(Food-Beverage-News.Com, February 12, 2015 ) Sydney, NSW -- There's hardly a person in the western world who is not aware of Valentine's Day coming up on the 14th of this month. Whether they celebrate it, or not, it's hard to ignore the romantic outpourings between doe-eyed lovers on this special day.
Cards are exchanged, gifts given, flowers sent, and many a romantic meal is eaten over candlelight in restaurants and homes across countries and continents around the world.
Although the day is associated in modern times with romance and love, its origin comes from many centuries ago and from murky beginnings shrouded in mystery. It's not known exactly how February 14 came to be Valentine's Day, or exactly who it is named for as there are myths and legends muddled up with bloody deaths, roman emperors, and the Catholic Church "cleansing" a pagan festival.
While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of the execution of the roman priest named Valentine around A.D270, others say the date was chosen by the Christian Church to "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia.
Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. Priests would gather at a sacred cave to sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The hide of the goat would be cut into strips, dipped into the sacrificial blood and then taken to the streets where the drunk and naked priests would slap the young women of the town with the hide leaving them with bloodied marks. Far from being afraid of this, the women would line up and welcome the ritual as it was believed this would make them fertile in the coming year.
According to legend, this bloody fete included a matchmaking lottery where young men drew the names of women from a jar and the couple would then be, err, coupled up for the duration of the festival, or more permanently if they felt the match was good. Think of the more modern party game of keys in a bowl and you'll get the idea, minus the blood splatters!
Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed at the end of the 5th century when Pope Gellassius deemed it un-Christian. The church "cleansed" the date by moving it back a day and declared February 14 to be St Valentine's Day. During the Middle Ages this date was believed to be the beginning of birds' mating season in France and England, but it wasn't until much later, around the 14th century that the day became associated with romantic love.
So, while a few may flirt with the idea of having a more "traditional" Valentine's Day by stripping naked and flaying loved ones with a bloodied goat's hide, perhaps a little caution should be exercised. The romantic color of red is inextricably linked to the day: red hearts, red roses, red foil wrapped chocolates, and red wine.
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