Valentines Day – 14th February, 2023 – Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14, and we are ready to shower our significant others with love and tokens of our affection.
Unlike National Boyfriend Day, this day isn’t just for the boyfriends — anyone and everyone can be shown some love today. This day of love is celebrated in so many ways, it is always exciting to see what new traditions are included or created year after year. Whether it is elaborate engagements, intimate dinners for two, spending time with family, or the most recent variation ‘Galentine’s Day’. Check out the amazing 50 Date ideas for this romantic occasion. It is a holiday we all can enjoy!
The History of Valentines Day from Find Me A Gift
The original festival which is thought to have started it all is the heathen Roman festival called Lupercalia, celebrated in the middle of February at the beginning of springtime. Seasons were slightly different back in the day. Lupercalia was dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
The festival began with a gathering at a sacred cave where it was believed Romulus and Remus were cared for as infants by a she-wolf or lupa. The Roman priests, who were members of a sacred order called Luperci, would sacrifice a goat and a dog. The goat was sacrificed to prosper fertility whilst the dog’s sacrifice signified purification. The goat’s hide would be cut into strips and dipped into the blood, then slapped across Roman women and crop fields with the hope it would grant fertility during the coming year. Throughout the years, as the festival grew and changed, another notable aspect of Lupercalia was the pairing of men and women. All Roman women would place their names in a large urn. Then, the city’s bachelors would pick a name at random. The two would be paired together for an entire year during which the man would care for and protect the woman. The matches often ended in marriages.
It is said that Pope Gelasius I forbid the heathen festival at the end of the 5th century and replaced it with what we now know as Valentine’s Day due to their many similarities, primarily having men and women paired off together. It was not until much later, however, that the day became associated with love.
Source: National Day, Find Me A Gift
