Pagan St Valentines Day or Lupercalia.
I thought you might like to
know the Pagan origins of St Valentine's Day. Yes I know it has become over
commercialised like so many things nowadays but if you go back to it's roots,
like so many things, it's deeper than the giving of cards and chocolate! In our
house I decorate my dining room for my children with fairy lights and candles
and make them a valentine supper with heart shaped and red food!!
St Valentine's Day is the
Eve of Lupercalia, the Pagan Roman festival of fertility.
In fact, the 14th of
February was the day specially set aside for love lotteries in Pagan Rome. A
holiday devoted to Juno, Queen of the Gods, and patroness of marriage, the 14th
was also the day on which young girls' names were written on slips of paper and
thrown into jars to be picked out by the boys. Chooser and chosen would then be
partnered for the duration of the Lupercalia festival. Such arbitrary pairings
often resulted in lasting relationships.
So I know it's hard to escape the commercialism of such days as Valentine's day but nice to know that it perhaps wasn't just dreamt up purely by the Greetings Cards industry!
Love and light to you, AstarteAlison
Photography AstarteAlison
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