Carnal is a word that is not used nearly enough. Carnal, in its simplest form, is “that which pertains to the body, or the flesh.” It is the opposite of spiritual and separate from cerebral. It is one aspect of our humanity.
Most people will never hear or use the word without its most constant companion, knowledge. “Carnal knowledge” has long been used as a euphemism for intercourse, and often for intercourse without procreation as the end goal. As such the word carnal has become code for dirty, base, unholy, impure, and many other nasty/naughty things.
The root of carnal is carn — Latin for flesh or meat. The same root shows up in other words that tend to evoke feelings of anger or raw lust: carnivore, carnage, and incarnate. Even words like carnival started out with more meaty meanings. Carnival was the time of lent and meant literally to put the meat away (or aside).
So why all the ill will toward carnal? Can it not be a positive word? A celebration of the body? Wait, would that be a carnal carnival, or is that contradictory?
For those who like to sort things into order I can understand the hierarchy of carnal, cerebral and spiritual. I like order, but chaos is much more interesting. Chaos also has a bad reputation; as the opposite of order it is seen to be almost wicked. Fractals showed us otherwise, for what seemed to be chaos on the surface was merely a part of a pattern of order and beauty, just harder to see in the small scale. One sometimes needs to look at the bigger picture to see the beauty in chaos.
I think there is beauty in the carnal, too; I don’t think we should be afraid to celebrate the flesh. I wonder if the recent frenzy for bacon and pulled pork and other meats isn’t so much a backlash against healthy eating as it is a celebration of all that is carnal. I’d like to think it is.