I've never really given much thought to the pagan origins of Valentine's Day. To be honest with you, I kind of always thought it was a commercialized holiday that the card and chocolate companies jumped on. Of all the holidays, I've always thought this one was the dumbest. But to each their own. Some people are hopeless romantics. That is not really me.
If you were ever taught anything about Valentine's Day, you probably learned that it was named after Saint Valentine. The legend is that St. Valentine was a Roman priest who would perform marriages in secret. Emperor Claudius had declared that men were better soldiers if they were unwed, so marriage was forbidden in young men.
But lets go deeper....
According to legend, King Amulius ordered his twin nephews, Romulus and Remus, to be thrown into the river as punishment for their mother's broken vow of celibacy. A servant felt sorry for the twins and placed them in a basket. The river god carried the basket down the river where it got tangled in some branches. The brothers were found and taken care of by a she-wolf. The brothers later went on to found Rome and it is thought that Lupercalia is in honor of the wolf who cared for Romulus and Remus.
February 14-15 is the Feast of Lupercalia, festival of the mighty wolf hunter/ festival of sexual license. The festival was in honor of Lupercus, the god of fertility, husbandry, and protector of herds. The ancient Romans believed that Lupercus would protect Rome from the roving wolves. The male priests conducted purification rites by sacrificing dogs and goats and would use the skins of the sacrificial animals to run around town naked and whip the (willing) women. They believed the more you were flogged, the more fertile you would become. This festivity was also in honor of Venus, the goddess of fertility. Ancient Roman mythology Venus's son was Cupid.
While the name Lupercalia might be unfamiliar to you, I'm sure you've heard of his other name, Pan, before.
February was also a sacred time to the Romans because of Juno Februata, the goddess of love. On February 14th pieces of paper with individuals names would be drawn from a box (hello, Valentines cards.) The unmarried men would draw a female's name and that would be who they would participate in the erotic festivities with. After the festival they could decide whether or not they wanted to remain coupled with their match. There was also a celebration for Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, held during this time.
By the end of the fifth century, Lupercalia was deemed "unchristian," and like every other commercialized pagan holiday we have, it was rebranded as Valentine's Day- a day associated with romance and love. Owsley also brought it to my attention that the word "romantic" starts with 'Roman,"and that cannot be a coincidence.
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