Red is for… blood? : Origins of Valentine’s Day Part 1.
There are a few things that come into our minds whenever we hear the words Valentine’s day or February 14. Rarely, we think of a birthday, but the common phrases is connected to bitterness, marriage, or romance. It is the day where we think of chocolates, flowers, stuffed toys, and jewelries. All of which are what I call the cause of individual bankruptcy.
The origin of Valentine’s day is far from the fresh smell of flowers or even the sweetness of chocolates. The original festival of hearts was first a festival of fertility, called Lupercalia.
Contrary to popular belief, Valentine’s day was not originally dedicated to St. Valentine. It was dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.
Instead of chocolates and flowers, members of Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification, inside a cave where they believed to have been the place where the founders had been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa.
After the sacrifice, the Luperci would skin the goat and cut it into strips which will, then, be dipped into sacrificial blood. Women would line up to be gently slapped with the blood-dipped sacrificial blood as they believe that it would make them fertile for the coming year.
Cool, huh? The fact that this day was actually more about ensuring the continuation of a bloodline rather than the utmost heated passion of the making process is actually relieving to know. As one of the people who dislike valentine’s day, it made me feel better to know that not even the origin of the so-called ‘Day of Love’ is all about the shared body fluids, expensive gifts or even the general flirty whispers. Sometimes it could only mean the continuation of a race.
If it makes anyone feel better, the somewhat romantic part of the festival is said to be done later that day. There was a legend that says women would place their names in a big urn where men would choose a name to be their match for the year. It was also said that these matches would often end with marriage. Then again, a legend is a legend. How would anyone know if it truly happened?
Not quite the sunshine and rainbows of modern time Valentine’s day, right? At least, I can tell that this day was ‘Roman-tic’. (Get it? Roman-tic because it came from Romans. No? Okay.)
