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About 1 billion valentines are exchanged each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-giving holiday of the year, behind Christmas, when more than 2 billion cards are sent. V is for Valentine’s Day or Slap Me with a Goat Hide . As with most holidays, Valentine’s Day is nested in pagan roots. February 15 was the pagan festival of Lupercalia. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci (an order of Roman priests) would gather at a sacred cave and sacrifice a goat which represented fertility. Lupercalia was a fertility festival in Rome in mid-February during which, among other ghastly rituals, men would slap women and crops with bloody goat hide to make them more fertile. The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly Unlike Valentine’s Day, however, Lupercalia was a bloody, violent and sexually charged celebration awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in the hopes of warding off evil It’s often speculated that Valentine’s Day has its roots in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, and it’s not hard to see why. Lupercalia was observed on February 15, and involved fertility rituals — albeit along with animal sacrifice and ritual whipping. Yet the link between this pagan festival and the Christian feast day that morphed into our modern ode to love and romance is Boys would slice the goats hide into strips, dipped them in sacrificial blood and move about the streets gently slapping women and fields with the animal hide. Womenfolk gladly received a slap, as they believed that the practice would make them more fertile. There were at least two, possibly three, and as many as 11 men named Valentine (or Valentinus) who were martyrs of the early Church. Two specifically have the assigned feast day of Feb. 14: Valentine of Terni, who was bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 200, and Valentine of Rome, who was martyred in AD 269. Here, they sacrificed a goat and a dog, before cutting the goat hide into strips, dipping it into blood and gently slapping Roman women with it to increase their fertility. The luperci would then sacrifice one goat and one dog, taking the goat hide in strips and dipping it into the sacrificial blood to take to the streets. They would gently slap the goat hide on women (believed to make them more fertile) and crop fields. Near the end of the festival, the young men would draw the names of young women from a jar. The priests would then take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. Around 498 AD, Pope Gelasius is said to have declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. Some writers link Valentine’s Day with Feast of Lupercalia because of similar date and connection with Lupercalia was a fertility festival in Rome in mid-February during which, among other ghastly rituals, men would slap women and crops with bloody goat hide to make them more fertile. The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly Lupercalia. Red roses, chocolate candy hearts, romantic movies, and cards that say sweet nothings are all hallmarks of Valentine's Day. This holiday has become popular worldwide; such countries as the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, Argentina, Mexico, and France all celebrate this day. And while the goat hide thing thankfully fell out of favor, the day slowly developed a reputation as a day of romance. In France and England, people believed birds started mating on February 14. Valentine’s Day: One of the Largest Retail Holidays . Today, Valentine’s Day is celebrated the world over. According to Hallmark, about 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged every year. Americans spent approximately $24 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2022. Goat Yoga on Valentines Day with yummy drinks and treats included! Take part in this unique and memorable experience. No yoga experience needed. This is the perfect surprise for your animal loving loved one (all ages welcome). Check off an item on your bucket list! We will be in our heated barn. Please arrive 15 [] Well, Lauren and Becca certainly hope to be bringing you a Valentines Day episode unlike any others you're likely to hear this year. Historical facts, historical maybes, personal (Also Read | Happy Slap Day 2024: Date, history, significance, funny messages to share on this day) Anti-Valentine's Week begins just a day after Valentine's Day - February 15.It consists of seven While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial—which occurred around A. 270—others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of According to The History Channel, Valentine’s Day had its beginnings in Rome in the 6th century B.C. as part of a pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would sacrifice a goat for fertility, and a dog for purification.
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