Weddings, Wolves, Wooing: Is Valentine's Day Really For The Birds?

Would you believe that St. Valentine's Day,

a time for love and romance and the consumption of

lots of chocolate and other sweets was once a

festival concerned with wolves?

 Bronze Wolf Head 1st Century AD

In the pantheon of Roman deities was a god named

Faunus, who was also called, Lupercus. Although he appeared

in the shape of a man, he had the legs, feet, and ears of a goat.

He was said to be the Roman shepherd's protection against wolves

menacing their flocks.  Lupercus was also believed to be a god

of fertility and one of prophecy.  On February 15th of each year,

the Romans celebrated the festival called Lupercalia, the

purpose of which was to bring fertility to both people,

animals, and the land.  

According to the History.com website: 

"Lupercalia was a bloody, violent, and sexually charged celebration

awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in hopes

of warding off evil spirits and inferility."

Goats and dogs were sacrificed by priests called Luperci, which

translated means, "wolf-averters".  Two young men were then chosen

and led to the altar inside the Lupercal cave.  Their brow was smeared

with the blood of the sacrificed victims, then wiped off with a wad

of wool soaked in milk.  The men were then required to laugh out loud.

A feast followed this ritual and later, clad only in the skins of the 

sacrificed goats and wielding thongs of goat skins, the Luperci

ran around the walls of the city creating a "magic circle" to keep

the wolves away.  Meanwhile, inside this circle, women hoping to

become pregnant bore their bare backs to be struck by a whip

made from a goat's hide.  The whipping was believed to

help increase the women's fertility.

St. Valentine's Day as we know it today, can be traced back to

another ritual practiced during the Feast of Lupercalia.  Young men

participated in a lottery in which they would draw the name of 

 a young women to share in the festivities with him 

 and be his companion for the rest of the year.

After Christianity became the principle faith of the Roman Empire,

the early church fathers tried to do away with the heinous practices 
associated with Lupercalia, however, the people were reluctant
to give it up so the priests of the Church allowed them to continue
to draw lots on the day of the feast.  However, instead of drawing
the names of young women, the names of saints would be drawn
and the young men were required to imitate the good works
of the chosen saint.  Needless to say, this new spin on the old
love-matching game was not popular and the people soon
reverted back to their pagan ways.

St Valentine marrying a Roman couple

Valentine, for whom the modern celebration derived it's

 name, was a Christian priest who lived amid the paganism

of Rome around the year 270 A.D.

Under the reign of the Emperor Claudius, who sought to ban

marriages because he believed husbands made ineffective soldiers,

Valentine was sent to prison for defying the Emperor's laws.

Valentine believed that marriage was a sacred union between

 one man and one woman and God.  He secretly performed

Christian marriages, however, after the Emperor found out what 

he was doing Valentine was arrested and sentenced to death.

In a legend which led to his eventual sainthood, while Valentine

was in prison he restored the sight of the jailor's blind daughter.

She was a kind young woman who brought him food and
and tried to encourage him.  On the morning he was to be executed,
 it is said that he wrote her a farewell note which he signed,

"From your Valentine".

Another belief associated with Valentine's Day is

that on February 14th birds choose their mates, and that man,

whose thoughts generally turn to love and courtship about the

same time of the year, should take his cues from the birds.

Vintage Victorian Valentine

Because a bird is said to traditionally select his mate

on this day, seeing a particular bird on

February 14th was considered to be a premonition

of whom a girl might marry someday.

For instance, if a girl saw a robin on this day, she

would marry a sailor.  If she saw a sparrow, it mean't she would

find happiness marrying a poor man, while a goldfinch means

she'd hit the jackpot and marry a millionaire!  A flock of doves

was also considered a sign of good fortune in marriage.

 I can only wonder- what would happen if a girl

viewed a venue of vultures on Valentine's Day?

 Valentine's Day gained popularity in Great Britain

during the Middle Ages. In the fourteenth century, 

heart-shaped greeting cards became popular.

The game of choosing one's valentine was patterned after

the old Roman rite of the lottery for choosing a partner.

Wearing a blindfold, young men would draw the name of

a girl who would be his valentine for the coming year.

The practice of giving his chosen valentine a gift,

usually a pair of gloves, indicated that the young man

was serious about his young woman and would

be asking for her "hand in marriage".

100 Year Old Valentine

France and later the United States adopted the practice of

observing February 14th as Valentine's Day, a special occasion

to appreciate the joy of love and romance.

Of course, the celebration here in America, like every other

public holiday, has become over commercialized and spending money

on expensive gifts like jewelry and candy and flowers as a requirement

puts a damper on the more deeper and spiritual love which defines

a marital or romantic relationship.  I suppose the best part of this

day is that each person can now decide for themselves who 

will be his or her valentine.

In the Orthodox Jewish tradition, the matchmaker was 

 responsible for choosing whom would marry whom.  

 In the case of Teyve's three oldest daughters, they were

 determine to follow after their own hearts and

marry the men they loved!

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

"Fiddler On The Roof"

(1971)


 Source material for this post:
History.com,  Wikipedia, and
 "Holidays of Legend" 
by Mildred H. Arthur.
Text Copywright 1971 
Mildred H. Arthur
Published by
Harvey House, Inc.
Irvington-On Hudson
New York