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Valentine’s Day has a long AND bloody history stretching back to the Ancient Greeks. Think wild pagan celebrations, executions, and illicit relationships. Even though some may regard Valentine’s Day as just another opportunity for companies to force more meaningless consumer products and sentimentality on us, we wholly support any holiday that calls on us to indulge in Cupid’s sweetmeats and the pursuit of true love. But all candy hearts and expensive jewelry aside, what’s the deal with V-day?
1. Who was St Valentine?
Valentine is a murky character, and the Catholic Church recognizes a total of three St Valentines. That’s right, three. A popular story is that Valentine was a priest in third century Rome. When Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men because he believed it made them better soldiers, Valentine continued to practice underground marriages until he was caught and thrown in prison. We all know that the ladies love a rebel, and it wasn’t long before Valentine had a little thing going with his jailer’s daughter (apparently he liked them young). Before he was put to death, Valentine wrote a letter to his lover which he signed “From Your Valentine”, the precursor to today’s Valentine’s cards.
2. Lupercalia
Lupercalia was a pre-Roman pagan festival held on the 14th of February. Some historians argue that when Lupercalia was outlawed during the rise of the Christian church in the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared the 14th of February St Valentine’s Day in order to “Christianize” the pagan population. Since then, things have been toned down a little. But if you’re looking to get back to pagan roots this Valentine’s, here are a few tips: First, you need to find a nice cave. Then get yourself a goat to sacrifice (for fertility) and a dog to sacrifice (for purification, of course). That’s if you want to gain the good graces of the god Faunus. Then, everyone needs to dress up as goats or wolves and throw a feast. Afterwards, all the girls line up to get slapped with a bloody strip of goatskin to ensure their fertility and ease the pain of childbirth. What could be more romantic?
3. Arcadian Lykaia
Pre-Lupercalia, things get even more gruesome. Some historians argue that Lupercalia was presaged by the Ancient Greek festival of Arcadian Lykaia. During this ritual, thought to have been held every nine years, the clan would climb Mount Lykaion which they believed to be the birthplace of Zeus. There they would conduct human and animal sacrifices. Whoever ate a bloody mix of human and animal entrails was said to turn into a wolf. The only way he could regain human form was to abstain from eating human flesh until the beginning of the next nine-year cycle. Who knew Valentine’s Day has its origins in a Helladic version of Teen Wolf?
4. Middle Ages
Things start to get a little more romantic in the Middle Ages. In France and England where people believed that birds began to mate on the 14th of February, the day became a celebration of love. The oldest known Valentine’s greeting is poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans. Charles sent the poem to his wife while imprisoned in a tower during the Battle of Agincourt. Charles’ poem wasn’t your usual upbeat card adorned with love hearts though. His poem is somber and full of yearning: “I am already sick of love,” he writes, “My very gentle Valentine.”
5. Weird Love
Of course, traditions never sit still. As Valentine’s Day has spread around the world, it has taken on different meanings in different places. In Japan roles are reversed and women give chocolates to men, while in Finland people celebrate “friendship” rather than love. At one point in Britain, women would pin four bay leaves to their pillow and eat raw egg whites before going to sleep in the hopes that they would dream of their future husband.
Valentine’s Day isn’t the only way people celebrate love. There are plenty of other weird traditions around the world. For example, in Malaysia on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Lunar calendar, women write their phone numbers on oranges and throw them in the river in the hope that a potential lover might find them. On the Brazilian Dia do Namorados, (June 12), women write the names of all their crushes on folded pieces of paper. The one they pick from the pile the next day is the one they will marry. However you choose to spend Valentine’s Day this year or whatever your relationship status may be, remember that it’s all in good fun (unless you happen to be on the wrong end of a human sacrifice).
