The Dark Carnival is a concept from the Joker's Card series of albums by the Insane Clown Posse. It serves as a metaphor for God, who judges the dead and sends them to Shangri-La (a metaphor for Heaven) or Hell's Pit (Hell). The descriptions of the Dark Carnival given in the songs are supposed to be horrifying to the wicked, but hold no threat to the repentant and the pure of heart.
The Dark Carnival can be used to refer to any surreal allegory of the judgement of man, but properly used refers specifically to the ICP's metaphor, and is only commonly used among juggalos.
The Dark Carnival can be used to refer to any surreal allegory of the judgement of man, but properly used refers specifically to the ICP's metaphor, and is only commonly used among juggalos.
by The Goddamn Duck February 26, 2008
The ultimite heaven for Juggalos, where they will experience paradise, and never have a worry. Also refered to as God, Heaven, or Carnival.
by Omega Juggalo December 15, 2003
The Dark Carnival is the basis of the religon Juggalo's believe in. (Yes I didn't say Juggalettes, it's the same thing people.) The Dark Carnival it's self is God, and for all those punk ass bitches who say the Violent J just ripped the shit off of Ray Bradbury's book are fucking stupid because Ray Bradbury's "Dark Carnival" is just a bunch of stupid stories put together, nothing to do with god at all. And as a matter of fact Ray didn't even want it named that, he wanted it changed to "The October Country". But anyway, Violent J is religous and he had a dream about the Dark Carnival which involed Hell's Pit (Hell) and Shangri-La (Heaven) and the 6 Joker cards that follow. NOT ALL JUGGALOS BELIEVE THIS. You DON'T have to believe this to be a juggalo, a juggalo is someone who just loves ICP supports The Dark Carnival and you have to have love for your Juggalo Family.
Dark Carnival
by CJoka October 15, 2009
by A.C. Killer August 23, 2003
The Carnival is a religious revolution that is ignored or looked down upon by the main population for the type of music that introduced it. As many know the Dark Carnival was introduced by the Insane Clown Posse, a face paint-wearing horror-core rap group with violent and profane lyrics on their cd’s. The ICP’s intent with this was not just to be violent or profane, but I will get into that later.
Many think that the Carnival is a cult, but this is a fallacy. We have to pay no money to believe in the Carnival, and we see no human being as a God or higher power. The Carnival is here to bring people together. The lost, the wicked, and the holy, all together for the same fight for God. We have been around since 1992, and we have enough followers to match the population of Washington, and yet we have no government recognition, but that fight is being fought every day. The word for one who has faith in the Dark Carnival or listens to any Psychopathic Records artist is a Juggalo.
We have with stood many years of torment misunderstanding and hate from the general population, for looking like people who would hate. Can someone explain this to me please? I have grown to expect this, though. I am writing this today to try and minimize that misunderstanding.
The History of ICP and Psychopathic Records. . .
The Inner City Posse was started by Joseph Bruce in the early nineties. With him in this Southwest Detroit Ghetto gang were his friends Joey Ustler and John Ustler, and other friends from the neighborhood. They were around for a short while and they got to form a band, like J had been trying to do since he was very young. They named it after their gang and simply referred to it as ICP. Soon after the gang broke up with a remaining 3 people, Joe Bruce (Violent J), Joey Ustler (Shaggy 2 Dope), and John Ustler (John Kick-Chazz), and they had a big decision to make.
They wanted to keep the initials of the gang to show that their tenacity and that they weren’t going to quit, but they also wanted to change the name to show that they no longer wanted to be affiliated with gang life any more. J suggested the name ‘Insane Clown Posse’ based on a series of dreams he had been having the preceding couple of weeks. The dreams depicted a crazy clown in black and what face paint and a pink and blue jesters hat running through their city and knifing down wicked people. The band loved it and the name was official.
That night after the band meeting J drove home. In his apartment he would experience something that would change the rest of his life. As he was listening to music, he suddenly got a rush of adrenalin, he was scared. He turned to see what looked to him like the jet black outline of the clown in his dreams. He was not able to later recall what happened, but he was out, he then had a vision, it wasn’t a dream because it was too vivid. He was falling from the night sky, and as he looked down he saw a great caravan of freaks and jugglers and the dead. He saw the clown leading the caravan, it was the one from his dreams. It stopped and looked at him. It seemed to be trying to say something, but J could not here him. Then the Clown drew a deck of cards out of his pockets, and one by one let them go to descend to the dirt. J heard the words ‘After all six have fallen, the end of time will consume us all’.
