February 14th is a day that recognizes love. The candies, the flowers; they are all on display for sale in stores decorated with Cupids and hearts. Restaurants are filled with couples dining by candlelight. Love is in the air…
So where did this holiday come from? Cupid (“god of the heart”) was the “son” deity also referred to as Tammuz, Nimrod, and Osiris, just to name a few. He is shown with an arrow representing Nimrod as the “mighty hunter”. It’s said he would shoot people in the heart. His mother was Venus, Semiramis, Juno (depending on where you were) who was the goddess of love, fertility, women. She was celebrated on the 14th of February.
The next day the Feast of Lupercalia began in Rome. On this day, Roman boys and girls who were usually separated would come together. The boys would draw girls’ names out of a jar and would be partnered with them for the duration of the feast. Some even remained together into marriage. During this time, perversion and drunkenness was openly expressed. Flowers and sweets were offered as sacrifices to the gods.
In later days, during the rule of Emperor Claudius II, enrollment for the military had been down. He believed it was likely due to men not wanting to leave their wives for battle. So he banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. St. Valentine was a priest during this time. He secretly married Christian couples until he was arrested. It was ordered that he be clubbed to death and decapitated as a result. He was believed to have been martyred on February 14th around the year 270 AD.
One ledged states that while St. Valentine was in prison, he took a great liking to the prison guard’s daughter who would visit him. It’s said that the first “valentine” was sent to her being signed, “From your Valentine”.
As an attempt to rid of the pagan traditions of the days, Roman Church leaders substituted many of the pagan names (female deities as far as I know) of feasts and festivals for Saints names instead.
Though there is still mystery around the exact details of Valentine and the Feasts, I still find it interesting to learn what we do know about the roots of today’s traditions and origins.
Please visit my introductory blog: The History of Traditions