Embrace Valentine's Day ....

Brigid’s Day, the Feast of Purification (Candlemas), Ground Hog Day and Valentine’s Day are just a few of the celebrations that occur in February.  Some writers even believe these days are just new names for some ancient and pagan festivals.

Actually, February is named for the Februa festival, which occurred on the 13th to 15th days of this month in ancient Rome.  Also called Februatio, it was a festival of purification which was later incorporated into Lupercalia. The festival was basically about spring-time cleaning and was most probably associated with the rains which followed this time of year in Mediterranean regions.

The festival was meant to avert evil spirits and purify - releasing both health and fertility.  The festival was held partly in honor of Lupa, the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, explaining why it was named Lupercalia, or "Wolf Festival." 

Lupercalia may indeed be the origin of Valentine's Day.  The Lupercalia festival is described in conflicting details by historians and other writers, so we don’t know exactly what went on.  Lupercalia started out as a fun event with willing participants, in which semi-naked bodies were usually exposed to view – a blend of fun, the season, fertility, and possibly some other elements as well.

However, the real origins of Valentine's Day may be a bit more disappointing. Valentine's Day may be named for a saint.  Its transformation into a love-fest seems to have been catalyzed by Chaucer in the 14th century when he linked the date with the story of a martyr, with romance, and even with the mating season of birds.  The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.  

It may not be fair to say that Valentine's Day has its origin in antiquity, but there definitely were both romantic spring celebrations and a St. Valentine or two.

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Stories say there was a real Valentine, a 3d-century cleric who defied the Emperor’s ban against wartime marriages. One legend says he performed secret marriages until he was discovered and put to death. There is a second legend in which another Valentine, persecuted for helping Christians, restored the eyesight of his jailer's blind daughter. Even more speculative is that Valentine's name was originally "Galantine," signifying "gallant," a word with more obvious associations with courtship.

Though modern sources link Greco-Roman festivals devoted to fertility and love, no such links between the Valentines and romantic love exists  

Yet another theory is that Pope Gelasius replaced the pagan festival of Lupercalia with the Christian Feast of Purification, which was celebrated on February 14, exactly 40 days after Epiphany.  The Pope did his best to make people forget about those un-Christian ideas such as fertility.

After a few centuries of this association between the date and romance came the development of Valentine Greeting cards and the birth of the yet another American tradition.  Modern Valentine's Day symbols include a heart-shaped outline and the figure of Cupid.

By the end of the 20th century in the United States,  the practice expanded to exchanging all manner of gifts, such.as roses and chocolates packed in a red heart-shaped boxes, that has promoted Valentine’s day as an occasion for rampant commercialism

But the take-away is that February is still thought of as the month of love, and the day we know today as *Valentine's Day* occurs on the day that is the eve of an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia.