“Valentine’s Day is just a commercial holiday invented by the candy companies.” Wrong! Well, sort of right, but let’s look at context…
Latin nerd here! Lupercalia was a Roman fertility festival celebrated by Pagans until the 5th Century, when the Pope redefined the festival for St. Valentine. The word Lupercalia comes from the Roman origin story of a lupus (wolf), who’s teets babies Romulus and Remus suckled from. The babies grew strong and built a city (Rome) where they were cared for by the wolf. The colors of Lupercalia were red and white. Red due to blood being tied to the concept of fertility (think of blood flow and what it causes :wink wink:) and white due to its ties to prosperity (mother’s milk). As for how this holiday was celebrated, I’ll let you do the digging on that one.
Do you remember earlier in February, we talked about Cailleach being overwritten by Groundhog’s Day? We’re seeing a consistent pattern of erasure here. This historical erasure didn’t just happen to Pagans.
Why does this matter? As we speak, our current history is being banned and overwritten daily. Take a quick moment to google the most recent list of banned books from schools in your area. How many times have you learned something and thought, “why wasn’t I taught that in school?”
How can you help? Make sure you vote and don’t be afraid to discuss local politics, to ensure that all voices are protected. We need our history to be accurately represented, a true reflection of us all. Accountability is important, we learn so much about how to do better from history, so let’s protect it!
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