Why is Valentine’s Day a thing we celebrate? It’s a day to celebrate love and romance. Or maybe for crafts and fun when you are in middle school, but the original story isn’t about love. It’s actually quite dark. You won’t find the truth about Valentine’s Day in your favorite romantic movies. It was tradition for the hide of a sacrificed goat to be cut into strips and dipped in blood. Then, priests would go around slapping women with the strips. The practice was supposedly welcomed, as it was believed to make the women more fertile in the coming year. So, you still have a red association with the holiday, but definitely not the one we’re used to today. How the Romans celebrated is from Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. Lenski added, “It was a little more of a drunken revel, but the Christians put clothes back on it. That didn’t stop it from being a day of fertility and love.” Another thing that is seen as a Valentine’s Day thing is Cupid. Cupid is often portrayed on Valentine’s Day cards as a naked cherub launching arrows of love at unsuspecting lovers. But the Roman God Cupid has his roots in Greek mythology as the Greek God of love, Eros. Accounts of his birth vary; some say he is the son of Nyx and Erebus; others, of Aphrodite and Ares; still others suggest he is the son of Iris and Zephyrus or even Aphrodite and Zeus (who would have been both his father and grandfather). According to the Greek Archaic poets, Eros was a handsome immortal played with the emotions of Gods and men, using golden arrows to incite love and leaden ones to sow aversion. It wasn’t until the Hellenistic period that he began to be portrayed as the mischievous, chubby child he’d become on Valentine’s Day cards. We don’t kill animals and slap people with their meats anymore which I feel like that is a good thing. I would rather give a card to someone and maybe candy than slap people with parts of a dead animal while being drunk.

https://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/holidays-celebrations/a42348778/valentines-day-history/