Centuries before the birth of the Messiah, the Romans were celebrating the evening of Februa[ry] 14 and the day of Februa[ry] 15 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in honor of Lupercus.
Lupus is the
Latin word for wolf. The wolf
is a symbol for valor, as A
Dictionary of Symbols page 375,
says:
Valorentine was a
common Roman name, which Roman parents often gave to their children in
honor of the famous man who was first called valiant: Valentine, in
antiquity, Lupercus, The Hunter.
The
Romans identified Lupercus with Faunus, a God of
nature. The Greeks called this nature god Pan. The
Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols tells us
about Faunus and Pan:
FAUNUS: In Roman
mythology, grandson of
Saturn; son of Picus, brother-husband
of Fauna; ...Faunus
means to favor. He was
also called Inuus (fertilizer) and Lupercus (one who wards off wolves).
PAN: Greek
woodland spirit....was
patron of fishermen, hunters...
Pan
was an Arcadian god of light, and as such was equivalent to the Sun
God: Baal, Bel, Belu, as Part 1 of The Dictionary of Mythology,
Folklore, and Symbols tells us
on page 167:
BAAL
(BAL, BEL, BELU):
Any of the numerous local
deities among ancient Semitic peoples, typifying the productive forces
of nature and worshiped with orgiastic rites. Nameless deities are oldest,
and Baal
simply meant lord.
...As a Phoenician sun deity he was the male productive power...
Baal, as the Sun, was the symbol of the male reproductive power. The earth, as the female reproductive power, was Baalath, his wife.
The
Two Babylons, by
Alexander Hislop, pages 21-25, gives us this information:
That
son, though represented as a child in his mother's arms, was a person
of great stature and immense bodily powers, as well as most fascinating
manners. In
Scripture he is referred to (Ezek. viii. 14) under the name of Tammuz, but he is
commonly known among
classical writers under the name of Bacchus,
that is, "The Lamented
one.'' To the ordinary reader the name of Bacchus suggests nothing more
than revelry and drunkenness, but it is
now well known, that
amid all the abominations that attended his orgies, their grand design
was professedly "the
purification of souls,''
and that from the guilt and defilement of sin. This
lamented one, exhibited and
adored as a little child in his mother's arms, seems, in point of fact,
to have been the husband of Semiramis, whose name,
Ninus, by which he is commonly known in classical history, literally
signified "The Son.''
Now, this
Ninus, or "Son,'' borne
in the arms of the Babylonian Madonna, is so described as very clearly
to identify him with Nimrod.
Now,
assuming that Ninus is
Nimrod, the way
in which that assumption explains what is
otherwise inexplicable in the statements of ancient history greatly
confirms the truth of that assumption itself. Ninus is said to have
been the son of Belus or Bel, and Bel is said to have been the founder of
Babylon.
The hunter, Nimrod, it is said, pursued wolves in the Appenine Mountains of Italy, and acquired the title of Lupercus - wolf hunter.
Nimrod, Baal-Lord-Sun God of the ancients, was born at the winter solstice, in agreement with the mythology of the birth-initiation-death fertility cycle. In the year 2100 b.c.e., the winter solstice occurred on January 6. Semiramis, Nimrod's mother/wife, ordered Nimrod's birthday to be celebrated on January 6.
Eastern Orthodox Churches still commemorate January 6, but now they call it Epiphany, which is known as gift day, just as the Catholics who celebrate the Christmas season from December 24 until January 6.
The time of
the winter solstice on January 6, 2100 b.c.e., was the exact time the
pagans celebrated the birth of the son, who was first known to pagan
antiquity as Nimrod. Epiphany is still celebrated today on January 6,
with the same rituals to the same fertility Gods and Goddesses. The
Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols, Part 1,
page 516, tells us about this ancient pagan ceremony:
EPIPHANY: Ancient
Greek festival
celebrating the appearance of a deity; hence an
appearance or
revelation of a supernatural being. In the Christian Church, festival
in commemoration of the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the
persons of the Magi at Bethlehem, celebrated January 6, the twelfth day
after Christmas. The
Christian festival was borrowed from European pagan winter solstice
rites,
which
were encouragements to the rebirth of the year.
It was the custom for the mother who had just given birth to be unclean for sexual purposes for a specified number of days, depending upon whether she bore a male or female child. Semiramis, the mother, gave birth to a male child, Nimrod, and would be unclean for a period of 40 days. The 40th day after January 6 is February 15th.
February 15, which began on the evening of February 14, was the day on which the Lupercalia was celebrated.
The
Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols, Part 2,
page 1026, tells us about the Lupercalia.
Lupercalia: Roman
festival celebrated on
February 15 to honor Lupercus. As a
conclusion to their rites,
the
Luperci
(priests of Lupercus),
clad in goatskins, ran about Palatine Hill striking those they
encountered, particularly women, with goatskin thongs. This was
believed to insure
fertility and
easy delivery.
Webster's
Deluxe Unabridged Dictionary tells us
that the Lupercalia was an
ancient Roman festival with fertility rites:
Lu.per.ca'li.a, an
ancient Roman festival with fertility rites, held on February 15 in
honor of Lupercus...