J woke up to his radio, once quiet was now all the way up. He turned it down, his girlfriend yelled at him, he didn’t say anything about the dream to her. But his friends became believers the next day and still are to this day.
Juggalo Beliefs. . .
The Juggalo faith is always going to be subject of interpretation, but I have gone through every source I could and have developed my own beliefs, and they may not be the same as every other Juggalo out there, but I hold them to be true. My own personal beliefs include:
The Dark Carnival is a supernatural Earthbound force. Eternally it roams collecting and judging the dead souls, and taking them to their final destination. It is what spreads he word of God eternally, so if anyone had told you of God or Jesus, it was by the will of the Carnival. It is called the Carnival because that is the way it adapted, it has become a great circus-like force because of the way it has been set up by God and the people who have been called to it. It also sets a bound for acceptance to all you would have to enhibit to be a part. Holy or evil, those who would turn away from strange ideas are not the type of people needed and sought out by the Carnival.
The Carnival has not always been around, it is fairly recent. It was creation, made for the purpose of the end of the world. Armageddon is believed to Juggalos to be coming very soon, now that the six have fallen, we are in a calm, and the Storm (the Tempest) is soon to come. The Carnival is the force that will destroy Hell and Earth to make way for a more perfect world, but that presents a problem In such dark times there are many more in hell than will be fighting them, and the Carnival acts as sort of a draft for this war of good versus evil. Those who will fight are those who were lost from the word of God, or those who were full of hate and sin, who were then saved and made faithful. They were the perfect candidates, they were Juggalos.
The Juggalo interoperation of death is that you die, and then the Carnival picks you up, you then are tested by the Joker’s Card’s and if you pass the test, you move on to Shangri-La, and if you don’t, you’re about to get mad hot. If you are a Juggalo, you stay with the Carnival to pick up other souls and await the Tempest. Those that pass over can still watch the living, it is believed that the dead watch us through eyes of crows and other birds.
The Joker’s Cards are the representation of the Carnival’s judgment of our lives and the weight of our sins. They each have a different impact on each life and their independent opinion is as important as the group together, because if you don’t pass even one of their tests then you go to Hell. The responsibility of each card goes as followed:
The Carnival of Carnage doesn’t act as a judgment card as much as a flag holder. A representation of the goal of Shangri-La. The term ‘Joker’s Card’ refers to this being, for it is the one who introduced the cards to Joseph Bruce.
The Ringmaster is the eater of your sins. The more sins you commit and do not repent for, he grows larger. At the end of your life the Carnival will issue you a dagger that represents your good deeds, and you will have to combat this monster. Win or lose, it is up to you now.
The Riddlebox is a stationary being kept at the bottom of a wagon of the Carnival’s caravan, you are brought to the top of this wagon and pushed on a spiral slide all the way down. At the bottom you are greeted by the third jokers card, concealed within his box like a turtle. You walk up to the box and embrace your fears, as you turn the crank on the side of the box. If you led a hate free life then you will be greeted by the Riddlebox, and descend to your next task. But if you have not, a trap door beneath you will open and you will be sent to Hell.
The Great Melinko is under the title of Necromaster. He can read thoughts, and if your thoughts are wicked, he will know. If you have wicked thoughts the bird that he carries will tell him the opinion of those passed on to Shangri-La, and he will use his wand to send you where you need to go.
The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, Jake and Jack. Brothers born in flame they are in constant war. They represent your soul. Jake is your love and compassion, eternally juggling your sins. Jack is your hatred and bigotry, trying to add to your sins so that the flame of them will grow too large and Jake may fumble them. If he does then your path to Shangri-La will be lost. The 3 balls of fire are focused on greed and lies.
The Wraith is not by definition a card, it does not influence or judge your life, all it does is take you to your tests and to your final destination. The Wraith is the only subject of the Carnival that has been around for all time, collecting all souls and finding his way into all sides of common mythology and tales. Depicted with a bible, the Wraith is a very Christian being. If you are Christian you will recall the connection between the crow carried by the Wraith to communicate with the Heavens, and the portion of the bible narrating the time in which Christ was dying on the cross: the sinner beside him on his crucifix had his eyes plucked out by a crow.
