Lupercalia
noun

- an ancient Roman festival celebrated February 15 to ensure fertility for the people, fields, and flocks.

Merriam-Webster

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ORIGIN

No one knows the exact origin of Lupercalia, but it has been traced back as far as the 6th century B.C. It’s believed that the festival took place to honour the she-wolf and please the Roman fertility god Lupercus.

Some historians believe that Valentine’s Day is actually an offshoot of Lupercalia.

Unlike Valentine’s Day, however, Lupercalia was a bloody, violent and animalistic celebration involving animal sacrifice, nakedness, and random matchmaking in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility.

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ST. VALENTINE

The most common legend surrounding the life of Saint Valentine is that on one February 14 during the 3rd century A.D., a man named Valentine was executed for attempting to help Christians escape prison in Rome, and that he actually sent the first “Valentine” message himself while imprisoned, writing a letter signed “From your Valentine.”

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VALENTINE STATISTICS 2020

According to the National Retail Foundation, Americans spent over $20 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts, including $5.8 billion on jewelry. 6 million couples get engaged on Valentine’s Day.

27.6 million American households gave Valentine’s Day presents to their pet dogs and 17.1 million to their cats - for an estimated total value of $751.3 million.

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PRACTICE OWAD in a conversation, say something like

“LUPERCALIA is no longer a mainstream, public celebration for obvious reasons, but some non-Christians still recognize the ancient event on February 14 (instead of Valentine’s Day) and celebrate in private.”

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith