Friday, January 16, 2009

Valentines Day and it's Pagan Origins



For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year.
Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who, in AD 270had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius.

Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.
During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.
Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

The first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.

Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.

I hope you enjoyed that small history lesson on Valentines Day.
There wil be a short quiz later...:)
I wish you all a Valentine's Day filled with love and romance.
Don't forget to stop by Magickal Enchantments for all your magickal love and romance needs for this Valentines Day.
Brightest Blessings,
The Celtic Witch
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Here are some of the enchanting wares you will find for purchase at Magickal Enchantments to make this Valentines Day one to remember. If you are searching for a new love or trying to romance your present lover Magickal Enchantments has your needs taken care of.

Love and Romance Spell Candle

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Love and Romance Handblown Glass Herbal Witchball

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Queen Maeve's Delight Sensual Oil

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True Dragons Blood Oil

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Dragons Blood is an empowering oil that has been used in spellwork for many years.
As well as empowering your spellwork, wear it daily for personal empowerment.
My Dragons Blood is made from true Dragons Blood Resin. Do not be fooled by synthetic variations of this oil.
This recipe has been handed down to me from a fellow practitioner of the craft. This recipe has been kept in her family for many years and I am thankful to her for sharing it with me.
Bottles and charms may vary upon availability.


Use for love, protection, exorcism, sexual potency, courage, Magical Power, Energy, Strength, Purification, Changes, Determination, Cleansing.
A drop of Dragon's blood added to other incenses increases their potency and power.

You will find many more items for Valentines Day at Magickal Enchantments!
Please go to: www.TheCelticWitch.com

6 comments:

Sarah Sullivan said...

Wonderful information!! Thank you!!Beautiful pics too!!

Curious Curandera said...

Neat Blog!

Ava said...

This was such a cool blog post. I have been doing some research on Valentines day, in hopes of finding some inspiration for designs. Blessings to you.

SHI said...

I love the history behind the holiday! Thank you so much for sharing it :)

P.S. I love your Etsy shop and had to heart you for future purchases!

Hibiscus Moon said...

What an informative post. Thank you so much fro the lesson. I didn't know most of it. Your products are gorgeous.

Princess61470 said...

I wish I had seen this earlier! I am so behind on my reading. We were talking and arguing about the roots of Valentine's Day and here it was the whole time! Great, great blog, I loved it!!