Tag: Rome

Today’s Tarot Card for October 11 is The Emperor

The Emperor

In the most practical terms, what has traditionally been called the Emperor card represents the highest leadership, a head of state or the most exemplary and powerful person in the realm. This archetypal ruler is responsible for the positive working out of affairs of a society or community, which are directly proportional to his well being and happiness.

The more enlightenment and cosmic perspective this energy brings, the better life is for all. The Emperor archetype masters the world of matter and physical manifestation. When you apply this card to your situation, acknowledge your potentials for mastery. Reinforce a sense of sovereignty within yourself, despite any self-limiting beliefs, habits or appearances to the contrary.

Your Charm For September 16 is The Frog

Your Charm for Today

Today’s Meaning: The frog represents good health, physically and emotionally. This aspect shall remain in a good light as long as you maintain good health.

General Description: This is an old Roman Amulet but the charm dates from prehistoric times. The Frog was the emblem of Hegt, the Egyptian goddess of abundance fruitfulness, fertility and plenty. From Egypt these myths spread and similar goddesses were worshipped under different names — Ishtar in Assyria, Belit in Babylonia, Al-ilat in Arabia, Aphrodite in Greece, Venus in Rome. The Frog, cut in amber, is a popular talisman. In Italy Greece and Turkey, it is still worn to bring good health, prosperity, and abundance of all the good things of this earth.

Calendar of the Sun for August 21

Calendar of the Sun

21 Weodmonath

Consualia: First Harvest of Rome

Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a brown a cloth display the preserved fruits of the harvest thus far. There should be a pot of fruit that has been cooked to charring as a traditional offering, a wreath of flowers, and a chalice of wine. Outside, the underground stone altar of Consus is dug open and revealed.
Offering: Burned fruits.
Daily Meal: Food out of the garden.

Consualia Invocation

Hail, Consus, Lord of the Storehouse!
As our ancestors stored things deep underground,
So we have opened the earth
To give you what is your due.
For it is not enough to grow what must be grown.
Our sustenance must also be cultivated,
Plucked from vine and stem,
Cleaned and prepared,
And if necessary preserved.
You are the keeper of next year’s seeds
Which we must save as if our lives
Depended on those tiny cradles of life.
You are the keeper of next year’s grain,
And may we all come to love and understand
The cycle of seed and fruit on which
Our table, and our bellies, depend.
Hail Consus, keeper of the seeds,
May your blessing carry through
To next year’s garden, and each year forever.

(All go out to the garden, where the open hole reveals the carved stone of Consus’s altar. The burned fruits are laid in as an offering, and the wine poured in on top. Then the altar is covered again with earth, and the wreath of flowers is laid over it.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Wicca Book of Days for Aug. 4 – August Augustus

The Wicca Book of Days for Aug. 4

August Augustus

 

When Rome was regulated by the calendar of Romulus, the month that we now know as August was called Sextile, and was the sixth month of the year(it became the eighth month under the calendar of Numa). Just as Quintilis was renamed Iulius or Julius, in honor of Julius Caesar, so Sextilis was eventually dropped in favor of Augustus, the individual so whom we refer whenever we say “August” today being the Emperor Augustus (63 BC – AD14), who ordered the change in around AD 8. The first emperor of Rome, Augustus (which means “imperial” in Latin) was born Gaius Octavianus

 

Th Emperor

Meditate on the major-arcana Tarot card of the Emperor (IV). This card, which depicts a dignified older man, crowned, enthroned, and holding his imperial regalia, signified masculine power and worldly authority, as well as absolute will and achievement.

Fire

Fire

 

Direction: South

Time: Noon

Season: Summer

Colours: Red, orange, gold

Qualities: Fertility in all aspects of life, creativity, light-bringing power, passion, joy,  initiating, transformation, courage, mysticism, clairvoyance, prophecy.

Rule over: Ambition, achievement, illumination, inspiration, all creative and artistic ventures,  poetry, art, sculpture, writing, music, dance, religion and spirituality, psychic powers especially higher ones such as channeling, innovation, sexuality. It  is also potent for destruction of what is now no longer needed, for binding and banishing ritual and so for protection.

Animals: Dragonfly, firefly, fox, lion, lizrd, stag, tiger

Archangel: Michael, archangel of the sun and light and the warrior angel. Michael is the angel of  power and of illumination and brings in the summer season and fertility, growth and energy into our lives and to the land, to animals and the crops. He is  also potent, for reviving barren land despoiled by industrialization and for cleansing air pollution.

Visualize him resplendent in scarlet and gold with a huge sword, golden scales in his other hand and  often a dragon crushed beneath his feet.

Crystals: Amber bloodstone, bojo stones, carnelian, garnet, hematite, iron pyrites, lava, mookaite,  obsidian, red jasper, ruby sunstone, topaz.

Elemental creatures: Salamanders

Goddesses: Amaterasu Omigami, the Japanese sun goddess whose name means ‘great August spirit  shining in heaven’

Brighid, the Celtic triple goddess of fire and of the hearth, patroness of healers, poets and  smiths

Gabija, the Lithuanian goddess of the hearth fire, who was honored by throwing salt on the fire each  evening after the main meal

Pele, goddess of volcanoes, fire and magic, who is still revered in Hawaii by those who claim  descent from her and who still set up altars near lava streams.

Saule, Baltic queen of the heavens and earth, dressed and crowned with gold who drove her golden  chariot across the skies and danced with her daughter the planets on the festival of St. Lucia, the light maiden, just before the midwinter  solstice

Sekhmet, the Ancient Egyptian lion-headed solar goddess of fire and healing who is the patroness of  modern businesswomen

Vesta, the Roman goddess of sacred fire whose Virgins tended the sacred fire in  Rome

Gods: Agni, the Hindu god of fire, who is said to be manifest as the vital spark in mankind, birds,  animals, plants and life itself

Apollo, the Graeco-Roman sun god, who was twin brother of Artemis, the moon goddess, and was patron  of the arts, especially music, beauty and harmony.

Helios of the Greeks, known to the Romans as Sol, who was regarded as the sun himself. He ascended  the heavens in a chariot drawn by winged snow-white horses to give light, and in the evening descended into the ocean

Lugh (Llew in Wales) the ancient Irish god of light and the cycle of the year, born at the midwinter  solstice, made king at the summer solstice and willingly sacrificed at Lughnassadh at the beginning of August in order to maintain the fertility of the land  and ensure the success of the harvest.

Ra or Re, the Ancient Egyptian sun god who sailed the sun boat across the heavens during the  day

Herbs and incenses: Allspice, angelica, basil, bay, cactus, carnation, cedar wood, chamomile,  chrysanthemum, cinnamon, cloves, copal, dragon’s blood, frankincense, galangal. Garlic, juniper, lime marigold, nutmeg, olive, orange, pennyroyal,  rosemary, snapdragon, sunflower, tangerine, thistle holy, thistle milk, witch hazel

Place: Bonfires, all conflagrations, deserts, hearths, hilltop beacons, lightning, sacred festival  fires, solar eclipses, thunder, volcanoes, at the height of noon or a blazing sunrise or sunset, plains shimmering in the heart, any sunny place, sandy  shores on hot days, hear banks of yellow or golden flowers.

Sacred substances: Candle

Zodiacal signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Cloud Scrying

Cloud Scrying

Most of us watch clouds form images at one time or another. It is as if we are guided to look up and watch the patterns unfold at a given time. Fluffy cumulous clouds bring messages, which sometimes seem to tell an unfolding story. While flying on an airplane, it is fun to watch the clouds from above as if celestial art. You may receive telepathic messages while watching cloud images, coming from a spirit guide.

Throughout history symbols of political or religious importance have been seen in the clouds. In A.D. 312 when Emperor Constantine was marching against the army of Maxentius at Rome, both he and his entire army saw a shining cross of light amid the clouds. It was said the cross contained the Greek words “By This Conquer”. Later that night Christ appeared to Constantine in his dreams bearing a cross in his hand ordering Constantine to have a military standard made in the same image. Under this standard his outnumbered army was victorious. Down through history entire military battles have been witnessed in the clouds.

The Wicca Book of Days for July 7 – The Fig Feast

The Wicca Book of Days for July 7

The Fig Feast

 

A festival called the Caprotinia, or the Nonae Caprotinae (“The Nones of the Wild Fig”) took place in ancient Rome on July 7.  Celebrated by serving women, it is thought that this feast day fused an older fig-tree festival with the commemoration of a historical event, when female servants, under the leadership of a caprificus-climbing girl called Philotis played a crucial part in defeating a Latin tribe. During the Caprotinia, the ancillae staged play fights, feasted under fig trees, and offered the fruits to the matriarchal goddess Juno Caprotina.

 

Heavenly Honeysuckle

Go out at dusk to inhale the divine scent of a flowering honeysuckle. Associated with both the Moon and this day’s zodiacal sign of Cancer in astrological belief, honeysuckle has long symbolized the sweet, clinging nature of a young woman’s love.

The Wicca Book of Days for July 1 – A Timely Tribute

The Wicca Book of Days for July 1

A Timely Tribute

 

By today’s reckoning, July is the seventh month of the year, but this month was not always called July, nor was it always the seventh month. Indeed, its original name in the calendar of Romulus (and later, also of Numa) Quintilis, indicates that it was once the fifth month of the Roman year. Gaius Julius Caesar (100 – 44 BC.) had just reformed the calendar that regulated Roman time (after which it became known as the Julian calendar) when he was assassinated, and it was in tribute to him that Quintilis –  the month of the murdered emperor’s birth – was renamed Julius (or Iuluis), the Latin for “July.”

Juggling Powers

Meditate upon the major arcana Tarot card of the Juggler, or Magician (1). The objects on the table may vary, but this man always holds aloft a wand, signifying his will, while his other hand point downward, suggesting the transference of heavenly powers to the Earthly realm.

The Wicca Book of Days for June 27 – Celebrating Summer

The Wicca Book of Days for June 27

Celebrating Summer

 

The Initium Aestatis – “Beginning of Summer” in Latin – was celebrated in ancient Rome on June 27. Although not much is known about the precise form that this summer festival took it is likely to have featured corn in some way, for Aestas, the Goddess of Summer, was depicted adorned with ears of corn, and the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses (Book II, line 25) describes “Summer, lightly clad, crowned with a wreath of corn ears: attending Sol, the Sun God. Aestas’s name is the root of the English word aestival, or estival, which means  “of summer,” or “in summer.”

 

Sweet Summer Corn

Relish the flavor of summer by roasting corn on an open fire(or if not practical on your grill). Carefully peel back the husks, without detaching them, so that you can remove the cornsilk. The replaced the husks and soak the ear(s) of corn in water for an hour. Roast for 10 – 15 minutes on a rack over the fire.

The Wicca Book of Days for June 11th – The Matralia

The Wicca Book of Days for June 11th

The Matralia

The Matralia, a festival dedicated to Mater Matuta (Latin for “Dawn Mother”), was celebrated on June 11 in ancient Rome. Mater Matuta – or Matuta, equated with the Greek Ino – was venerated on account of the protective influence that she exerted over growing children, and the Matralia was therefore especially observed by married mothers at her temple in Rome. Matralia rituals included a female slave being driven from the temple, the intoning of pueris sororiis (‘Sisters’ children” or “growing children” in Latin) prayers, and the baking of toasted cakes that were then offered to the Goddess.

Barnabas’s Blessing

In Christian traditions, June 11 is the feast day of Saint Barnabas (and also marks the Old Style date of the summer solstice). If you have fallen out with anyone recently, invoke this saint’s help in sorting out your disagreement in friendly fashion.

The Wicca Book of Days for May 15th – Mercury’s Birthday

The Wicca Book of Days for May 15th

Mercury’s Birthday

In ancient Rome, the Ides of May – May 15th – was regarded as the birthdayof Mercury and therefore as Mercury’s sacred day. It was on this date in 496 BC, that a temple was dedicated to Mercurius the divine Roman counterpart of the Greek Hermes, near the Circus Maximus and guild of merchants was established. Mercury was a patron of commerce and his birthday was especially observed by merchants, who dipped laurel branches into the God’s sacred spring and sprinkled their wares with the water, praying that they would reap handsome profits.

The Hare Moon

Wiccans dedicate the May Esbat to the “Hare Moon.” Long associated with the moon, in many cultures, the fleet-footed hare was believed by the Romans, to be a messenger-carrying creature of Mercury, and was also sacred to Venus and Cupid as a symbol of fertility and lust.

The Wicca Book of Days for April 13 – Lady of Liberty

The Wicca Book of Days for April 13

Lady of Liberty

Ancient Romans, venerated Libertas, their goddess of liberty, today, and focused their rituals on her temple on Rome’s Aventure Hill. Although Libertas came to be considered the person of the political liberty of the people of Rome, perhaps her most fervent worshippers were the slaves who longed to be liberated from their servitude, as had occurred when enslaved soldiers were rewarded for their part in Rome’s victory at Beneventum in 214BC. Libertas was depicted wearing or holding the felt cap of liberty that was presented to slaves on being freed.

Be A Liberator!

Give thanks for the many freedoms that you enjoy and spare a thought for those who, for whatever reason, have been deprived of their liberty. Consider volunteering to campaign for others’ human rights, for instance, by linking up with Amnesty International.

Herb of the Day for April 6th – FRANKINCENSE

Herb of the Day for April 6th

Frankincense

Botanical: Boswellia Thurifera
Family: N.O Burseraceae

—Synonym—Olibanum.
—Part Used—The gum resin.
—Habitat—Arabia, Somaliland.

—Description—Obtained from the leafy forest tree Boswellia Thurifera, with leaves deciduous, alternate towards the tops of branches, unequally pinnated; leaflets in about ten pairs with an odd one opposite, oblong, obtuse, serrated, pubescent, sometimes alternate; petioles short. Flowers, white or pale rose on short pedicels in single axillary racemes shorter than the leaves. Calyx, small five-toothed, persistent; corolla with five obovate-oblong, very patent petals, acute at the base, inserted under the margin of the disk, acstivation slightly imbricative. Stamens, ten, inserted under the disk, alternately shorter; filaments subulate, persistent. Anthers, caducous, oblong. Torus a cupshaped disk, fleshy, larger than calyx, crenulated margin. Ovary, oblong, sessile. Style, one caducous, the length of the stamens; stigma capitate, three-lobed. Fruit capsular, three-angled three-celled, three-valved, septicidal, valves hard. Seeds, solitary in each cell surrounded by a broad membranaceous wing. Cotyledons intricately folded multifid.

The trees on the Somali coast grow, without soil, out of polished marble rocks, to which they are attached by a thick oval mass of substances resembling a mixture of lime and mortar. The young trees furnish the most valuable gum, the older yielding merely a clear, glutinous fluid, resembling coral varnish.

To obtain the Frankincense, a deep, longitudinal incision is made in the trunk of the tree and below it a narrow strip of bark 5 inches in length is peeled off. When the milk-like juice which exudes has hardened by exposure to the air, the incision is deepened. In about three months the resin has attained the required degree of consistency, hardening into yellowish ‘tears.’ The large, clear globules are scraped off into baskets and the inferior quality that has run down the tree is collected separately. The season for gathering lasts from May till the middle of September, when the first shower of rain puts a close to the gathering for that year.

