By: Sydni Brown
Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrating all forms of love. Many individuals are scurrying around, doing last minute preparations; chocolate, stuffed animals and gifts are being purchased by the minute. Love should be given freely, but I mean, who doesn’t like to be spoiled! In 2014, the average consumer spent $116.21 and the average amount spent for the holiday was 13.19 billion dollars (Valentine’s Day Statistics, statisticbrain.com)! While soul searching for the perfect gift and being told that, “They’re no longer in stock”, feeling defeated you may have questioned yourself, “I’m doing all of this for stupid VALENTINE’S DAY! (Person you care for) will probably not appreciate the trouble anyway, (other negative and misconstrued comments)!” In actuality, you are in fact wasting time and money. Did you know that the origin of Valentine’s Day has nothing to do with love?
Back in 380 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine the Great made Christianity legal and ended the persecution of all Christians. With this change, Pagans were encouraged to get rid of their rituals and festivities. Lupercalia was one of the Pagans favorite and many new-found Christians struggled with letting go of paganistic practices. Lupercalia was celebrated in remembering the Roman god she-wolf, Lupa, who nursed Romulus & Remus, the founders of Rome, to health and later the Roman god, Lupercus, who was the god of shepherds (The terrifying origin story of Valentine’s Day, businessinsider.com). Lupercalia took place from February 13th-15th. During this festival, two youths head were smeared with the blood of goats and dogs to promote fertility of their flocks. The youth would then follow the priests as they went around the city and “gently” flogged naked men and women with the previously sacrificed animal hides. There was plenty of wine and “expressions of love”, even a matching-making lottery (Seipel, Arnie. The Dark Origins of Valentine’s Day, npr.org); we all know what happens when there is a mass number of nudity and alcohol involved. Definitely surpasses the S&M fantasies of 50 Shades of Gray.
Ok, that’s the history, but what about the name? Where did it come from? During the transition into Christianity, Emperor Claudius II wanted to stray away from the old Roman beliefs and he made it illegal for younger men to marry; he believed they fought better in war if they were single (Kithcart, David. St. Valentine, The Real Story, cbn.com). Many of the “new-found Christians” knew that if they were to marry in a church, that there was no way in Hell that the Emperor would deem it appropriate and not to mention putting an end to Lupercalia. Many began to marry outside of the church, which was ALSO illegal. Couples were being punished and indicted for eloping. Exactly who was a part of bonding these secret marriages? You guessed it, SAINT VALENTINE!
St. Valentine was one of the first St. Valentines’ (more occurred throughout history) and was a high ranking priest (http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day). Sometime during the 3rd Century AD, St. Valentine was caught by Emperor Claudius for his tenacious acts and was sent to death by flogging, stoning, and was later decapitated. While being imprisoned, rumor has it that while he was imprisoned, he wrote a sonnet with ink squeezed from violets (The Real Story Behind Valentine’s Day), markmerrill.com) to the prison guard’s blind daughter and signed it, “From Your Valentine”. So, after all the drama and history of Valentine’s Day, how will you celebrate your love? Don’t be fooled by the hustle! Love should be shown on the daily; being considerate and kind is something that should not only be rewarded, but shown on a consistent basis.