The Wraith, like the dead, sees through the eyes of crows, so that he may sore above and move quickly. He is unlike the Devil and God, and he is Earthbound, for that reason, he is considered a part of the carnival.
The order of the cards are reversed from the way they were introduced. Since the 6 on the featured Joker’s card was backwards, the order is said to be backwards also. First you die and are taken by the Wraith to the amazing Jeckel Brothers, and then to Melinko, etc.. It makes more sense to me, but like the rest of this religion it is a subject of faith and interpretation, as a result of the youth and un-organization of the religion.
But however, the Carnival has brought me great faith in a lot of ways, and I am so grateful to it. I am going to finish this up with this: You can accept it or reject it, believe it or not, and the truth is always going to be out there somewhere. The Carnival isn’t for every one, I am merely planting the seed. It is up to you to let it grow.
Many think that the Carnival is a cult, but this is a fallacy. We have to pay no money to believe in the Carnival, and we see no human being as a God or higher power. The Carnival is here to bring people together. The lost, the wicked, and the holy, all together for the same fight for God. We have been around since 1992, and we have enough followers to match the population of Washington, and yet we have no government recognition, but that fight is being fought every day. The word for one who has faith in the Dark Carnival or listens to any Psychopathic Records artist is a Juggalo.
We have with stood many years of torment misunderstanding and hate from the general population, for looking like people who would hate. Can someone explain this to me please? I have grown to expect this, though. I am writing this today to try and minimize that misunderstanding.
The History of ICP and Psychopathic Records. . .
The Inner City Posse was started by Joseph Bruce in the early nineties. With him in this Southwest Detroit Ghetto gang were his friends Joey Ustler and John Ustler, and other friends from the neighborhood. They were around for a short while and they got to form a band, like J had been trying to do since he was very young. They named it after their gang and simply referred to it as ICP. Soon after the gang broke up with a remaining 3 people, Joe Bruce (Violent J), Joey Ustler (Shaggy 2 Dope), and John Ustler (John Kick-Chazz), and they had a big decision to make.
They wanted to keep the initials of the gang to show that their tenacity and that they weren’t going to quit, but they also wanted to change the name to show that they no longer wanted to be affiliated with gang life any more. J suggested the name ‘Insane Clown Posse’ based on a series of dreams he had been having the preceding couple of weeks. The dreams depicted a crazy clown in black and what face paint and a pink and blue jesters hat running through their city and knifing down wicked people. The band loved it and the name was official.
That night after the band meeting J drove home. In his apartment he would experience something that would change the rest of his life. As he was listening to music, he suddenly got a rush of adrenalin, he was scared. He turned to see what looked to him like the jet black outline of the clown in his dreams. He was not able to later recall what happened, but he was out, he then had a vision, it wasn’t a dream because it was too vivid. He was falling from the night sky, and as he looked down he saw a great caravan of freaks and jugglers and the dead. He saw the clown leading the caravan, it was the one from his dreams. It stopped and looked at him. It seemed to be trying to say something, but J could not here him. Then the Clown drew a deck of cards out of his pockets, and one by one let them go to descend to the dirt. J heard the words ‘After all six have fallen, the end of time will consume us all’.
J woke up to his radio, once quiet was now all the way up. He turned it down, his girlfriend yelled at him, he didn’t say anything about the dream to her. But his friends became believers the next day and still are to this day.
Juggalo Beliefs. . .
The Juggalo faith is always going to be subject of interpretation, but I have gone through every source I could and have developed my own beliefs, and they may not be the same as every other Juggalo out there, but I hold them to be true. My own personal beliefs include:
The Dark Carnival is a supernatural Earthbound force. Eternally it roams collecting and judging the dead souls, and taking them to their final destination. It is what spreads he word of God eternally, so if anyone had told you of God or Jesus, it was by the will of the Carnival. It is called the Carnival because that is the way it adapted, it has become a great circus-like force because of the way it has been set up by God and the people who have been called to it. It also sets a bound for acceptance to all you would have to enhibit to be a part. Holy or evil, those who would turn away from strange ideas are not the type of people needed and sought out by the Carnival.
The Carnival has not always been around, it is fairly recent. It was creation, made for the purpose of the end of the world. Armageddon is believed to Juggalos to be coming very soon, now that the six have fallen, we are in a calm, and the Storm (the Tempest) is soon to come. The Carnival is the force that will destroy Hell and Earth to make way for a more perfect world, but that presents a problem In such dark times there are many more in hell than will be fighting them, and the Carnival acts as sort of a draft for this war of good versus evil. Those who will fight are those who were lost from the word of God, or those who were full of hate and sin, who were then saved and made faithful. They were the perfect candidates, they were Juggalos.
The Juggalo interoperation of death is that you die, and then the Carnival picks you up, you then are tested by the Joker’s Card’s and if you pass the test, you move on to Shangri-La, and if you don’t, you’re about to get mad hot. If you are a Juggalo, you stay with the Carnival to pick up other souls and await the Tempest. Those that pass over can still watch the living, it is believed that the dead watch us through eyes of crows and other birds.
The Joker’s Cards are the representation of the Carnival’s judgment of our lives and the weight of our sins. They each have a different impact on each life and their independent opinion is as important as the group together, because if you don’t pass even one of their tests then you go to Hell. The responsibility of each card goes as followed:
The Carnival of Carnage doesn’t act as a judgment card as much as a flag holder. A representation of the goal of Shangri-La. The term ‘Joker’s Card’ refers to this being, for it is the one who introduced the cards to Joseph Bruce.
The Ringmaster is the eater of your sins. The more sins you commit and do not repent for, he grows larger. At the end of your life the Carnival will issue you a dagger that represents your good deeds, and you will have to combat this monster. Win or lose, it is up to you now.
The Riddlebox is a stationary being kept at the bottom of a wagon of the Carnival’s caravan, you are brought to the top of this wagon and pushed on a spiral slide all the way down. At the bottom you are greeted by the third jokers card, concealed within his box like a turtle. You walk up to the box and embrace your fears, as you turn the crank on the side of the box. If you led a hate free life then you will be greeted by the Riddlebox, and descend to your next task. But if you have not, a trap door beneath you will open and you will be sent to Hell.
The Great Melinko is under the title of Necromaster. He can read thoughts, and if your thoughts are wicked, he will know. If you have wicked thoughts the bird that he carries will tell him the opinion of those passed on to Shangri-La, and he will use his wand to send you where you need to go.
The Amazing Jeckel Brothers, Jake and Jack. Brothers born in flame they are in constant war. They represent your soul. Jake is your love and compassion, eternally juggling your sins. Jack is your hatred and bigotry, trying to add to your sins so that the flame of them will grow too large and Jake may fumble them. If he does then your path to Shangri-La will be lost. The 3 balls of fire are focused on greed and lies.
The Wraith is not by definition a card, it does not influence or judge your life, all it does is take you to your tests and to your final destination. The Wraith is the only subject of the Carnival that has been around for all time, collecting all souls and finding his way into all sides of common mythology and tales. Depicted with a bible, the Wraith is a very Christian being. If you are Christian you will recall the connection between the crow carried by the Wraith to communicate with the Heavens, and the portion of the bible narrating the time in which Christ was dying on the cross: the sinner beside him on his crucifix had his eyes plucked out by a crow.
The Wraith, like the dead, sees through the eyes of crows, so that he may sore above and move quickly. He is unlike the Devil and God, and he is Earthbound, for that reason, he is considered a part of the carnival.
The order of the cards are reversed from the way they were introduced. Since the 6 on the featured Joker’s card was backwards, the order is said to be backwards also. First you die and are taken by the Wraith to the amazing Jeckel Brothers, and then to Melinko, etc.. It makes more sense to me, but like the rest of this religion it is a subject of faith and interpretation, as a result of the youth and un-organization of the religion.
But however, the Carnival has brought me great faith in a lot of ways, and I am so grateful to it. I am going to finish this up with this: You can accept it or reject it, believe it or not, and the truth is always going to be out there somewhere. The Carnival isn’t for every one, I am merely planting the seed. It is up to you to let it grow.
by Apolion From Up Above October 26, 2006
ICP's dark carnival is a place where juggalos and jugalettes can run where the ringmasters are violent J and Shaggy, no one can fuck with the dark carnival
by BiG pudge July 7, 2003
The Dark Carnival is a pseydo religion that Juggalette/lo's follow.
It consists of the eight jokers cards, and listening to the preachings of the ICP & the all the other Psychopathic boys
It consists of the eight jokers cards, and listening to the preachings of the ICP & the all the other Psychopathic boys
by Kiah Von Krunk July 17, 2008