The colour Red means many things to many people. It signifies luck and fertility in the East. To the Westerners, it is entirely religious, associated with the nobles and the clergy. It was some bad luck of the Church, or just foreshadowing then, that the colour of the robes worn by its celibate elites (Cardinals) was one associated with carnal desires.
As with everything etymology though, that’s just the half of it. The actual symbolism that the Church wanted to signify from the Cardinal red, was that of Christ. You see, there was a light pink, flesh-coloured, ever-blooming flower called the “carnation”, named so because “kar-” in PIE literally means “cut”, like a piece of flesh, meat, or like the cut of the carnation flower, which gave it a peculiar shape. This shape resembled a crown, thus, we also got “coronation”. But I digress (yet, am not apologetic for it).
The piece of flesh, held great symbolism (His blood and His flesh). It is from here that the concept of incarnation (to be born in the flesh), gets its bearings. So, no wonder the Church wanted etymology on their side.
It didn’t turn out too well though, obviously. Soon, the cardinal colour began to be associated more and more with the flesh, rather than “His flesh”. “Carnation” spawned off the word “carnal”. Which meant “human, or related to flesh”. So, a carnal need, was anything but. Someone who couldn’t control such desires, and fed on them, was “carnivorous”. A celebration of this entirely sinful activity which made a lot of people happy, was a “carnival”. The Church didn’t give up though. It continued to push its propaganda that this beautiful word they’d picked up was their own, and anyone who said otherwise would suffer from His “carnage” (a massacre involving cutting or slaughter of flesh). But even then, it didn’t work out. In fact, Carnage to people now, is a cheap red Venom-knockoff, and not some fury that Hell hath not seen.
Moral of the story, etymology is no one’s bi– shrew! I meant shrew. Because you can’t tame it.
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