Tracing the Roots of Valentine's Day Beyond Lupercalia to Earlier Pagan Festivals

To trace the roots of today's commercial Valentine's Day to the Imperial Roman Lupercalia celebration is to make only half the voyage to its remote beginnings in earlier Pagan festivals. To find the true Pagan roots of both Lupercalia and Valentines Day it is necessary to journey back to the past, beyond the festival of Juno Februario, the wife of Jupiter and Queen of Heaven.

This Pagan festival was celebrated on February 14 by the most ancient Greek civilizations long before Lupercalia. Juno and Jupiter are the Roman versions of the earlier Greek gods Hera and Zeus who are themselves most likely Hellenized versions of the Egyptian Isis and Osiris, securing those pagan roots far in the past and wide in geography.

Worshipping the Queen of Heaven

The names and outward aspects of the Queen of Heaven change over the eras and areas of her reign, like womens fashions change over the decades, but her nature is immutable. As Astarte, Isis, Hera, Juno, or any of the many other names, she wards off evil spirits while her own spirit purifies and enables health, joy and fertility.

Adding Februario to the name of Juno humanized her for the Romans and emphasized the pastoral aspect of her nature without removing her regal qualities as Queen of Heaven. The Romans added more than just a name to Juno and her Pagan festival. The rulers started associating the myths surrounding the founding of Rome, claiming the she-wolf Lupus nursed the abandoned twins Romulus and Remus so that Romulus might grow to father an empire.

Queen of Heaven to Mother of Rome

It was natural to celebrate the 'mother' of Rome while celebrating the mother of all, the Queen of Heaven. This started in the cave 'Lupercal', the reputed lair of Lupus the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus.

As the festivities took on more and more of a local Roman flavor the Lupercalia was born. The rapid spread of the empire aided the general acceptance of February 14 as the Lupercalia celebration with undertones of the original goddess worship shown by the references to the Queen of Heavens traits of purification and fertility.

Rites of Lupercalia, the Pagan Festival

A priesthood eventually developed called the 'Luperci', the Brotherhood of the Wolf. During Lupercalia festival day the Luperci would perform the ritual sacrifices and then run naked through the city of Rome, bestowing the blessings of the goddess upon women by a playful bit of flogging with shaggy, goatskin thongs. These blessings were easy birthing for pregnant women and fertility for those not yet pregnant.

The Roman noble, Marc Antony was known to have run in the Pagan Lupercalia festival, with the Luperci, in 44 BC when it was the norm for noble and commoner alike. Augustus, the first Roman emperor, had the cave Lupercal refurbished to make it fit for the Lupercalia celebrations that were becoming more about Rome and less about Juno. As one might expect under those circumstances, the Lupercalia celebrations took on the nature of the ruling emperor.

Pagan Festival to Catholic Holiday

This change in focus from honoring the universally accepted Pagan Queen of Heaven, to celebrating a local deity was aiding the Catholic church in the war it had declared on the worship of Juno.

This intent was made clear by such verses in the Bible that speak of, "...the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven and they pour out drink offerings to other gods..." and about keeping vows to, "...burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her." These actions angered God and would bring a terrible fate to those who kept such vows.

Pagans to Valentinian Gnostics

Prior to 300 AD the differences between a true Christian priest and the Valentinian gnostics (pagans) were difficult to discern because their doctrines were so alike. The defining difference was the view of the 'nature' of God.

For the pagans all emanations from the Heavenly Father, husband of Juno, were paired and by nature the two aspects were male and female. The reproductive pairings represented Bliss, consisting of submission, interdependence and the wholeness that makes peace possible. This view was not compatible with the emerging clergy structure of the church at that time and against which the Valentinian gnostics, once Pagans, resisted.

Pagan Festivals Outlawed

Their resistance was made futile by Emperor Consantine I, who made Catholicism the state religion when he ruled the Roman Empire from 324-337 AD, Emperor Theodosius I when he outlawed all pagan cults in 392 AD by "Empirical Decree" and by Pope Gelasius who went from mocking and ridiculing the Pagan Lupercalia to banning its celebration completely in 496 AD.

This was the era when the Pagan festivals were replaced by Christian holidays in the calendar, such as Christmas replacing Saturnalia and St. Valentines Day replacing the Lupercalia (which had already dispossessed the Pagan festival of Juno). So much was changing so quickly that there is some confusion as to who the actual saint intended as Valentine was, with anywhere from three to seven likely candidates depending on who you ask.

Pagan Hold-outs

Two centuries later the pagan ceremonies were regaining favor and echoes of the Lupercalia celebrations could be found throughout what had been the Roman empire, the British Isles, France and the Mediterranean area.

A perennial favorite was the 'lovers lottery' where men and women were matched at random and spent the next year together as a couple. This union varied in its nature depending on the country and each had traditional ways in which the couples could express the relationship and these Pagan customs were still common in the 1400's and even into the 1500's.

Modern Commercial Lupercalia

The church continued its campaign to establish St. Valentine (apparently any saint by that name the locals would accept), and in 1797 got a boost from the beginnings of the commercial promotion of Valentines day. That year a British publisher issued a book for young men on how to write a 'valentine' and soon printers were jumping in with pre printed valentine wishes.

It was the year 1870 that the Cadbury Brothers produced the first heart shaped gift candy boxes and an industry was born, securing Juno's festival for Valentine's Day, whichever saint he may be and regardless of its roots in the ancient Lupercalia celebration and earlier Pagan festivals.

Reference:

"The Gods of the Egyptians" by E.A. Wallis Budge
"Egyptian Magic" by E.A. Wallis Budge
"A History of Ancient Egypt" by Nicholas Grimal
http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu
http://en.wikipedia.org
www.meridiangraphics.net
http://penelope.uchicago.edu
www.paganlibrary.com
http://abacus.bates.edu