cupid

We all know that Valentine’s day is a very old tradition. It contains leavings of ancient Roman traditions then taken by Christianity (no shock there) and therefore now has traces of Christianity as well.

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But what was Valentine’s Day in the beginning?

According to History, it is uncertain who this lovers holiday was really named after. Some say it was after a bishop who refused to marry young men who were banned from marriage to be soldiers, others speculate it was a man who helped Christians escape roman prison. No matter what you believe, the outcome was the same. This saint was a hero and became a figure of romanticism.

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(I am a firm believer that) This Holiday actually started as a Pagan festival called Lupercalia, which was supposed to be a fertility festival dedicated to Faunas, the Roman God of Agriculture, and Lupercus, the fertility God.

This was actually held on February 15th and traced back to 6th Century B.C.

Legend has it that a She- Wolf took care of Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome, after they were sent to be drowned by the King at the time. They were both eventually adopted and when they were older, found the place where they were nurtured by the she- wolf and called it Lupercal.

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Ritual sacrifices were made in honor of these Gods followed by a feast.

You can say this was a bloody and sexually expected celebration, that consisted of random coupling (swingers, anyone?) to ward off infertility.

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Who is Cupid?

We have all come to know Cupid as an adorable Cherub, decorating this time of year the cards and chocolate boxes, etc. that you might expect during Valentine’s day.

He is actually Eros, the Greek God of Love (the passionate and physical desire type of love). He wasn’t fat and short; He was actually a handsome God who was apt to play with the emotions of men using arrows to incite love to weaken the mind and cause confusion.

It really is up to us what we choose to believe in! These are all great stories of things past and what could have been.

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If you want to read further in depth, you can visit History.

I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I did and I hope you enjoy my #moodboard 🥰

😘

Xoxo,

@yessybear