Feb. 15: The Festival of Lupercalia

In addition to being the month of Valentine's Day and Imbolc, February is the time of the annual Roman festival of Lupercalia. Started back when Rome was just a bunch of shepherds in huts on a hillside, Lupercalia became a fertility celebration that welcomed Spring each year, much like Imbolc does for us today. The festivities included animal sacrifice, running through the streets, and being whipped with blood-soaked hides. All of this was topped off with a love lottery, in which young men drew the names of ladies out of a jar. You can read more about this early version of Valentine's Day here: Lupercalia.

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