Turn on the television this week and you will be inundated by reminders of Valentine’s Day. Evening sitcoms have plots involving the holiday, news programs are doing segments on finding the perfect gift for your significant other, and it seems like every one out of three commercials is for heart pendants, chocolates, or kissing teddy bears. You can find excitement about February 14th in other places as well – like schools and churches where children and parishioners are preparing construction paper cards and treat baskets for soldiers abroad or reaching out to local prisons.  Boyfriends and husbands are planning dinners out and many teenagers are debating whether to reveal a secret crush with a gift of card or flower.

Why? Is this, like so many customs, something that people do simply because they always have done so? Because their parents and grandparents did, because it is one of those things that “everybody does?” It is doubtful whether many people, as they rush to purchase chocolates and flowers, or help their children to make valentines, ever stop to wonder WHY they are doing this. The answer is stranger than they could realize.

After all, there are enough “saints” that if we were to observe the feast days of all of them we would have a celebration every day of the year. In fact, there are not nearly enough days on the calendar for every saint to have a day devoted to them exclusively – which is why there exists an “All Saints Day” for venerating those who lack a feast day all their own. Why then, has THIS one day in February become special? Let us search history and find out.

As one author writes, “Like many holidays, the origins of Valentine’s Day are shrouded in mystery and legend”. (Source: To Celebrate: Reshaping Holidays and Rites of Passage) For although the modern observance of today’s day of affection and romance shares the feast day of two Catholic saints, the true origins of the festival are found in ancient pagan worship. According to the Catholic tradition, there were two Saint Valentines. One, was a bishop martyred in Rome in 273 A.D. The other is purported to have been a priest living in Rome during the third century who was jailed for aiding persecuted Christians. The legend holds that he cured the jail keeper's daughter of blindness and that on the night before his execution he gave the daughter a note of affection signed, “your valentine.” The two Valentines share the same feast day – February 14th. As it happens, however, the practices associated with this feast day today were part of a celebration steeped in pagan worship that had been observed for centuries previously. 

Centuries before Christ and before the time of any men who would later be called saints, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15th and the evening of the 14th. It was the festival of Lupercalia, in honor of Lupercus, the deified hero-hunter of Rome, or as the name literally means, “the hunter of wolves.” For anyone familiar with the Bible, this should call to mind another famous hunter. Looking in Genesis 10:8-9, a special report is made of Nimrod, who “began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord’.” The word “before” in these verses is also translated as “against” so that we see Nimrod was a mighty one in opposition to God. It becomes more clear that this is indeed the case when we read on to see that his kingdom encompassed Babel and the plain of Shinar, where in rebellion against God the people attempted to build a tower to reach the heavens. It was here that Nimrod and his mother, Semiramis, together gave birth to a cult religion which would spread from the region of Shinar throughout the entire world. This religion would be peopled by different gods with different names depending on their country and languages– but it was all the same basic religious system.

The festival of Lupercalia was part of this false religion. The connection between Lupercalia and the Valentine’s Day of today can be made even more plain. Valentine was a very common name among the Romans. The name was often given in honor of the famous man first called by it in antiquity – he was none other than Lupercus. The Greeks called Lupercus “Pan.” The Semites and Babylonians of the middle east referred to him as “Baal.” This Baal was merely another name for Nimrod, and you will see it pop up again and again as the name of the pagan god whom the ancient Israelites often turned to in false worship (Source: Classical Dictionaries.)  But why was he also called Valentine among the ancient Romans? Valentine comes from the Latin word “Valentinus,” a proper name derived from “valens,” meaning “to be strong (Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary).” It literally means “strong, powerful, mighty,” very much like Nimrod that “mighty hunter.” It can be argued that for his followers, Nimrod was their “strong man” – their valentine.

For the Romans, Lupercalia was a favorite holiday for honoring Nimrod, owing to the fact that their city of Rome figured prominently in the life of Nimrod. Another name for Nimrod, this one a Roman-Babylonian name, was Saturn. This version of Nimrod was a god who hid from pursuers in a secret place. The word Saturn is derived from the Babylonian word “sather” which means “be hid,” “hide self,” “secret,” and “conceal.” According to the legend, Saturn-Nimrod fled from pursuers to Italy. Anciently, the Appenine mountains of Italy were called the mountains of Nembrod or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid at the site were Rome was later erected, and was there caught and executed. So the Romans felt a special affinity for this God.

Many of the customs of this day in the past involved romantic love then as they do now. For instance, take the exchanging cards with messages of affection. Many point to the story of the jailed St.Valentine and his note for the jail keeper's daughter as the origin for the practice, but this is probably an invention. The Catholic-published reference book, Lives of the Saints , freely admits, “the custom of sending valentines is the revival of the ancient pagan practice consisting of boys drawing the names of girls in honor of their goddess Februata Juno, on February 15th. To abolish the practice names of saints were substituted on billets drawn up for this day.”