The coast of Southern Arabia is yearly visited by parties of Somalis, who pay the Arabs for the privilege of collecting Frankincense, and in the interior of the country, about the plain of Dhofar, during the southwest Monsoon, Frankincense and other gums are gathered by the Bedouins. (The incense of Dhofar is alluded to by the Portuguese poet, Camoens.)

—Constituents—Resins 65 per cent, volatile oil 6 per cent, water-soluble gum 20 per cent, bassorin 6 to 8 per cent, plant residue 2 to 4 per cent; the resins are composed of boswellic acid and alibanoresin.

—Medicinal Action and Uses—It is stimulant, but seldom used now internally, though formerly was in great repute . Pliny mentions it as an antidote to hemlock. Avicenna (tenth century) recommends it for tumours, ulcers, vomiting, dysentery and fevers. In China it is used for leprosy.

Its principal use now is in the manufacture of incense and pastilles. It is also used in plasters and might be substituted for Balsam of Peru or Balsam or Tolu. The inhalation of steam laden with the volatile portion of the drug is said to relieve bronchitis and laryngitis.

The ceremonial incense of the Jews was compounded of four ‘sweet scents,’ of which pure Frankincense was one, pounded together in equal proportion. It is frequently mentioned in the Pentateuch. Pure Frankincense formed part of the meet offering and was also presented with the shew-bread every Sabbath day. With other spices, it was stored in a great chamber of the House of God at Jerusalem.

According to Herodotus, Frankincense to the amount of 1,000 talents weight was offered every year, during the feast of Bel, on the great altar of his temple in Babylon. The religious use of incense was as common in ancient Persia as in Babylon and Assyria. Herodotus states that the Arabs brought every year to Darius as tribute 1,000 talents of Frankincense, and the modern Parsis of Western India still preserve the ritual of incense.

Frankincense, though the most common, never became the only kind of incense offered to the gods among the Greeks. According to Pliny, it was not sacrificially employed in Trojan times. Among the Romans, the use of Frankincense (alluded to as mascula thura by Virgil in the Eclogues) was not confined to religious ceremonials. It was also used on state occasions, and in domestic life.

The kohl, or black powder with which the Egyptian women paint their eyelids, is made of charred Frankincense, or other odoriferous resin mixed with Frankincense. Frankincense is also melted to make a depilatory, and it is made into a paste with other ingredients to perfume the hands. A similar practice is described by Herodotus as having been practiced by the women of Scythia and is alluded to in Judith x. 3 and 4. In cold weather, the Egyptians warm their rooms with a brazier whereon incense is burnt, Frankincense, Benzoin and Aloe wood being chiefly used for the purpose.

The word ‘incense,’ meaning originally the aroma given off with the smoke of any odoriferous substance when burnt, has been gradually restricted almost exclusively to Frankincense, which has always been obtainable in Europe in greater quantity than any other of the aromatics imported from the East.

There is no fixed formula for the incense now used in the Christian churches of Europe, but it is recommended that Frankincense should enter as largely as possible intoits composition. In Rome, Olibanum alone is employed: in the Russian church, Benzoin is chiefly employed.

The following is a formula for an incense used in the Roman Church: Olibanum, 10 OZ. Benzoin, 4 oz. Storax, 1 OZ. Break into small pieces and mix.

The Wicca Book Of Days for March 17th – A Liberal Festival

The Wicca Book of Days for March 17th

A Liberal Festival

The Liberalia was celebrated in ancient Rome on March 17, this being a festival dedicated to the God Liber or Liber Pater (“Liber, the Father”) – a deity who was said to make seeds fertile, and who was also associated with Bacchus (the Greek Dionysus) – and to the Goddess Libera, who was identified with the maiden Goddesses Proserpine (the Greek Persephone) and Ariadne. That the Latin word liber can also mean “free” may give you some indication of the riotous nature of the Liberalia, which took place at the time of year when seeds were being sown in the hope that they would grow vigorously, and that the harvest would be rich.

