Today’s blog is going to be a shorter one as I have a lot of work to do for college—I study criminology, psychology, and sociology, but I’ve been given a conditional offer to study English Literature and Language at university starting in September! Very exciting, but it means juggling a lot of college work, writing Book 2 in the Scarlet Cherie: Vampire Series (which I am aiming to have the first draft finished by the end of this month!), and then some other bits and bobs… all in all, a busy time! Hence the shorter blog this week, and maybe other shorter ones in the future, as the workload will only increase!
Anyway, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day—some hate it, some love it, and some remain entirely indifferent. But, what is the origin of the festival before it became a commercialised Christian celebration? Some historians argue it might be Lupercalia, an Ancient Roman festival celebrated on February 15th. Though the connection between Valentine’s and Lupercalia may cease at the date, it is worth delving further into, just because of the decadent madness which it was. Be prepared for ritual, sacrifice, wolves, and God worship…
Before love, we had fratricide—and wolves.
February 15th marked a special Roman festival: Lupercalia. Marked by eldritch ritual, Lupercalia honoured Lupercus, Roman protector of the farmers, harvesting, and packs of wild animals. The Luperci, priests of Lupercus, would strip bare and slaughter dogs and goats in the Lupercal—a cave of legend, where Romulus and Remus were raised by wolves. Lupus, in Latin, means wolf, and Lupa means she-wolf, so, as you might have guessed, there is a lot to do with wolves in this.
Romulus and Remus, the supposed founders of the Roman kingdom, were twin brothers abandoned by the order of King Amulius of Alba Longa, their uncle, and left to die. It was here, in the Lupercal, that there were found by a she-wolf, who both nursed and sheltered the brothers until they were found by Faustulus. Faustulus brought the boys home to his wife, who nursed and raised them thereafter. Once the men had grown, Romulus killed King Amulius, as well as his brother Remus, before founding Rome.
Once these goats were slaughtered by the Luperci, they’d be skinned, with the skin turned into whips. Then, the blood of the animals would be smeared on the heads of the youthful males with a ceremonial blade, all the while they’d be required to laugh. The Luperci would use these gory whips to strike women with as they ran around the Palantine Hill. Lupercalia was, essentially, a decadent, dark, and sexualised fertility festival. Supposedly, this was with no ill intent, as women who were struck by these whips would be considered to birth more children. It has been considered that the whipping also acted as symbolic foreplay, a tangible ritual of initiation from boyhood into adulthood. The reasons and intention for the whippings remain debated amongst historians, and there is evidence to suggest that even the Romans were confused by the need for nudity and a bloody beating.
The most famous Lupercalia was in the year 44 B.C.E, when a “naked, perfumed, drunk” Mark Antony, a runner at the time, offered a diadem (crown, of sorts) to Julias Ceaser where he sat on a throne to proclaim him king. Caesar refused the crown multiple times, sending the crown wild, before ordering the diadem to be taken to the temple of Jupiter, which he believed was Rome’s one king. Historians think this might have been scripted by Ceaser himself to see how people would respond to him being king (spoiler: he was assassinated one month later), and others think Antony did it either to embarrass or flatter Ceaser. No one really knows, which is a common theme to this topic, it seems.
Modern historians also think that there may have been a matchmaking side to the festival, where the young, male Luperci might have drawn names of women from a jar with whom they’d copulate for the festival, and maybe longer, if the match fit. Once again, though, this is speculation which other historians disagree with, saying there is little record to indicate this as a part of the ritual.
A conclusion of speculation and debate
So, does Lupercalia have anything to do with Saint Valentine's Day...? No, probably not.
The general consensus, it seems, is that there isn’t much of a correlation between Valentine’s Day, a day to honour the legendary Christian martyr Saint Valentine brought in by Pope Gelasius I in the fifth century, and Lupercalia other than the overlap of the date. If the matchmaking element of the festival did take place, then there might be more cause for argument, however, that is a big and creditably disputed if.
However, it was the Roman’s (Claudius II Gothicus, to be specific) who were alleged to have executed two men called Valentine on February 14th in the third century, so, in some ways, they can still be thanked for the modern holiday. I think it is worth considering something that was raised in a previous blog post (Witchcraft: The Sabbat of Yule), which is that the spread of Christianity did also bring with it the wish to end Pagan, especially Roman Pagan, celebrations, by taking the significant dates of their festivals and Christianising them. Though, in this case, it is all speculation.
All we can really conclude from this is that the Roman’s were ritualistic in their debauchery, and, though their mythology is a wild read, it pales in comparison to the true men and women of Roman times.
Interesting read Aysh. Thanks. Roman history is certainly out of our comfort zone it would seem!!