Lupercalia was an ancient Roman festival celebrated annually on February 15th. It was a fertility festival dedicated to Lupercus, the god of shepherds, and Faunus, the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Pan.
The festival was believed to purify the city and promote health and fertility. Lupercalia rituals were performed by a group of priests known as the Luperci, who would gather at the sacred cave of Lupercal on the Palatine Hill. They would sacrifice goats and dogs, whose hides were then used to make whips or lashes called "februa."
One of the most well-known customs of Lupercalia involved the Luperci running through the streets of Rome, striking people with their februa. It was believed that being touched by the februa would bring fertility and ward off evil spirits.
The festival also included matchmaking and fertility rites, with young men drawing the names of young women in a lottery to be their partners for the duration of the festival or even longer.
While Lupercalia was celebrated for centuries, it eventually fell out of favor with the rise of Christianity, and in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with the Christian feast of St. Valentine's Day, which is celebrated on February 14th.
“The term incense now refers to any material used to produce a fragrant aroma when burned, but it originally referred specifically to gum resins exuded by Boswellia trees. As the word began to be used more generally, these gum resins became known as frankincense, meaning true (frank) incense.”
[Image: The Dolls oil on canvas painting by American artist Edwin Blashfield (1846-1936).]
There is a lovely idea in the Celtic tradition that if you send out goodness from yourself, or if you share that which is happy or good within you, it will all come back to you multiplied ten thousand times.
In the kingdom of love there is no competition, there is no possessiveness or control.
The more love you give away, the more love you will have.
✍️🏻Author| John O'Donohue (Excerpt from his Book, Anam Cara, 25th Anniversary Edition.)
🎨Artit|Amanda Cass
St. Valentine’s Origin Story
Saint Valentine was indeed a real person, but the details of his life, background, and accomplishments are muddled in centuries of interpretation.
There are many origin stories of St. Valentine, but the most detailed account says he was a physician-turned-priest who lived in Rome in the third century, during the reign of Claudius Gothicus (Claudius II). Claudius II was a cruel emperor who outlawed marriage as he believed it interfered with military prowess.
St. Valentine performed secret marriages and was imprisoned for doing so. After some time, he befriended the jailer’s daughter, Julia, whom he tutored.
He was urged to renounce his faith, but refused, and was sentenced to death. Before his execution, he crushed violets to make purple ink and wrote a letter to Julia. He signed it, “from your Valentine.”
Thus marked the mystical origin of the first Valentine’s Day card. Valentine was martyred on February 14, 270 AD.
According to historians, there are many tales of the same man and it is impossible to tell which details are accurate and which may be exaggerated.
In total, more than 50 priests, bishops, and other church officials have taken the name Valentine, and bits and pieces of all their histories may be part of the St. Valentine legend.
Why Is February 14 Valentine’s Day?
The most obvious reason why Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14 is to commemorate the death of St. Valentine. In medieval Europe, however, mid-February has another connection to romance, as written in English author Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, “Parliament of Fowls.” Chaucer notes that birds come together to seek mates halfway through the second month of the year.
This certainly links ”lovebirds” symbolism with Valentine’s Day.
The specific date of this romantic holiday may also have been deliberately selected to overshadow the Roman festival of fertility, Lupercalia, which traditionally took place on February 15. The Catholic Church hoped to reduce the influence of the raucous event but was only partially successful.
Valentine’s Traditions 💕
Today, many different traditions are associated with Valentine’s Day celebrations. The holiday is widely celebrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Spain, and continues to spread with and certain nearly-universal traditions.
Valentine’s Day Cards 💌
Cards with sentiments of love come to mind, and of course St. Valentine is credited with the origins of those personal notes with his letter to Julia.
The first recorded Valentine’s Day card was sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in 1415. That card is still archived today in the British Library in London. It wasn’t until the 1840s, however, when mass-produced cards first became widespread. Esther
A. Howland is the creator of what we recognize as modern greeting cards, having created lovely cards with bits of ribbon, lace, and colorful pictures.
In the early 1900s, improved printing technologies created even more mass-marketed cards affordable to everyone. Today, more than 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year—second only to the popularity of Christmas cards.
Valentine’s Day Chocolates 💜
Chocolates are another special Valentine’s Day treat, with even more ancient connections to love and romance.
