What are the true roots of this holiday known as Saint Valentine's Day?
Well, it comes from the ancient Roman celebration known as Lupercalia and it was performed in honor of the Roman goddess Lupercus. Lupercus was a friend to shepherds and was often depicted as a protector of their flocks from wolves. This belief stemmed from the ancient Roman legend that Rome had been founded by Romulus and Remus who had themselves been cared for by a she-wolf when they were babies. After shepherds later found the twins and raised them they were looked over by this goddess.
The belief was that the great golden wolf goddess would drive away the other wolves who would do harm to the shepherds flocks so Lupercus was given a special day which fell on February 15th . However, on February 14th, a special ceremony would take place in the ancient cave believed to be the place where Romulus and Remus were suckled by the she-wolf.
The ceremony consisted of two young male "priests" (representing Romulus and Remus) who would strip down completely naked and sacrifice a goat and a dog. The goat represented the shepherds flocks and the dog represented the wolves. After killing the goat and the dog, their blood would be smeared all over the "priests" bodies and then washed off afterwards with milk.
During this process the young men would take the skin of the sacrificed goat and tear it into thin strips which they fashioned into loin cloths for themselves. They also fashioned soft whips, for later use, out of the strips of flesh. These whips of goatskin were known as februa(s) so you can guess that this is where we get the name "February".
(Yes, our month of February is named after a strip of bloody goat flesh used to softly whip young girls and women who wished to be blessed by the priests of Lupercus so they could then bare children. I'll describe this in more detail next)
After the sacrificial ceremony was completed the priests began to run from the cave throughout the city. All along their chosen path would be throngs of women and girls lining the streets. It was important in those days to the women that they bare children so they wanted to be blessed by these priests, as they believed if one of the priests would strike them with the februa they would soon have a child. So the women used all of their assets to attract the young men to strike them with the bloody whips.
You might imagine a mardi gras on steroids as the women would bare their legs, breasts, and anything else they could to attract the young men to strike them with the whips, much sexual horseplay and flirting also associated the festival as you might imagine. If the women were fortunate, their bare bodies would attract a priest to come closer to them and increase their chances of being struck with the bloody februa.
This celebration later spawned the practice of eligible women writing their names on tablets and placing them in boxes where they would be drawn out in a lottery by eligible men also participating in the festival. The men would then take the woman whose name they had drawn and be paired off with them for a set time period, some evidence suggests that this time period lasted for as long as an entire year.
During this time the women were subject to pure fornication from the men who basically had their way with them whenever they wished. As incredible as this sounds to us today don't get the idea that the women were unwilling participants. They all flocked excitedly to the festival and great uproars occurred during times when the Church attempted to abolish the custom. They would have NONE of that. Let the festival continue they would say!
So this was not done unwillingly. It was enthusiastically embraced by both men and women. Still, you can see how our tradition today of sending cards saying "be my Valentine" began. Yes, in days gone by, that card would bare the name of your daughter and be placed in a box to be drawn out at random by a male participant who would then take her and fornicate with her as often and as long as he wished.
Think about that the next time you sit down with your children to fill out an "innocent" Valentine's Day card, just remember what type of traditions you are keeping alive. It is nothing that our savior Jesus Christ would approve of or allow us to partake in. There is nothing Christian about it, despite the name Saint Valentine's Day.
Now you know.
Well, it comes from the ancient Roman celebration known as Lupercalia and it was performed in honor of the Roman goddess Lupercus. Lupercus was a friend to shepherds and was often depicted as a protector of their flocks from wolves. This belief stemmed from the ancient Roman legend that Rome had been founded by Romulus and Remus who had themselves been cared for by a she-wolf when they were babies. After shepherds later found the twins and raised them they were looked over by this goddess.
The belief was that the great golden wolf goddess would drive away the other wolves who would do harm to the shepherds flocks so Lupercus was given a special day which fell on February 15th . However, on February 14th, a special ceremony would take place in the ancient cave believed to be the place where Romulus and Remus were suckled by the she-wolf.
The ceremony consisted of two young male "priests" (representing Romulus and Remus) who would strip down completely naked and sacrifice a goat and a dog. The goat represented the shepherds flocks and the dog represented the wolves. After killing the goat and the dog, their blood would be smeared all over the "priests" bodies and then washed off afterwards with milk.
During this process the young men would take the skin of the sacrificed goat and tear it into thin strips which they fashioned into loin cloths for themselves. They also fashioned soft whips, for later use, out of the strips of flesh. These whips of goatskin were known as februa(s) so you can guess that this is where we get the name "February".
(Yes, our month of February is named after a strip of bloody goat flesh used to softly whip young girls and women who wished to be blessed by the priests of Lupercus so they could then bare children. I'll describe this in more detail next)
After the sacrificial ceremony was completed the priests began to run from the cave throughout the city. All along their chosen path would be throngs of women and girls lining the streets. It was important in those days to the women that they bare children so they wanted to be blessed by these priests, as they believed if one of the priests would strike them with the februa they would soon have a child. So the women used all of their assets to attract the young men to strike them with the bloody whips.
You might imagine a mardi gras on steroids as the women would bare their legs, breasts, and anything else they could to attract the young men to strike them with the whips, much sexual horseplay and flirting also associated the festival as you might imagine. If the women were fortunate, their bare bodies would attract a priest to come closer to them and increase their chances of being struck with the bloody februa.
This celebration later spawned the practice of eligible women writing their names on tablets and placing them in boxes where they would be drawn out in a lottery by eligible men also participating in the festival. The men would then take the woman whose name they had drawn and be paired off with them for a set time period, some evidence suggests that this time period lasted for as long as an entire year.
During this time the women were subject to pure fornication from the men who basically had their way with them whenever they wished. As incredible as this sounds to us today don't get the idea that the women were unwilling participants. They all flocked excitedly to the festival and great uproars occurred during times when the Church attempted to abolish the custom. They would have NONE of that. Let the festival continue they would say!
So this was not done unwillingly. It was enthusiastically embraced by both men and women. Still, you can see how our tradition today of sending cards saying "be my Valentine" began. Yes, in days gone by, that card would bare the name of your daughter and be placed in a box to be drawn out at random by a male participant who would then take her and fornicate with her as often and as long as he wished.
Think about that the next time you sit down with your children to fill out an "innocent" Valentine's Day card, just remember what type of traditions you are keeping alive. It is nothing that our savior Jesus Christ would approve of or allow us to partake in. There is nothing Christian about it, despite the name Saint Valentine's Day.
Now you know.
