Yesterday, writing about Ash Wednesday, I failed to wish readers of the blog “Happy Ides of February!” I forget some of the ancient Roman holidays when I write my blog. I’ve never been much of an observer of Roman traditions or holidays. So you’ll forgive me. At least I do know that the Ides of February land on the 13th instead of the 15th as in other months. Ides indicates the middle and February is the month with the fewest days and therefore has its Ides early. It is possible that the ancient festival of Lupercalia predates Roman times. The holiday Lasted from February 13 – 15 and was observed by sacrificing goats and dogs and feasting. It really isn’t my style to sacrifice goats or dogs. I prefer dogs as companions, and my only experience with goats is as a very casual observer of the goats of others.

If you go back farther in history, Februa was observed as a ritual of spring cleaning. The month February got its name from the festival. (No there was no Emperor Caesar Februarius.) At any rate there have been festivals at this time of the year for a long time. I mention Lupercalia because it is possible that the modern recognition of Valentine’s Day may have roots in the ancient observance. It is likely that early Christian leaders weren’t too enamored with sacrifices to the Vestal Virgins, men running around in goatskins striking women who want to conceive, and a general party in honor of Lupa, the she-wolf who suckled the infant orphans, Romulus and Remus, who went on to found the city of Rome. Romany mythology is often confusing and I’m not sure how worship of Lepercus, the god of shepherds, got caught up with honoring a wolf or sacrificing dogs. At any rate, I can imagine that early Christina leaders might be interested in focusing attention away from the pagan holiday.

I’m not meaning to draw question to the stories of St. Valentine. I learned them as well. The tradition is that under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rom was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor was having trouble getting soldiers to go on all of those campaigns. Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because they had gotten attached to wives and families. So Claudius banned all engagements and marriages in Rome. Valentine, saint that he was to become, ignored the ban and continued to perform marriages. This did not endear him to Claudius, who ordered him to be beaten to death with clubs and have his head cut off. The sentence is said to have been carried out on February 14, in 270.

To make the matter even more romantic, the story is also told that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his jailer prior to his execution and his last action, on the day of his death, was to write her a note that he signed, “Love, from your Valentine.” Thus started the tradition observed to this day.

Or maybe it didn’t happen quite that way. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “At leas three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies under the date of 14 February.” One was the priest in Rome, a second a bishop of Interamna (now Terni, Italy) and the third St. Valentine was a martyr in the Roman province of Africa.

Whether or not there was conscious effort by church officials to supplant the ancient pagan festivals of the middle of February, over time the holiday evolved into the modern day of celebrating love. For centuries it was a day of exchanging love messages, poems and simple gifts such as flowers. In the scheme of marketing holidays, it is the big event after Christmas. Our grocery store has had an aisle filled with pink heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and teddy bears and other gifts for more than a month. Like many other things we do in our contemporary society, we may be getting a bit carried away with our celebrations. We do tend to overdo things. It is, however, good business for local chocolatiers and flower shops.

I read a news story about Russian Lesya Toumaniantz who let her tattoo artist boyfriend tattoo his name on her face in gothic script within 24 hours of meeting him for the first time. The couple met online, got together face to face for the first time sometime in January, started planning their marriage and she got the tattoo. According to her Facebook page, she wants “100%” of the body covered in tattoo☺”

Hmm. I don’t think I’m going to get or give any tattoos for Valentine’s Day this year.

I’m also thinking about avoiding sports stadiums where they have a “Kiss Cam.” The basic idea is that the camera pans the audience looking for a couple. Then the image of the couple is projected over large jumbotrons in the stadium and the couple is supposed to kiss each other before the crowd. Romantic? It doesn’t seem so to me. I prefer my expressions of love to be more private. I have no problem with others knowing that I love my wife, but I’d prefer not to have some camera operator in a booth in a stadium dictate when I should exchange a kiss with her. What is more, I can’t imagine that it is entertaining to watch others caught by the kiss cam. What if they happened to be sitting next to each other but weren’t in love? Do they still have to kiss? No thanks. I think I won’t be looking for such an experience.

I wish I were a poet. A love poem might be just the right thing to recognize this holiday. But I haven’t found the right words. So I’ll quote a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke instead:

How shall I hold my soul
to not intrude upon yours? How shall I
lift it beyond you to other things?
I would gladly lodge it
with lost objects in the dark,
in some far still place
that does not tremble when you tremble.

But all that touches us, you and me,
plays us together, like the bow of a violin
that from two strings draws forth one voice.
On what instrument are we strung?
What musician is playing us?
Oh sweet song.

May you recognize love in this day and all of the days of your life. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Copyright © 2013 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.