Forget St. Valentine: It’s Human Nature to be Ready For Loving During the Month of February

So who was Saint Valentine and why do we celebrate love in February?

We all know Valentine’s Day is a day to spoil your significant other by lavishing them with cards, chocolates, romantic nights out, and out-of-this-world sex. But, how many know why it is?

Why does the celebration of love fall in the middle of February and who the heck was Saint Valentine anyway?

Saint Valentine was probably one or other of the martyrs with that name…

But which one?

It seems that there were three recognised Catholic martyrs with the name of Valentine.

The most likely-sounding of the three was the one who is said to have married young couples in secret after the Roman Emperor, Claudius II, banned marriage for young men since he recognised that young, single men were required for battle, and marriage just got in the way of that.

According to History.com:

“Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.”

Another story of a Valentine was of a young, imprisoned man of that name. According to legend, he…

“sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl — possibly his jailor’s daughter — who visited him during his confinement.

Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today.” — History.com

A theory that went along with the theme of prisons was that this Valentine helped Christians to escape the torture of the harsh Roman prisons of the time. In which case, his martyrdom came from his selfless actions and was nothing to do with love, necessarily.

The third claimant to being the namesake of the holiday was a bishop by the name of Saint Valentine of Terni, who was also beheaded by Claudius II, although there is no story connected with love or romance that came with him either.

We are left not knowing the true origin of Saint Valentine. Or the significance of the holiday falling in the middle of February, unless this was simply the time of year that Valentine’s burial occurred?

We don’t even know if the Valentine in question had any obvious connection with the celebration of love, romance or sex.

In which case, where else could the theme of love have come from?

Most likely…

The same roots that all Christian festivals sprung from

The Christian church was preceded by fairly universal worship of nature, now referred to as Paganism.

The term Paganism is a very broad term, encompassing different tribes from the Celtic lands, Scandinavia, and Southern Europe. The people across Europe were guided by the movement of the sun and the cycles of the moon. They worshipped gods and goddesses that were associated with important times, in the annual calendar, that supported their survival.

While they each had their own individual deities and named festivals, the one thing that they all had in common was that the festivals were aligned with the seasons and the activities of nature. Hence, the end of winter and the onset of spring is marked by many different festivals through the different stages of nature blooming again after the winter.

So, with the name “Valentine” being, essentially, of Italian origin, is it any surprise that in Pre-Christian times, the Romans celebrated a pagan festival of fertility on February 15th? Known as Lupercalia, this festival was held in honour of Faunus, the god of agriculture, and also of the founders of Rome — Romulus and Remus.

When we take a good look at the many pagan festivals that celebrate fertility, we see a common theme emerge that connects the seeds of love between humans with the fertility of the seeds of nature. For example, during the fire festival of Beltane, another pagan fertility festival in early May, unmarried couples will jump through the bonfire together to bless and purify them. Should anything bad occur — such as one of the couples getting burnt by the flames, for instance — it is seen as a sign that the union is cursed and that the relationship should end.

Hence, the reasons for the festivities are always to bless nature and the human community.

February may still be winter here in Britain, but the first signs of spring are already here when the month arrives. Being of Celtic origin — although the Celts were spread right across Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, and pockets of Europe — we celebrate Imbolc on the 1st of February.

The story behind Imbolc is of how a young maiden, known as Bride or Bridie, overthrew the old crone who was holding the land in the grip of an endless winter. She was staying alive well past her use-by date by regularly bathing in the fountain of youth, and, therefore, never releasing the land from the bitter cold that her spell kept it under. Bride (or Bridie) represented the promise of youth, fertility, regeneration and reproduction that ended the clutches of the infertile winter.

And, as with other pagan festivals, it became incorporated into the Christian church. Today, the feast of Saint Brigid, the patroness saint of Ireland, is celebrated on 1st February.

It’s not just about Hallmark cards and Chocolate companies making a quick dime

Like most festivals today, corporations big and small are milking Valentine’s Day for all it’s worth, and marketing anything and everything that can prove your love to another.

It’s no wonder that there are often two camps of people; those who jump right in and consume all the marketing messages out there, and those who stick their middle finger up to it all and intentionally choose a different day to get romantic with their loved ones.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s got nothing to do with expensive gifts, meals out, fancy cards, and everything to do with your human divinity.

Remember Bridie? You see, for fertility to occur, this youthful female energy needed a male counterpart to fulfill her mission as the initiator of regeneration and rebirth upon the earth.

In which case, mid-February feasting to celebrate courtship, love, and ultimately, fertility, makes absolute sense. But not because the shops are all selling heart-shaped chocolate.

On the contrary, our sign is what nature is doing.

At this time of year in the northern hemisphere, where our culture is steeped in the traditions of old, the promise of spring is being dangled before our very eyes. Right now, all the snowdrops, the crocuses, and the primroses are beginning to carpet the ground.

They are our sign that the time of loving is nigh.

There’s no time like the present to get in tune with nature!

When we follow the evolution of nature through the seasons, it’s human nature to be hankering, after all, that love…and fertility…can bless us with.

It stands to reason that we are ready for love and infinite quantities of passionate love-making at this time of year.

So, get your Pagan God/Goddess pants on and get lovin’!

Thanks for reading!

I want to give a shout-out to T Mann for an absolutely beautiful piece about the resurrection of a nearly-lost friendship. A truly touching memoir❤️

If you enjoyed that, you may also enjoy the latest in my stories from living in France:

And if you like a giggle, check out my tongue-in-cheek response in a war of the sexes:

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