@rapsantos 12 February 2021 more from that month

Lupercalia: Bloody Valentine

Before the usual celebration that we are used today for ***Valentines Day*** in the city of ***Rome, Italy*** during the **6th Century**, a 3-day festival which is more ***bloody & violent*** which consists of ***sexually-charged mating*** and ***animal sacrifice***. It was called Lupercalia, an ancient pre-Roman pastoral festival celebrated from **February 13 to 15** in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility, releasing health and fertility. According to Roman legend, it had connections with an ancient deity **Lupercus** who protected herds from wolves, and with the legendary she-wolf **Lupa** who nursed **Romulus & Remus**. As a fertility rite, the festival is also connected with **Faunus**, the Roman god of fertility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubercus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupa_Capitolina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faunus

http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Lupercalia The pagan rites were held on the **Lupercal Cave**, the **Palatine Hill**, and the **Comitium**. The ***Luperci*** (***brothers of the Wolf***) starts the ceremony by sacrificing one or more male goats, and a dog. Two naked Luperci priests will approach the altar, and their foreheads were smeared with the animal's blood using the sacrificial knife, then the knife will be wiped clean with wool soaked in milk, after that they'll expect to smile and/or laugh. As the sacrificial fest follows, the priests will cut *thongs* (*intestines*) from the animals. They will run naked or nearly-naked around Palantine Hill whipping any woman within striking distance with the thongs. A blow from the thong was supposed to render a woman fertile. As the ***Luperci*** completes the circuit around the hill, then they'll return to the **Lupercal Cave**. During the feast, the men will randomly pick a woman’s name from a jar to be coupled with them for the duration of the festival. Often, the couple stayed together until the following year’s festival. Many fell in love and married. Nakedness during Lupercalia lost popularity. The festival became more chaste, if still undignified, and women were whipped on their hands by fully-clothed men.

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=159 *Bloody isn't it?* There's a dispute where did Valentine's Day came from, some say he was executed by the Roman Emperor Claudius II since he organizes secret marriages for Christian couples at that time, the other one was he tutored a blind woman named Julia. Legend says God restored Julia's sight after she and Valentine prayed together. Before his execution, Valentine left a note to Julia saying "From your Valentine" until this quote became part of postcards every Valentine's. Throughout the course of time and history, our modern Valentine's Day removes its religious & pagan past has evolved into one of the most celebrated holidays on the calendar. I'll discuss both of these stories, including Valentine's favorite match-maker Cupid so stay tuned. **Sources**: Lead Image from https://paganhumanismcanada.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/lascivious-lupercalia-why-valentines-is-a-vital-pagan-holy-day-for-the-modern-world/ https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/lupercalia https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lupercalia