Even the hearts that are so prominent in decorations this time of year find their origin in antiquity. Why should hearts be associated with a day in honor of Nimrod, and thus of Lupercus and St. Valentine? You will recall that one of Nimrod’s names was Baal. From this Babylonian version of Baal we also get the heart, as the word for heart in the Babylonian language was “bal” (Source: Strong’s Concordance.) The “bal” – heart – was a symbol for Baal – for Nimrod. The date of February 15th figured in Nimrod’s legend also. It was believed that on this day in February, Semiramis, Nimrod’s mother, first came out of post-birth seclusion to present her son. The celebrations commemorating the event in later years began at sundown on the 14th. The Roman named month “February” actually derives its name from the “februa” used by Roman priests in the rites celebrated on St. Valentines Day centuries later. The “februa” were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14th.

English tradition held that birds choose their mates on February 14th. In earlier times in Great Britain it was believed that girls could forecast their future on Valentine’s Eve. The girl would pin five bay leaves to her pillow, one at each corner and one in the center. She would then eat a specially prepared hard-boiled egg and retire without speaking to anyone. If she followed the rules correctly, then on that night before Valentine’s Day she would supposedly dream of her future husband. This was not the only divination possible through Valentine’s Day. Another practice involved writing the names of lovers on thin paper and rolling them in clay. The balls of clay would then be soaked in a ball of water. By the special magic of Valentine’s Day, the paper that floated to the surface first would correctly name the girl’s future husband (Source: Long, George. The Folklore Calendar.) In earlier centuries in the lands of the Middle East and Mediterranean, this kind of fortune-telling was a popular part of Nimrod and Semiramis worship (Source: Condor. Mystery, Babylon the Great).

There’s one other Valentine’s symbol that bears addressing – the cupid. Cupids are prominent in ancient Roman sculpture and have enjoyed a resurgence of modern day popularity as a design on everything from pillows to coffee mugs. But never do we see more winged babies than when Valentine’s Day is approaching. Well, like so many other things about Valentine’s Day, cupids can also be found in the symbols of Nimrod’s cult. The Encyclopedia Britannica's article on “Cupid” tells us that a name for the child Nimrod was – you guessed it – “Cupid” meaning “desire.” Within the legend of this ancient man it is said that when Semiramis saw her new son she lusted after him, desired him. Nimrod was then called her “desired one,” her “cupid.” He later became her own “Valentine,” for all studies into the legend hold that when he reached adulthood, Nimrod married his mother Semiramis. Nimrod would become the “cupid” and “valentine” of many women who would later erect idols to him.

So how did all the traditions of Lupercalia get mixed up with Valentine’s Day? They weren’t mixed up! They are one and the same! After Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in 312 A.D., many mass conversions began taking place. But the pagan citizens of Rome were reluctant to give up their old feasts and festivals and compromises had to be made to ensure happy converts. And so, Nimrod – the Valentine of the heathen Romans – was made a saint of the church, and in 476 A.D. Pope Gelasius changed the February 15th Lupercalia festival to St. Valentine’s Day on Februay 14th (Source: Dobler. Customs and Holidays Around the World). Converts could then continue to honor Nimrod and observe Lupercalia under the name of a Christian martyr.

Today, those who send valentines and decorate with hearts and cupids are unknowingly perpetuating an ancient tradition of worshiping a false god. Some will ask, “but what’s the harm?” Isn’t this just a lot of hot air from some cranks with a grudge against kids and sweethearts? Others might argue, “But this isn’t really about religion – this is just a way to have fun.”

How does God view these attitudes? For God, disobedience is always about religion. And the practices of Valentine’s Day, however innocent or not, are disobedient. One of God’s commandments is “You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).”  He also tells us, “Make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth (Exodus 23:13).” When we beseech each other to “be my valentine,” or wish others a “happy Valentine’s Day” isn’t this what we are doing? God’s instructions are clear and good intentions do not count for much in the face of willful disregard of these instructions. God wants his followers to have nothing to do with the practices of pagan worship – nothing. Not even if it’s “only in fun,” if it “doesn’t mean anything.” Because it does mean something to God.

Refraining from wrong customs like Valentine’s Day need not be felt as a restriction, but rather as an increase of freedom. The freedom to have God fully involved in your life, of knowing that when you turn from the idolatry which God hates, then God turns to you. The freedom to worship the true God with your all your actions. And, finally, the freedom to give a loved one a gift on the day of your choosing, and for no other reason but that you want to and not because you are bound by an old and evil tradition.