Valentine's Day: an Overview of It's Pagan Roots

Many would shoot back questioning look and surprised text replies when I say I don't celebrate Valentine's day. When in fact this time of year millions of people express romantic desire for each other by exchanging gifts, flowers, box of chocolates, sending sweet messages for each other in observance of Valentines Day. Young kids and teens would even send cards to their crushes. Retailers and stock sales would be covered with stockpiles in shapes of hearts, cupids and anything that symbolize romance in the month of February.

But what is my basis on not joining with the trends. How did this celebration originated? Valentine's Day obtained it's name from a Catholic saint, but the roots of the day, pre-date Christianity, is the customs celebration into the Old Roman empire Lupercalia. This is celebrated in honor of the Pastoral god, Lupercus or the "Hunter of Wolves" and basically was Nimrod, an evil tyrant who held contempt against God. They have been practicing it in a way that young men would dress in animal skins and would run from a cave waving strips of goats skins and that any woman that would be struck by these skins were guaranteed fertility. It was also in this tradition that names of young women were placed in a box and drawn out by men as chance directed. They began the idea of "going steady". Hence, practice of fornication was encouraged. Now during the spread of Christianity on the Roman empire it was common for pagan-converts to retain their pagan celebration as they would not hear of it when it was called to be abolished. I could never find a verse in the Bible where this celebration is mentioned relating to the positive display of the economy of God even in the New Testament times. From that time on, the mingling of paganism in Christianity became inseparable and Lupercalia evolved into the observance of Valentines Day. That celebration increasingly became so popular that today it is one of the topmost money-making days for candy makers, florists and gift-shops, restaurants, motels, hotels and even the bars and other dating places.

So what harm can there be if I celebrate Valentine's Day? So what if it has idolatrous pagan roots? But let us be refreshed with what kind of God we have. Remember, our Lord is a jealous God. He has warned us not to mix idolatrous pagan practices with worshiping the True God. The New testament tied up paganism practices mixed with Christianity to worshiping demons. This is a parity of the true faith and honor to the Living God. The practice was not made originally to give honor to love and respect , but it was absorbed because it was a practice that pagan converts used to have.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating love, as God is love Himself and Love is the manifestation of God as life. But love should be lived out and celebrated day by day and not because of a day that rooted from Lupercus, Nimrod, or the Hunter of the Wolves.

However, we have different views in life. I am not saying that you are wrong with what you do if you have a clear heart.. But it would also be best to know the real origin of the days we celebrate if we are to go back to the heart of true Christianity. I didn't write this to judge your practices cause you have the freedom of your own, I wrote this to voice the truth that I hold dear.