Where does Valentine’s Day originate from and should we celebrate such a day?
Let’s start with the month of February. This months name comes from an ancient Roman festival of purification called Februa. It is said that the Roman god Faunus was an oracular god (aka practiced divination)
We read in:
Deuteronomy 18:10-14
(10) There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
(11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
(12) For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
(13) Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
(14) For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Faunus was said to have horns, a tail and legs and feet of a goat…this is the ancient Roman equivalent to Greek god Pan…same description, purpose, practices just a different name.
The people of the fauns are similar to Greek satyrs. February 13th was the festival Februa in celebration to Fauna, also known as the god of agriculture. Likewise, on February 15th, Lupercalia became another pagan festival to celebrate Romulus, believed to be founder of Rome and a direct descendent of Faunus. Romulus had a twin brother, Remus, who he had decapitated…and it is said that Romulus and Remus were raise up by a she-wolf named Lupa.
FAUNUS/PAN
Some customs of those pagan festivities included priests of Luperci taking what they called Februa’s (where we get February) these were strips of goat hides newly sacrificed and then soaked in a sacrificed dogs blood. They would then go around the towns and whip the women/children in order to “make them fertile, or more fertile”. Again, we see a pagan tradition of men seeped in ritualistic sacrifice and for the customs tied to fertility!
Lupercalia and Faunus were both celebrated by pagan Rome as fertility, ritual sacrifice and sex festivals. The Lupercali priests would go to the tomb of Romulus to perform their sacrifices…the goat for sacrifice and the dog for purity.
LUPA-SHE-WOLF NURSING ROMULUS AND REMUS FOUNDERS OF ANCIENT ROME
Sending a “valentine?”
The idea of sending a valentine or “be my valentine” came from a lottery they were said to hold each year during the Lupercalia festivities. The young women would place their names in an urn
and then eligible men would choose a name out of the urn and they would be partnered together for a year. Even though the actual greeting cards and such didn’t come until 1400 and then much later for mass production, the origins of choosing a valentine goes back once again to ancient Rome and pagan customs.
Jeremiah 10:3
(3) For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
We’re told customs of the people ARE VAIN!!! We are not to engage in these ritual pagan ceremonies on any level. And anyone who does is committing an abomination unto the Lord. The world has been told, by the Roman Catholics, that February 14th is a day to honour/remember their saints Valentine (though finding documentation to validate these men as Valentine is just about impossible to find other than taking the Roman Catholics word for it.).
They say there were 3 saints of God (all who were decapitated in prison for professing their faith we are told, and one of them supposed fell in love with a jailers daughter and sent her love letters in which he signed them “your valentine” as it was his last name.) And so, at the end of the 5th century, Lupercalia was finally outlawed but in it’s stead, Pope Gelasius officially declared February 14th Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t until much later that this date became s pseudonym for “love” as we know it today. In England and France, it was believed that February was the beginning of bird mating season, adding to the love and romance notion. After the 1400’s written valentines began to appear, mostly stemming from the Victorian Era with elaborate written cards. In the 1700’s, Valentine’s Day began to be popular and then in the 1900’s, printed cards started to take off as a tradition of men worldwide.
Let’s talk about cupid….
Everyone has seen the portrayal of cupid…the cute little chubby cheeked cherub who is usually naked, carrying a bow and arrows around….how did this become an icon of Valentine’s Day? Who IS cupid, really? Cupid is said to have been the love child of Mercury and Venus….and like above with the Roman god Faunus to the Greek god Pan…here we have another similarity in that Cupid is the ancient Roman version of the Greek god of love, Eros, who ALSO has wings and shoots arrows. Cupid/Eros, is said to be a handsome immortal (Nephillim perhaps?) The stories of ancient Rome and Greece are told that this god would toy with the emotions of both gods and men, using either golden arrows to entice (temp) toward lust (though modern definitions will call it love), or with leaden arrows sent to sow discord/aversion. During the Hellenistic period in Greece (roughly from 323BC to 31BC) he began to be shown as a chubby cherub we see today…but don’t be deceived, it’s still just Eros/Cupid a Nephillim creature sent to attack men and women with lustful temptations and discord!
Proverbs 26:17-19
(17) He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.
(18) As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death,
(19) So is the man that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, Am not I in sport?Psalms 64:3
(3) Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:Ephesians 6:16
(16) Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Hear that?! Fiery darts (ARROWS) of the wicked! Praise the Lord for eyes to see and ears to hear!
Colossians 2:8
(8) Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
What about the chocolates???
Chocolate has been said to be a sort of aphrodisiac…which makes sense why it would be tied to a pagan festival steeped in fertility worship! In the 1840’s, Richard Cadbury of Great Britain began boxing new chocolates in ornately decorated boxes for the Valentine’s Day celebrations. Prior to that time, there never was a known tradition and certainly not one that has any Christian origins or roots. In looking at all the mixed gods with men encounters, ritual sacrifice, immorality and the like, we are left with the conclusion that just like Christmas, Easter, Halloween have NOTHING to do with our Lord Jesus Christ, this Valentine’s Day tradition of men has nothing to do with Christ Jesus our Lord either….it is all to do with paganism and once more the catholic’s of Rome having taken a pagan custom and saying they’re putting a “Christian” spin on it. A pig is a pig, no matter how pretty you dress it. We are told “and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy might”
Deuteronomy 6:5 & Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”Deuteronomy 6:5
(5) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.Matthew 22:37
(37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
So, instead of focusing on this festival of worldly “love” falsely so called…we ought to instead be more concerned with the real love to and from our heavenly Father God in heaven.
Psalms 91:5
(5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;Proverbs 25:18
(18) A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.Mark 7:8
(8) For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Article Written by Traci Vinet upon request from FOJC, edited by Sister Donna
AFTER THOUGHTS by Sister Donna
The word “love” is thrown around a lot by many people around this pagan holiday of “Valentine’s Day” and many other days of the year. We often fail to remember:
1 John 2:15-17
(15) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
(17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
Many do not believe their friends love them unless they declare their love frequently. We have learned this year that some people who are narcissists manipulate their friends by throwing that declaration in many ways, but not exhibiting the fruit that is supposed to go with it.
Galatians 5:22
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
We are commanded to love. Therefore I always say, “Love is a choice.”
John 15:12
(12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.Mark 12:29-31
(29) And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
(30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
(31) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He could have gotten down any time. Yes, He came here as a human man and the miracles He did were by the Holy Spirit, but He could have called on His Father to send angels as it says in this passage. H said this when Judas betrayed Him with a kiss. How many of you have received kisses from someone who has betrayed you?
Matthew 26:53-54
(53) Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
(54) But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
I told my granddaughter, Karrigan, when she was interviewing me for a college paper about “Love at first sight” my honest opinion. I told her that I really did not believe in love at first sight because people often put on a show to impress their friends because you really cannot know a person until you live with them and you see what they are really like when you can see their actions in all kinds of circumstances. I went on to tell her that when we want to know what true love is, we need to follow the supreme example of love, and that is God.
1 John 4:16
(16) And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.1 John 5:3
(3) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.1 John 2:5
(5) But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Love is very important and this Pagan full of abominable traditions has cheapened what Love really means.
Galatians 5:14
(14) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
I am grateful for the article Traci wrote for FOJC and for the things I have learned about “love”, and the ability to share my thoughts with you.
To print out this Valentine Truth sheet.