Valentine’s Day
Regardless of race and religion, almost every couple in the world celebrates
Valentine’s Day.
In fact, it is considered the 2nd widely celebrated event after the Christmas
or Yuletide Season.
Only a few people know that Valentine’s Day is originally a Catholic celebration.
But there are even fewer individuals who know its earlier pagan roots.
As innocent and harmless as St. Valentine’s Day may appear,
its traditions and customs originate from 2 of the most sexually perverted
pagan festivals of ancient history:
Lupercalia and the feast day of Juno Februata.
Celebrated on February 13th-15th, Lupercalia (the festival of sexual license)
was held by the ancient Romans in honor of Lupercus,
god of fertility and husbandry, protector of herds and crops,
and a mighty hunter- especially of wolves.
The Romans believed that Lupercus would protect Rome from roving bands
of wolves, which devoured livestock and people.
Valentine’s Day originated as an ancient Roman pagan holiday that required animal
sacrifices and year-long blind dates.
As mentioned, the Romans celebrated Lupercalia to honor the hunter god Lupercus.
To the Greeks, from whom the Romans had copied most of their mythology,
Lupercus was known as Pan, the god of light.
Baal & Nimrod
The Phoenicians worshipped the same deity as Baal, the sun god.
Baal was one of many names or titles for Nimrod, a mighty hunter,
especially of wolves.
He was also the founder and first lord of Babel.
Genesis 10:8-12
8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said,
“Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh,
in the land of Shinar.
11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
Pan, Lupercus, Saturn & Osiris
Defying God, Nimrod was the originator of the Babylonian Mystery Religion,
whose mythologies have been copied by the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans
and a multitude of other ancient peoples.
Under different names or titles- Pan, Lupercus, Saturn, Osiris- Nimrod is the strong
man and hunter-warrior god of the ancients.
Assisted by Vestal Virgins, the Luperci (male priests) conducted purification rites by
sacrificing goats and a dog in the Lupercal cave on Palatine Hill, where the Romans
believed the twins Romulus and Remus had been sheltered and nursed by a she-wolf
before they eventually founded Rome.
Februa, Februarius, February & Juno Februata
Clothed in loincloths made from sacrificed goats and smeared in their blood,
the Luperci would run about Rome, striking women with februa,
thongs made from skins of the sacrificed goats.
The Luperci believed that the floggings purified women and guaranteed their
fertility and ease of childbirth.
February derives from the Roman month Februarius, which was named after
the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual
Februa held on February 15 (full moon) in the old lunar Roman calendar.
To the Romans, February was also sacred to Juno Februata, the goddess of febris
(fever) of love, and of women and marriage.
On February 14, billets (small pieces of paper, each of which had the name of a
teen-aged girl written on it) were put into a container.
Teen-aged boys would then choose one billet at random.
The boy and the girl whose name was drawn would become a couple,
joining in erotic games at feasts and parties celebrated throughout Rome.
After the festival, they would remain sexual partners for the rest of the year.
This custom was observed in the Roman Empire for centuries.
Whitewashing Perversion
After Constantine had made the Roman Catholic Church’s brand of Christianity
(I would rather say: Churchianity) the official religion of the Roman Empire (AD 325),
still some church leaders wanted to do away with the pagan festivals of the people.
Lupercalia was high on their list, but the Roman citizens thought otherwise.
During the 3rd and 4th century, the new Roman Catholic religion Christianity
started to grow.
Much of the Pagan cultures and traditions were also assimilated and reinvented
to fit the Catholic tradition and to attract early pagans to become in the new religion
and a part of Roman Catholic Christians.
Pope Gelasius as a launder man
In AD 494, Pope Gelasius renamed the festival of Juno Februata as
the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
The date of its observance was later changed from February 14 to February 2,
then changed back to the 14.
It is also known as Candlemas, the Presentation of the Lord, the Purification of
the Blessed Virgin and the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
Pope Gelasius also declared February 14 as the feast of Saint Valentine,
the patron of lovers.
The Roman Catholic Church Christianized Lupercalia even further
It was not until AD 496 that the Catholic Church at Rome was able to do anything
about Lupercalia.
Powerless to get rid of it, Pope Gelasius instead changed it from February 15 to
the 14th and called it St. Valentine’s Day.
It was named after one of that Roman Catholic Church’s saints, who in AD 270,
was executed by the emperor for his beliefs.
The Roman Catholic Church whitewashed Lupercalia even further.
Instead of putting the names of girls into a box, the names of saints were drawn by
both boys and girls.
It was then each person’s duty to emulate the life of the saint whose name he or she
had drawn.
This was Rome’s vain attempt to whitewash a pagan observance by Christianizing it,
which God has not given man the power or authority to do.
Shakespeare In Love
As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter; Shakespeare romanticized it
in his works, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe.
Handmade paper cards became popular and fashionable keepsakes
(tokens-du-jour) in the Middle Ages.
Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World; America.
The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century.
And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City/ USA, began mass producing valentines.
February has not been the same since;
today the holiday is nearly as big business as Christmas.
Leviticus 23/ Feasts of the Lord:
-
The Sabbath
-
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
-
The Feast of Firstfruits
-
The Feast of Weeks
-
The Feast of Trumpets
-
The Day of Atonement
-
The Feast of Tabernacles
Link to –> Biblical Feasts
Mark 1:14-15
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying,
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Link to –> Gospel in the Bible
Link to –> Water Baptism
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Be strongly blessed in Yeshua`s/ Jesus` name !!!!
