Lupercalia: Health and Fertility, or Lust?

As a festival celebrated by the Church of Night, one could only wonder what exactly this entails. Held around the human's Valentine's Day, it should come as no surprise Lupercalia too, has something to do with love. Just in a slightly different way than what might just as well be its descendant. Let me guide you through the origin, the details and how it ties to Valentine's Day exactly. By the time you're done reading this, you'll know all there is to know about Lupercalia. Maybe a little too much...

Its Origin

While it is uncertain where the Church of Night got its practices from, it's not a far jump to assume this ritualistic feast came from the Roman festival of the exact same name. Their Lupercalia too, was observed right around modern Valentine's Day, on February 15 to be exact.

The overlap doesn't stop there however as both versions of Lupercalia are meant to promote health and fertility. A day during which they originally worshipped the god Lupercus, a god seen as the protector of farmers, harvests, wild animals and-- you probably guessed it, fertility in cattle.

Milk and Blood

Those familiar with the Church of Night their use of milk and blood on this day, will probably be thrilled to find out this too, could be observed in the ancient rites of Lupercalia. A goat would be sacrificed and its blood used to anoint the foreheads of followers. This would then be washed clean with wool, soaked in milk.

This would all take place in the Lupercal cave, near which stood a Rumina sanctuary as well as a fig-tree. A tree that when cut, would ooze a milky sap reminiscent of milk. With Rumina being the goddess of breastfeeding mothrs and nursing infants, this once more, can be linked back to fertility. How we went from this to mere 'love' is a question that can be answered with one word. Christianity.

Lupercalia Festivities Nowadays

While many other covens might celebrate Lupercalia as well, we're going to be focusing on what we know of this celebration amongst those in the Church of Night. Not only does it relate more closely to the old rites performed by the Romans, it still has that typical 'Dark Witches' vibe to it.

Besides focusing heavily on fertility, it also focuses on lust after all. Starting with the Matching, where couples are formed at random; always a witch and a warlock as other options cannot possibly produce children (unfortunately). Next would be the Courting, where the couple spends the night together. Followed by the Hunt, which is a whole story in itself.

Matching and Courting

The Lupercalia celebrations start with the young witches of the coven dancing around a pole in the middle of a room. Each are holding a ribbon, reminiscent of the Maypole and Midsummer celebrations. The young warlocks of the coven sit in a circle on the outskirts of where the witches are dancing until one of them lands in their laps. Couple formed!

During the Courting, the couple is sent into the woods with a basket containing milk, blood, oysters, figs and cherries. As you might've guessed, the blood and milk is for purification, much like in the Roman rites. The oysters and figs are for virility and fertility and lastly, the cherries-- well, for popping of course. Despite this, nothing much happens as the couple simply follows the rites of purification and lays next to one another under the moon until the night ends.

The Hunt

Now this is where it steers away from the Roman Lupercalia, but appears to at least somewhat touch upon its predecessor of Februa which was more focused on wild animals, wolves in particular. Something that returns in the name of Lupercalia, as Luper could've very well been derived from the word Lupus, meaning wolf.

During the Hunt, the young witches of the Church of Night are given a red cloak to wear and are sent into the woods to hunt after their counterparts who are dressed up as wolves. Sometimes they manage and other times-- they might end up with a completely different partner! What happens after that, we'll leave up to your imagination. Let's just say there's a lot of 'fun' to be had.

Surprisingly however, there's rarely any actual children born from this. Signaling that the focus has maybe shifted from fertility to lust all together. Just like how it is very possible it changed from fertility and health to love under the influence of Christianity. Saint Valentine's Day is celebrated rather closely to this pagan holiday after all.

What are your thoughts on Lupercalia, its predecessor and (quite possibly) human variation, Valentine's Day? Let us know down below in the comments!