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Post Valentine's Comment About the Pagan Ritual!

Here's a little wolf loving, puppy and parent style!

Robin posted about Lupercalia, the early pagan ritual that had to do with Valentine's, but she didn't mention that it had to do with wolves. So being the wolfish person I am, I just had to add a post concerning this festival!!! You know, to add the wolf's point of view.

As she mentioned, it was a pagan ritual of feasting to do with fertility during the time of the Romans, 3rd or 4th BC.

Now, according to some scholars, what you might not know was that the god that watched over the proceedings was Lupercus, which was derived from the Latin word lupus, meaning wolf. It was believed that the god watched over shepherds and their flocks, and in honor of this, they celebrated a feast called Lupercalia.

On the first day, the fertility festival was in progress. The second day was dedicated to Juno-lupa, the She Wolf. Remember the she-wolf that had nursed Romulus and Remus, the twins who founded Rome?

So there you have it. Valentine's Day, some scholars' views of the Roman's wolf version of the celebration of Valentines! :)

It's interesting to note that though the idea was to sacrifice goats during the festivities to the god so he would watch over their flocks and the shepherds, they also honored the she-wolf who nursed the founders of Rome.

I loved all your research too, Robin. I had planned to post this earlier, but forgot until I saw your post. *sigh*

But there you have it! The Roman's wolf version of Valentine's!

And here's a little loving, adult style. :)

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's! I wrote about love, Taming the Highland Wolf style! :)

You know, all great legends were made up by storytellers, so if you had to come up with a myth or legend to explain something that existed in the world--like why foxes have bushy tails and bobcats have none, what would it be?

I'm here today where Sourcebooks is giving away 2 free books.
http://annavivian.blogspot.com/2010/02/guest-blog-giveaway-with-terry-spear.html

And here:
http://www.scifiguy.ca/2010/02/guest-author-terry-spear-interview.html

http://www.scifiguy.ca/2010/02/review-legend-of-white-wolf-by-terry.html

http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/?zx=e5d843283a51b81e

And all week I'll be at other locations, links posted the day of the event at my regular blog:

http://terry-spear.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-wolves.html

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Terry
"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male, even on Valentine's Day!"
www.terryspear.com

Comments

  1. I have another guest blog I'm doing today which isn't up yet, so if it's posted before I leave for work, I'll post the link! Have a terrific Tuesday!

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  2. Sounds like a very busy blogging day, Terry. Have fun with the wolves!

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  3. Thanks, Cheryl! Yes, I'll be in Austria today. Isn't the Internet wonderful???

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  4. A very interesting post--to think that Valentine's Day is related to wolves in a way!

    Good luck on your virtual tour!

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  5. Loved it, Terry!

    Who knew you could trace lacy hearts to wolves? Or, for that matter, that the Romans honored the god who protected sheep, and at the same festival, honored a wolf, which one would assume would be one of the predators the sheep needed to be protected from.

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  6. HI Terry!

    I love your posts on wolves! It's such a fun way to connect to with your heroes. :)

    Wowza! What a Blog-a-palooza! You're like pay-per-view-- in DEMAND!lol

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  7. I was almost too blinded by the cuteness of the wolf puppy pic to continue reading the rest of the post.

    But I did read it, and loved it. Great post! Such interesting information. I'm learning so much on this blog!

    Tawna

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  8. Wow, you're all over the blogosphere, Terry! Have a great time, and thanks so much for the wolf lore.

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  9. Thanks, Danielle! Hmm, now if I could only find a tie in to St Patty's Day for wolves. :)

    Thanks, MM, that's just what I was thinking! I find research fascinating! Do you ever get wrapped up in it where you forget what you were there for in the first place? :)

    LOL, Sarah! I'm glad you're enjoying the posts on wolves. It's fun writing about them and the wolves themselves are so beautiful, they speak for themselves. And when you add in the hunky wolf heroes of the werewolf kind, hmm-hm!

    I agree, Linda! I always think of you and your wolf hybrid!

    LOL, Tawna! I'm glad you enjoyed the blog! The wolf pictures are great. There's nothing more precious than parents with their offspring though!

    You're so welcome, Kathryne!It's great fun! I love digging up new wolf lore. :)

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  10. I'm really enjoying your posts, and the wolf pictures. They're gorgeous.

    Fascinating Valentine facts.

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  11. Thanks so much, Estella! Glad you're enjoying the series! :)

    Sheila, thanks!!! I'm glad you're enjoying the posts! And the wolf pictures!

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  12. Interesting - I had no idea about the origins of Valentine's Day... and here I was thinking it was all about chocolate.

    Have fun today as you span the blogosphere!

    Amanda

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  13. LOL, Amanda! Yes, that is the fun part--chocolate, that is! But canines should stay away from the chocolate! :) Werewolves can still enjoy it in their human form. I was asked that question once! Sometimes fans come up with fun thought-provoking questions! :)

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  14. Terry - Sorry I'm late to the party. Between the kids being home from school for the last week and a half (snow days suck) and the sinus infection from hell, I've been unable to do much of anything. School has resumed (finally) but with late openings for the rest of the week. *shakes head*.

    Anyway, I wondered about the wolf connection when I was researching but not enough to look it up since I'm basically lazy. I love the connection and the wolf-Rome thing. I taught my daughter all about that in history last year. When I packed up her books, I kept the history texts because I had such a great time reading them, I plan to continue. It's on my list of things to do.

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  15. Oh, wow, Robin, I so feel for you. Hope you are feeling better--have had my share of sinus infections and know just how miserable they are! I homeschooled, so my kids perpetually had a "snow day". LOL!

    I'm thrilled you hadn't talked about the wolf side of the equation so I could do it! Thanks for even mentioning the holiday history or I would have forgotten about it! Hope you are all doing better!

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