In ancient Mayan wedding ceremonies, the happy couple sipped chocolate to celebrate their union, while the ancient Aztecs believed chocolate to be a powerful aphrodisiac.
The first box of chocolates was marketed by the Cadbury company in 1861, and that same company introduced a heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day in 1868. Today, more than 58 million pounds of chocolate are purchased each year for the holiday.
For those who prefer flowers for the holiday, 🌹nothing beats the always romantic rose, and more than 220 million roses are sold annually for Valentine’s Day.
Red roses are the most popular as the color symbolizes love and passion, but pink represents young love and affection, yellow highlights happiness, and white is ideal for everlasting love.
Other flowers also represent love, including asters, carnations, tulips, peonies, and birds of paradise.
Valentine’s Day Jewelry 💙
Jewelry is another popular Valentine’s Day gift, and diamonds are the most popular choice as they have come to be associated with love and romance. (Learn more about diamond symbolism.) Brilliantly red rubies are also a gemstone of love, and birthstones are a beautifully personalized choice to celebrate loving relationships of all kinds. (Learn more about ruby symbolism.)
Cupid Mythology ❤️
Whether on cards, boxes of chocolates, or just whimsical decorations, the plump cherub Cupid is intimately associated with Valentine’s Day. Cupid was a Roman god of love, based on the Greek god Eros, depicted as a handsome man who used golden arrows to incite love in unsuspecting couples.
An underwater photographer captured the exact moment when a female seahorse transfers her eggs to the male, who will incubate them until they hatch.
Seahorses are monogamous and among the animals that show love for their partner in the most tender ways.
At sunrise, they are so happy to see each other that they dance for over five minutes. With their tails intertwined, they greet each other with a "good morning," changing their colors to more vibrant shades.
Throughout the day, they swim side by side, exchange affectionate gestures, blush, and make up after quarrels.
They love enjoying life and good food: they can eat more than three thousand shrimp a day. They are the only species in which the male gives birth after incubating the eggs that the female lays in his pouch. They love each other forever.
“The dream world and the real world are the same.” – Remedios Varo
About the Artist: Remedios Varo Uranga (1908–1963) was a Spanish-Mexican surrealist painter known for blending mysticism, esotericism, and science in her meticulously detailed oil paintings. Originally from Spain, she fled to Mexico during World War II.
Her work explores alchemy, occult symbolism, and cosmic transformation, often portraying mystical female figures as creators, alchemists, or seers. Drawing from biology and physics, she fused human, animal, and botanical forms into surreal compositions, juxtaposing organic and mechanical elements.
Recurring motifs include gothic towers, labyrinthine structures, and hidden passageways, reinforcing a sense of mystery and transformation. She also incorporated feline symbolism, playfully suggesting that cats exist by their own logic.
Her earthy tones, ethereal blues, and intricate textures evoke a meditative yet subtly eerie atmosphere, inviting curiosity about the interplay of nature, mysti cism, and science.
“The Wind in the Willows” is a classic children’s story about England and the English. However, it was actually written by Scotsman. The book describes the adventures of “Mole”, “Badger”, “Toad” and “Ratty”.
Together, they represent all the characteristics of the English, both good and bad. The leader was always the astute, charming, affable, heroic “Rattty”. However, the hero was uneasy outside his own routine. He always did the right thing, but more than anything else, he simply enjoyed “just messing about in boats”.
The inspiration for the character was an academic who was born in Cornwall before attending Trinity College in Oxford.
Arthur Quiller-Couch, like his literary counterpart, was a larger than life character. He was born in 1863. He wrote 36 novels during his lifetime. However, like Ratty, he believed that there was “nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing, as simply messing about in boats”.
In 1910, he was knighted. In 1912, he became the “King Edward VII Professor of English Literature” at Cambridge University. He retained that title for the rest of his life. He was a Fellow of Jesus College in Cambridge, and remained a Fellow until he retired from academic life.
However, in 1911, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch was proud to become the Commodore of the club of which he was a life-long member, the Royal Fowey Yacht Club in Cornwall.
In his spare time, Retty composed poetry. Sir Arthur Quiller- Couch created “The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250 -1918”. Author - Kenneth Grahame. Illustrator - Chris Dunn