Valentine's Day

Can you believe it’s almost Valentine’s Day? I have a theory about why the year gets away from us so quickly. Commercialized holidays. Before one holiday is over, ads for the next one come out. This makes it seem like it’s going faster. In early February, though, we get a whole bunch of things to celebrate at once. Imbolc, Groundhog Day, Lupercalia, the Roman Fertility celebration, and Valentine’s Day all fall within two weeks.

When you get down to the history of the holidays, it can get confusing. The legends behind both Imbolc and Lupercalia vary. Both are holidays to welcome spring and enhance love and fertility. However, while Imbolc is celebrated with flowers and cleansing and celebrates Brigid, a Goddess of Fire, healing, and fertility, Lupercalia, a Roman fertility celebration, that celebrated the Roman god Faunus, was a much more violent celebration involving animal sacrifice and slapping people with blood dipped animal hides to ensure fertility.  Read more