Valentine\u2019s Day:\u00a0 A day of gentle sighs, pink ribbons, red roses\u2014or a pagan festival rich with drunken revelry and young men and women being matched up by lottery\u2014at last for the duration of the festival?<\/p>\n
The ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia was celebrated every year on February 15th<\/sup>.\u00a0 It was a festival of fertility in which young men sacrificed animals, then ran naked around the streets hitting people with strips of animal hide.\u00a0 If you were struck, it was supposed to increase your fertility.\u00a0 There were much drinking and feasting involved.<\/p>\n Pope Gelasius, around 486 AD, changed the pagan festival to a festival in honor of Saint Valentine\u2014even though there is only sketchy evidence that St. Valentine even existed.\u00a0 He was supposedly a priest who, when Emperor Clausius II forbade young soldiers to marry, continued to secretly marriage ceremonies.\u00a0 When he was found out, he was sentenced to be executed.\u00a0 Legend says that before he died, Valentine had fallen in love with the jail-keepers daughter and penned a love letter, it \u201cFrom your Valentine.\u201d\u00a0 He was supposedly executed on February 14th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Now for a few interesting tidbits about Valentine\u2019s Day:<\/p>\n Around 9 million people will buy Valentine\u2019s Day gifts for their pets.\u00a0 I don\u2019t buy Valentine\u2019s for mine.\u00a0 And, no, I don\u2019t know how that new jar of catnip and package of cat toys got there\u2026.<\/p>\n In Medieval times, it was common for young men and women to draw names from a bowl to see who would be their prospective Valentine.\u00a0 They would pin this name to their sleeve for a week.\u00a0 This is where the expression \u201cwearing your heart on your sleeve\u201d came from.<\/p>\n