THE VALENTINE DAY SCAM

  When I was a little girl, one question always boggled my mind whenever Valentine’s Day approached; ‘Who is this Valentine?’ I never got the answer until I went to a missionary school for my higher education and ran into a gorgeous book titled ‘The book of Saints’ in our Vice Principal’s office. I felt like a fat kid in a candy shop. My little mind and fingers scoured the pages and found him. (I searched for my patron saint first though. Lots of St. Frances) There’s more than a Saint Valentine. The church doesn’t really have much info on them but they all died (martyred) on February 14.

  There were three of them; One was a missionary in Africa, the second a bishop in now, Terni, Italy and the last a priest in Rome.  The second and the third are
suspected to be the same person. They all died in the third century, between the years 269-280. No one’s sure the exact year. Well, the Valentine referred to as the Saint Valentine in modern day Feb 14 is St. Valentine of Rome, the priest.

  During the time of Emperor Claudius II (Claudius Gothicus), Claudius had decreed that young men should stop getting married because he’d noticed that men who had no family had nothing to lose and made better soldiers in war, Valentine defied his orders. He was busy marrying couples in love. Once married, they couldn’t join the army. Claudius ordered his arrest when it was discovered and he was brought before a council. Well, he was let go and he and the emperor became friends of sorts. Valentine tried converting Claudius to Christianity, Claudius enraged by his guts ordered he be arrested and executed. Well, in that period he restored the sight of a member of the council (the prison head) and converted the girl’s household of over forty persons to Christianity. Anyways, in the end he was stoned, beheaded and all that to death for his belief. Before his execution he’d written a letter to the formerly blind girl asking her to be strong in her faith as a Christian and other things, he signed the letter with ‘From your Valentine.’

  As I decided to know more I discovered the following in time;

  In the middle ages in France and England, they celebrated mid February as a day of love because birds mate that period. So, some people believe that’s the history behind Valentine’s Day. 

  Well, before my article becomes longer than I know it will be, ever wondered the history behind the month February?

February is taken from the Latin word’ Februa’ it means to ‘to purify’.

  In ancient Rome’s calendar, February was the last month of the year. A lot of purification was done in that month to cleanse and prepare them for the New Year in March.

 There was a popular and decadent ritual that happens, Ok rituals more like. It always took place February 13-15. It was called the feast of Lupercalia. It was in honor of the god Faunus also called Lupercus. He was the god of lust and fertility that had the upper torso of a man but with horns and the lower body of a goat.  Ok, he was also the god of husbandry, protector of crops and a mighty hunter of wolves and co. He protected Rome from wolves.  The main feast of Lupercalia happens on the 15^th of February. 

On that day, the Luperci, an order of the priests of Lupercus or Faunus, kill goats and a dog. The goat is fertility and the dog is for purity, am I mixing it up? Anyways, the animals are slaughtered, then two members of the Luperci (the luperci were always young men of noble birth, remember Shakespeare’s Caesar and Mark Anthony?) they use a knife and apply the blood of the slain animals on their forehead and wool dipped in milk is used to wipe it off and then they laugh. Every member of the Luperci eats the meat and drinks a whole lot then the goats are skinned, strands are taken off their skins to form tongs called ‘Februa or Februum’. The Luperci wear the skin of the goat then go into town with the Februa dipped in blood and lash gently any woman they see on the way. Most women come out and wait for them because they believe being lashed with the februa brings fertility even for the barren and safe birth for all, purify the women.

  The Lupercalia I read was celebrated this way to mark how Lupercus protected the herdsman and their flock from wolves and also how he used a Lupu (she-wolf) to feed Romulus and Remus, the two founders of Rome.

  The 14^th day in February was the feast day of the goddess Juno Februtis (Februata). Juno’s Februata was one of the aspects of the goddess Juno who is the goddess of love, fertility, women etc. (ermm, some say it’s after the Lupercalia, others after the Lupercalia on the 15^th. Majority say it’s the 14^th.)On her feast day, willing single women write their names in billets (pieces of paper) and put them in a box or basket and a form of lottery takes place. Then, young single man put their hands one after the other and pick a billet, the lady whose names is on the billet will be their sex partner for the feast and most times their sex partner for the new year (one year).

These ancient traditions existed way before the saint Valentines, before Julius Caesar etc.

  When Emperor Constantine of Rome embraced Christianity, the pagan rituals and traditions never stopped.

  The Catholic Church, the forbearer of Christianity at the time sought to put an end to the pagan ritual day of fornication. Pope Gelasius ordered that the names of the young girls be replaced with the names of catholic Saints and both young men and women were to pick a billet. Any saint you pick, you celebrate and try to emulate for one year. It worked for a while. St Francis de Sales suggested and then the search for a befitting patron of love begun and was found in Saint Valentine.

  Pope Gelasius declared in 494 AD (some say 496) that February 14 be celebrated as Valentine’s Day. And the 15^th was declared the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary (the date has changed now save the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches.)

  Roman men, who wanted to use that day to seek the affections of women, wrote handwritten messages of love and admiration and included St. Valentine’s name. Others say they wrote the names of the women they loved and wore it on their sleeves.

  I read a theory somewhere that Nimrod, the son of Cush in the Bible (read Genesis 10) who was a mighty hunter especially of wolves and a mighty one who hunted with bow and arrow who was the founder and first lord of Babel and originator of the Babylonian Mystery religion copied by Egyptians, Lycaeans, Greeks, Romans, etc   is under different names and titles; Baal, Pan, Faunus, Lupercus, Saturn, Osiris, Cupid.

  Yes, Cupid. Cupid uses bow and arrow Cupid is like Esu the Yoruba god, he has a cruel and a happy personality, double personality. He struck arrows in mischief at unsuspecting men and women not because he wanted them to fall in love but because he wanted to cause chaos as he watched them go crazy with passion as he laughed.  Most of the gods of these different cultures were supposedly modeled after Nimrod.

  Valentine’s Day of today is no different from the days of Lupercalia. It is filled with fornication and a new one, greed. An industry worth billions of dollars dedicated to sex and fornication painted under true love.

  Christianity had tried to end it but sadly only ten percent of the world’s population if you ask me thinks Valentine’s Day has anything to do with Christianity. It’s been dedicated to the form of love called Eros. The greed involved from the companies selling to the people expecting big gifts and judging love by it is monstrous. Let’s not talk about the rate of sex; rape, fornication, loss of virginity etc on that day.

   This Christian feast has failed just like Christmas and Easter that were used to cover up pagan feast days but sadly didn’t succeed in today’s world and you have to keep reminding people the reason for the season. It’s another pagan feast day like Halloween that’s kind of still as it is and people celebrate it.  

Well, these are my thoughts.

Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

P.S: Please don't copy Frances Okeke's hours of research without asking. Thanks and God bless!

Thanks for reading my thoughts. What are yours?