Cherish Your Chalice

Wine was offered during the Liberalia, and you may wish to do the same. A chalice is an essential tool for Wiccans/Witches, making this a good time to invest in a new one, or cherish your existing one. It also represents the Piscean element of water and the feminine principle.

Ostara Symbols

Ostara Symbols

image Lilies – These beautiful flowers were a symbol of life in Greece and Rome. During the Ostara season, young men would give a lily to the young woman they were courting. If the young woman accepted the lily, the couple were considered engaged (much like accepting a diamond ring from a young man in today’s society).

 

image Lambs – This fluffly little mammal is an eternal symbol of Ostara, and was sacred to virtually all the virgin goddesses of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The symbol was so ingrained in the mindset of the people of that region that it was carried over into the spring religious rituals of the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter.

 

image Robins – One of the very first birds to be seen in the Spring, robins are a sure sign of the fact that warm weather has indeed returned.

 

image Bees – These busy little laborers re dormant during the winter. Because of this, the sighting of bees is another sure sign of Spring. They were also considered by the Ancient peoples to be messengers of the Gods and were sacred to many Spring and Sun Goddesses around the world.

 

image Honey – The color of the sun, this amber liquid is, of course, made through the laborious efforts of the honeybee. With their established role as messengers to the Gods, the honey they produced was considered ambrosia to the Gods.

 

image Faeries – Because of their ability to bring blessings to your gardens, protect your home, and look after your animals, it is beneficial to draw faeries to your life. Springtime is the quinessential season to begin drawing the fae again. You want to be sure to leave succulent libations or pretty little gifts for them. Some ideas for libations or gifts are… honey, fresh milk, bread, lilacs, primrose blossoms, cowslip, fresh berries, dandelion wine, honeysuckle, pussywillows, ale, or shiny coins.

 

image Equal-armed Crosses – These crossesrepresent the turning points of the year, the solstices and equinoxes and are often referred to as ‘Sun Wheels’. They come in many forms such as God’s eyes, Celtic crosses, Shamrocks, Brigid’s crosses, 4-leaved clovers, crossroads, etc.

The Wicca Book of Days for March 7 – Junonalia

The Wicca Book of Days for March 7

Junonalia

The Junonalia, a festival dedicated to Juno, was observed to Rome on this day in ancient times. Juno(whose Greek counterpart was Hera) was the wife of the chief god Jupiter(Zeus). She was the “First Lady” and “Queen of the Heaven” of the Roman pantheon and was regarded as the divine patron of married women and mothers. During the Junonalia, two images of the goddess carved from cypress wood were carried through the streets of Rome to the temple of Juno, where they were then left. The Junonalia had particular significance, for married women, but Juno Martialis (“Juno of March”) was also honored more generally on this day.

Fabulous Feathers

The peacock is the primary symbol of Juno, an association that is partly explained by the stately majesty of both, purify by peacock plumage’s similarity to the starry “vault” of the sky and partly due to a myth involving the hundred-eyed Argus

The Wicca Book of Days for February 23 – Blessing the Boundaries

The Wicca Book of Days for February 23

Blessing the Boundaries

February 23 was once dedicated to Terminus, the Roman Supreme God of boundary markers, and to the termini, the individual spirits that were associated with each boundary stone. During the Terminalia, as the festival that honored these deities was called, Terminus would be worshiped in Rome at the stone that embodied him in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, on the Capitoline Hill, and also at the sixth milestone of the Via Laurentia. The boundary stones that represented the lesser termini, in fields and elsewhere, were anointed with aromatic oil and garlanded with fragrant flowers, and animals were sacrificed to them.

 

Amazing Amethyst

The ancient Greeks – believed that February’s birthstone, amethyst, has the power to prevent intoxication, so if you are attending a function where it would be rude to refuse an alcoholic drink, but want to remain sober, wear a piece of amethyst jewelry. 

