elites, and became geared exclusively toward religiously purposes.

With the institutions of slavery and its unintended consequences in

the Americas, the masses re-invented carnaval. Sex and drinking,

seen as sinful practices, became again its staples. This is to no devilish avail, because Lent is made for sins to be forgiven. In Heaven, carnaval is heralded as pre-approved credit.

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Acknowledgement: The facts mentioned above, and much more details,

are results of a research published by Dr. Hiram Araujo, under the

title "Carnaval, from 4,000 BC to 1997"

Dr. Araujo, a physician, a sociologist, an anthropologist, is the

Cultural Director of the Samba League, and the Director of the Museum

of Carnaval in Rio.

I am reporting from Hotel Atlantida Santa Cruz, on Avenida Tres de Mayo, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain. Tel: 011-34-922-2995 00, ext 512.

(The Traveller, Monday, February 11, 2002)