Saint Valentine

February 14th, 2012. Synonymous with love, roses, chocolates, red hearts and sparkly jewelry.

February 13-15th, Ancient Rome. Synonymous with fertility, wolves, Romulus and Remus and birthday suits.

We all know of Valentine's Day and proclamations of love via paper cards and flowers.

However, the Ancient Romans had a very different holiday. Lupercalia was the celebration of fertility, the onset of spring and the recognition of Lupa; the wolf who raised Romulus and Remus. When one thinks of pagan rituals, images of naked men running around sacrificing animals and smearing blood on themselves might come to mind (as propagated by the Church). This is Lupercalia. It was directed by the priests of Lupus (the Luperci) who sacrificed goats and dogs to a few pagan gods of the woods. There was also the whipping of women to increase fertility and to ease the pains of childbirth. The women would line the roads awaiting the Luperci dressed in the skins of the sacrificed animals, hoping to be smiled upon by Lupa et al.

So, what do these holidays have to do with each other?

Absolutely nothing.

Well, other than the Christians trying to usurp yet another pagan holiday. A lot of people like to try to trace Saint Valentine's Day back to Lupercalia because their locations on the calendar overlap. But the traditions of Lupercalia have as much to do with Valentine's Day as they do with President's Day, or MLK Day.

There are also a few good stories about Saint Valentine, secretly marrying couples under a strict law in Rome that young men must remain single. This was to better preserve the army, as married men make poor soldiers with families to worry about. (Their words, not mine). Another is that as Saint Valentine was sitting in prison awaiting his execution for performing these marriages he writes a letter to the jailor's blind daughter, known as the "first" Valentine. Both of these are pure myth.

There were no romantic associations whatsoever with Valentine's Day until the 14th century when Chaucer wrote "Parlement of Foules." His poem spiraled the holiday into what we recognize today. In fact, all of our traditions today (mentioned above) can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Yes, even the greeting cards, but those didn't really take hold until the later 18th into 19th centuries. Still, a lot earlier than expected.

There were several Saint Valentines, and we're not entirely sure which one the holiday references. All we do know is that there was a Saint Valentine buried in Rome on February 14th. This is the one in the two stories mentioned above. Parts of them are based in truth but that's digging a little deeper than is necessary.

So the mythical holiday of love is actually just the feast day of a Saint, plopped in the middle of a raucous Roman holiday and created by a 14th century Englishman. It has also now been removed from the Church's calendar because so little is known about Saint Valentine that he doesn't deserve a feast day anymore. However I feel like that won't stop all the romantical people from celebrating.