lupercalia

valentine's day claims to have origins in the execution of st. valentine for performing secret marriages for roman soldiers.  they were not allowed to be publically married because then the soldiers were loyal to their wives, not the roman empire.  so, st. valentine would secretly perform marriage ceremonies and then everyone could be happy.  well... except emperor claudius.  he wasn't so happy.  he had st. valentine executed, supposedly on february 14th.   valentine's last correspondence was to the daughter of the jailer, to whom he wrote a love letter, signed "from your valentine."

the giving your sweetie a valentine aspect of the holiday wasn't around until the 1800's, when it became very fashionable to send valentines.  it also became a business, with shops selling ready-made cards popping up all over europe and the united states.  the first mass-produced valentines came about in the 1840's.  remove meaningful symbolism and ritual.  insert commercialism.     

to go back thousands of years before that lucky namesake's death, we had lupercalia, a roman fertility festival.  this festival has connections to februa, a spring cleansing ritual.  february is named after this.  the origins of the holiday as lupercalia go back to the origins of rome itself, with the lupine aspect of the name coming from the wolf who raised romulus and rhemus in a cave called the lupercal inside the palentine hill. 

the ritual associated with lupercalia is a bit bloodier and more gory than chocolates and flowers, but goes along with sex.  sort of.

goats were sacrificed, and chosen patrician teenage boys were annointed with the blood of these goats.  then, these boys ran around the city, wearing nothing but loincloths, brandishing strips of the goatskin soaked in goat blood.  young women and girls lined up along the 'parade route,'  waiting to be whipped with the bloody flagella as the boys passed.  being blessed with the blood of the sacrificed goat was thought to increase fertility, prevent and cure sterility, and ease the pains of childbirth.

somewhere over the course of history, being flogged with bloody goat skin turned into a dozen roses and a 3 hour wait at the olive garden. 

so tonight, when dining with your valentine, remember st. valentine's fate and the bloody goat skins of lupercalia.  happy valentine's day, everyone!