Valentine's a Boon for Indian Rose Growers AFP Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Deepening Your Relationship with Chocolate The Wall Street Journal Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Kids Made My Valentine's Day in Iraq Christian Science Monitor Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The Sweet Smell of...Nothing The New York Times Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The details of the $6 million Lufthansa Heist are now well know. But do you know where they went to dinner?
 by YvonneEloise |
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 by J. Peterman |
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 by DreadPirateRoberts |
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February 14, 2008
Got plans yet for Feb. 15? If not, and if you're a fit young man, we strongly urge you to consider stripping naked and running through the streets smacking comely maidens with small whips. Just for old times' sake.
You'll be reliving one of the highlights of Lupercalia, the Roman festival widely regarded as one of the precursors to our present Valentine's Day hooplah. Happened on Feb. 15, and it was purely focused on producing babies, none of this romantic flapdoodle.
The whole thing apparently was a big "thank you" to the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome. Priests of the Luperci College would start the celebration with a few animal sacrifices and presentation of a few Vestal Virgins. Then...well. Let Plutarch tell it:
‘At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery and the barren to pregnancy.'
The goatskin thongs were considered instruments of purification, empowered to rid stricken women of bad luck, curses and infertility. Februa is Latin for purification, hence the name of the month.
And how did playful flogging and naked frolic turn into poster-sized greeting cards and a retail explosion of pink and red the minute the after-Christmas sales are over?
Well, even after Rome had largely converted to Christianity in the late 4th century, the people still expected some kind of fertility celebration in February. As with other such situations, the Church's answer was to tone down the pagan celebration, make it a tribute to a saint, and declare it all good.
St. Valentine turned out to be a fine choice because there were several of them, all martyrs during the nasty reign of Claudius. And nobody knew anything about their lives, so there was nothing to get in the way of having St. Valentine represent whatever the people wished.
Which means there's nothing to prevent a modern-day libertine/cheapskate from "discovering" that dear old Valentinus actually preferred the old ways when it came to welcoming the reproductive miracle of spring. Now grab that goatskin and get to work!
Share the Eye:
Lupercalia MMVIII Lupercalia Edmonton Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The History of Valentine's Day History.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Email Carries Love and Viruses for Valentine's Day InformationWeek Take a look at an interesting article we found.
still thinking about today...
How Do You Celebrate Valentine's Day?
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TO THE STREETS!!!