Getting to the Heart of Valentine’s Day

As with most of the Christian-based holidays, Valentine's Day was created to be a replacement for Lupercalia…to give pagans an alternative celebration, to lure them to abandon their traditions and gods in favor of a Christian-appropriate celebration.

Lupercalia was celebrated on February 15 in ancient Rome. Its name is based on the Roman fertility god, Lupercus. According to many sources, it was a very wild festival indeed. During Lupercalia, young men would run through the streets wearing nothing but animal skins while women would line up to get a little love tap from them which they believed would boost fertility. Amid feasting, drinking and dancing, the men randomly chose a woman’s name from a jar to be “coupled” with her for the duration of the festival. Often, they stayed together until the next year’s festival. Some even got married.

As Christianity spread, church leaders decided to stop this raucous celebration and give it a more romantic spin. Accordingly, the new celebration was named after St. Valentine, who was known for marrying couples in secret during a time when marriage was banned. Its new purpose was to celebrate love and marriage instead of sex and fertility; Cupid became an “angel,” replacing the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection.

Regardless of societal norms dictating how we celebrate love today, there are many ways pagans and polytheists can summon the energy of ancient Luperalia celebrations. Using herbal, color, and elemental correspondences, we can amplify love rituals. And, of course, deities and demons known for their influence on relationships, sexuality and fertility are always ready to lend a hand with our magickal intentions.