Now I am not one of those haters who despises the ideas of candy hearts and flowers and an excuse to make out. I am currently pushing in our office for everyone to decorate their own shoe box and swap cartoonish valentines.
But what really really overjoys me about this holiday is the ancient festival of Lupercalia where it is derived.
In pre-Roman pastoral times, the Greeks and Romans held an end-of-winter-spring-cleansing ritual called Lupercalia. The words lupine and lupus have their roots in ancient Latin, meaning wolf. The festival involved naked Romans running naked through the streets (covered in nothing but wolf skin and blood) for three days, February 13 through 15th. The festival honored the goddess Lupa, a she-wolf who suckled the babies Romus and Remulus - aka the legendary founders of Rome.
So next time you want to gag at the thought of Reese's heart shaped candies or flocked velveteen bears or cupid cherubs, just remember LUPERCALIA! And how it commemorated the tearing of people's throats by wolves!
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! XOXOXOXOXOXO
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