The Wicca Book of Days for February 22nd – Charity Begins At Home

The Wicca Book of Day for February 22

Charity Begins At Home

The festival called the Charistia, or Caristia (“Festival of the Dear One”), was celebrated on February 22 in ancient Rome, for once the dear departed had been propitiated during the Parentalia, it was then the turn of living relative. Also known as Cara Cognatio (the Latin for “Dear Kin”), this was the day on which rifts caused by family tiffs were patched up, and when blood ties were affirmed, usually by means of a convivial banquet. In addition, offerings of food were made to the lares familiars, the family or household’s guardian spirits, which were symbolized by sculpted images that were housed in a lararium, or shrine, within the home.

 

Kiss and Make up

Cherish your family relationships today, especially if a falling-out has left an angry atmosphere. If you are not yet ready to act as a peacemaker or to eat humble pie, invoke the aid of family friendly spirits and cast a spell starting your intentions to pour oil on troubled waters.

Deity of the Day for Feb. 14th – Venus

Venus

Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and military victory. She played a key role in many Roman religious festivals. From the third century BC, the increasing Hellenization of Roman upper classes identified her as the equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Roman mythology made her the divine mother of Aeneas, the Trojan ancestor of Rome’s founder, Romulus.

In myth, Venus-Aphrodite was born of sea-foam. Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and balance of life. Her male counterparts in the Roman pantheon, Vulcan and Mars, are active and fiery. Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposites of male and female in mutual affection. She is essentially assimilative and benign, and embraces several otherwise quite disparate functions, She can give military victory, sexual success, good fortune and prosperity. In one context, she is a goddess of prostitutes; in another, she turns the hearts of men and women from sexual vice to virtue.

The History of Valentine’s Day

The History of Valentine’s Day

The origins of Valentine’s Day trace back to the ancient Roman celebration of Lupercalia. Held on February 15, Lupercalia honored the gods Lupercus and Faunus, as well as the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

In addition to a bountiful feast, Lupercalia festivities are purported to have included the pairing of young women and men. Men would draw women’s names from a box, and each couple would be paired until next year’s celebration.

While this pairing of couples set the tone for today’s holiday, it wasn’t called “Valentine’s Day” until a priest named Valentine came along. Valentine, a romantic at heart, disobeyed Emperor Claudius II’s decree that soldiers remain bachelors. Claudius handed down this decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or engaged. Valentine defied the emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies. As a result of his defiance, Valentine was put to death on February 14.

After Valentine’s death, he was named a saint. As Christianity spread through Rome, the priests moved Lupercalia from February 15 to February 14 and renamed it St. Valentine’s Day to honor Saint Valentine.

What’s Cupid Got to Do with It?

According to Roman mythology, Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Cupid was known to cause people to fall in love by shooting them with his magical arrows. But Cupid didn’t just cause others to fall in love – he himself fell deeply in love.

As legend has it, Cupid fell in love with a mortal maiden named Psyche. Cupid married Psyche, but Venus, jealous of Psyche’s beauty, forbade her daughter-in-law to look at Cupid. Psyche, of course, couldn’t resist temptation and sneaked a peek at her handsome husband. As punishment, Venus demanded that she perform three hard tasks, the last of which caused Psyche’s death.

Cupid brought Psyche back to life and the gods, moved by their love, granted Pysche immortality. Cupid thus represents the heart and Psyche the (struggles of the) human soul.

Fun Facts

  • Approximately 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year. Half of those are sent through Care2 (OK, maybe not HALF… or even half of half… but we are growing fast!)
  • In order of popularity, Valentine’s Day cards are given to: teachers, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts, Koko the gorilla.
  • The expression “wearing your heart on your sleeve” comes from a Valentine’s Day party tradition. Young women would write their names on slips of paper to be drawn by young men. A man would then wear a woman’s name on his sleeve to claim her as his valentine.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

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