The proper
surname of Lupercus was Februsus, as The
Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols, Part 1,
page 557, then shows.
Februsus: Properly a
surname of Lupercus.
Lustrations
were performed in his honor at the Lupercalia
on February 15.
Lustrations
were performed in his honor at the Lupercalia on February 15. The
Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols, Part 1,
page 557, tells us what the Februation was:
Februation: Roman rite
of ceremonial
purification,
observed on February 15
at the Lupercalia.
The purification of the mother was the fertility ritual performed at the Lupercal, a cave below the Palatine Hill in Rome. The Februation was a rite of purification observed on February 15 -the very day upon which the mother of the husband was said to be now purified, and to have appeared in public with her son/husband for the first time since his birth on January 6.
The significance of this mythology was the fact that the mother was now purified; the mother was now able to have sexual relations again. The purification of the Mother was the fertility rite.
The question, "Will you be my Valentine?'' asked by millions of people at this time of year was asked by the hunters in this age-old fertility rite.
Collier's
Encyclopedia, Volume 12,
page 191, tells us about this day:
St.
Valentine's Day:
One
tradition
derives the customs of the day from the old Roman February feast called
the Lupercalia...
Later
this
ancient festival custom was associated with the name of a Christian
bishop, Valentine, who was martyred Feb. 14, 271.
The
Book of Festival Holidays, by
Marguerite Ickis, page 35, tells us:
Cupid was one of
the gods of
Mythology, whose name in Latin means
"desire."
The rose, which
speaks of love, is undoubtedly the most popular flower in the world. By
rearranging the letters in the word "rose," we get "Eros'' the
god of Love.
The first criterion in this fertility hunt was erotic desire, which Cupid and Eros represent. In mythology, it is said when Nimrod's mother saw him as a young boy, she desired him. Nimrod became her cupid, her desired one, and later became her God of valor - her hunter.
A
Dictionary of Symbols, by J.E.
Cirlot, pages 19-20, tells us about the symbolism of arrows:
...The
heart
pierced with an arrow is a symbol of conjunction.
A conjunction in this sense is self-explanatory. These were all fertility rituals in which man participated.
The symbol of the heart
to represent love was also familiar in ancient Babylon, but this
symbolized the God who was worshiped. In The
Two Babylons, pages
188-190, we read about the Sacred
Heart:
The "Heart''
was one of the
sacred symbols of Osiris when he was born again, and appeared as
Harpocrates, or the infant divinity
...Speaking of a statue of Cupid, he says
it is "a fair, full,
fleshy, round boy, in fine and sportive action, tossing
back a heart.'' Thus
the boy-god came to be
regarded as the "god
of the heart,''
in other words, as Cupid, or the god of love.
As the boy-god, whose
symbol was the heart, was
recognized as the god of
childhood...
How did the heart
take on such importance in ancient paganism? The
Two Babylons, by
Alexander Hislop, pages 190-191, tells us:
The
Heart in Chaldee is Bel...Now,
the worship of the Sacred
Heart was just, under
a symbol, the
worship of the "Sacred Bel,'' that mighty one of
Babylon, who
had died a martyr for idolatry; for
Harpocrates, or Horus, the
infant god, was regarded as Bel, born again.
Heart shaped love tokens, which are sent one to another in this deceived world on Valentine's day, are nothing more than symbols of Baal.
All
About American Holidays, by Mayme R.
Krythe, page 40, tells us:
When Christianity
became prevalent, the priests wanted their converts to give up former
heathen practices.
Therefore, the officials Christianized the ancient pagan celebration
and called the Feast of Lupercalia St. Valentine's Day.
It is a
documented fact that pagan customs were grafted into the Christian
religion, almost en masse. Reader's Digest Association, in their book: Strange
Stories, Amazing Facts, page 283,
tells us emphatically:
The Pagans were
reluctant to give up their false gods and ancient practices. So the
missionaries, unable to convert them easily to an entirely new code of
worship, did the next best thing. They took
the pagan festivals as
they were and gradually grafted the observances of the New Faith onto
these festivals and the rites and customs surrounding them.
Even though the Christian missionaries took the pagan festivals as they were, and gradually grafted the observance of the new faith onto these festivals, with their rites and customs, they are still abominations in the sight of Yahweh.
Yahweh has given us a direct command not to serve Him in the way that the pagans served their Gods.
Deuteronomy
12:31—
You
must not worship Yahweh
your Father in their way, for every abomination to Yahweh, which He
hates, they have done to their gods (elohim)...
Although these ancient fertility rituals have come down to us through Satan's ministers, in forms of beauty, we are still creating, maintaining, and renewing fertility to the same ancient Gods, if we practice pagan celebrations.
If we obey Yahweh, by practicing every Word that proceeds from His mouth, without adding to His Word or taking from it, we are then servants of Yahweh. However, if we follow after the servants (ministers) of Satan, who are deceived into grafting pagan customs into Christianity, then we are servants of Satan. It is that simple.
Yahweh tells us to come out of this pagan Godworshiping system.
Revelation
18:4—
And I heard another
voice from heaven, saying: Come out of her, My people, so
that you do not partake in her sins, and so that you do not receive of
her plagues.