Hello Everyone,
And so I wanted to take the time to explain why I like some don't celebrate Valentine's Day. I spend a lot of my time researching and making changes in my life. and along the way i like to put out interesting things that I find. and here we are Valentine's Day.... let me just start by saying I don't see why people would love you more or give you gifts on just this certain day. when in reality you should love that person 365 days a year 24/7. and you should be spending time and going out and doing things... not just on this so-called "Special holiday" I don't know maybe I see things a little differently ,,,,,,,,, like Love. among other things.
And so when was the first recorded Valentine's Day?.. as you all know I like to take things all the way back to ancient Egyptian times... why? well because I believe that the Egyptians had it somewhat right and that's why they wrote a lot of it on stone. "In my opinion" lol
And so, when did Valentine's Day first start?
The history of Valentine's Day is complex and has changed over time. The holiday that we know as Valentine's Day today has its roots in the Roman Empire. The origins of Valentine's Day can be traced back to ancient Rome and a pagan festival called Lupercalia
Lupercalia:
A pagan festival: Celebrated in mid-February, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.
Thier Rituals:
The festival involved some rather unusual rituals, including animal sacrifices, running through the streets with goat skin strips, and matchmaking through a lottery system. Young men would draw the names of women from an urn, and they would be paired up for the duration of the festival, or sometimes longer.
And so what happened? how did Lupercalia become Valentine's Day? Well if you know anything about History then you know back in ancient times in Rome they were making changes and one of those changes was the spreading of a cult. and is one of the biggest cults known today. As Christianity
Way back in ancient times. Christianity became significantly more prominent in the Roman Empire around the early 4th century, Specifically with the "Edict Of Milan" in 313AD. Which legalized Christianity and further solidified with Emperor Theodosius i declaring it the Offical State Religion in 380 AD
Let's talk a minute about this "Edict of Milan" mind you in "313AD
This Edict, This dree issued by Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity Within the Roman Empire making a major turning point in this acceptance. And so now not to get off subject but I want to state the obvious first... Let's look at Constitine .. Because he has a lot to do with how the back of your bible got tacked onto the ending of a Jewish tradition. ) " Tanakh"
.The Jewish Writings are called the "Tanakh" which is an acronym for the three sections of the Jewish writings.
"T" Torah, the First Five Books of the Tanakh, which are considered the "Teachings" of Moses.
"N" Nevi'im. The books of the Prophets.
"KH" Ketuvim, The writings which include wisdom literature and the Psalms.
the Tanakh is also known as the Jewish bible. now like I was saying if you know anything about the true history then you know about this time as Christianity spread across the land forcing many to believe.. or yes die.... in 325 AD at the council of Niciea in Constantinople Emperor Constantine Had his foot soldiers go aout and scavage the lands to bring back mythologies from all around to make into one religion, That religion being "Christianity"..
And so as we take a look back we can see how Lupercalia got replaced with Valentine's Day.
As Christianization spread there were several Saints named Valentine, and were associated with February 14th The most popular legend tells of a priest who was martyred for secretly marrying soldiers against the Emperor's Orders.
And so see the timing of this just fell into perfect planning the date of Lupercalia was moved to February 14th coinciding with St. Valentine's Day this made it easier to blend in traditions.
While Lupercalia had elements of pairing and fertility the romantic love aspect wasn't its primary focus. over time the association with St. Valentine and his romantic legends helped shift the emphasis toward love and affection.
And so see in essence Valentine's Day evolved from a mix of pagan fertility rituals, Christian martyr stories, and medieval romantic ideals. It's a fascinating example of how cultural traditions can change and adapt over time.
This is why i don't celebrate this day or many of the other holidays.. i would rather celebrate days set aside for the changing of the seasons, for the beginning of harvest, and such like that. you know the days of old. give my energy back to the earth and the universe... not to man or their made-up holidays.
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