Valle: The Lupercalia of Ancient Rome and St. Valentine's Day

Saturday, February 11, 2012

THERE'S so much influence of commercialism in our daily lives that we often ignore that it is already dictating on us, especially on our children and the youth, such that at time begin to be a little disturbed by it. Just like the Christmas season, long before the winds of December blows, the big stores would blare out Christmas songs and even radio programs would start playing it on the airwaves, making the atmosphere more conducive to spending hard earned money.

One works like a horse for most of the year and spends it all for only a few days before Christmas, just because the boob tube says so. Crazy.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

And now this Valentine's day, supposed to be a celebration for lovers throughout the world and considered the second biggest event next to Christmas, especially among the "capitalists", is urging young people to spend on gifts and buy, buy, and buy more.

Then splurge on non-essentials such as just about anything.

But come to think of it, my Encarta source states that “the holiday probably derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (February 15), also called the Lupercalia.

In an annual rite of fertility, eligible young men and women would be paired as couples through a town lottery. Briefly clad or naked men would then run through the town carrying the skins of newly sacrificed goats dipped in blood. The women of the town would present themselves to be gently slapped by the strips and marked by the blood to improve their chances of conceiving in the coming year.

As Christianity dawned on Europe, pagan holidays such as the Lupercalia were renamed after early Christian martyrs. In 496, Pope Gelasius officially declared February 14 to be the feast day of two Roman martyrs, both named Saint Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. (However,) Saint Valentine (did) not seem to have any obvious connection to courtship or lovers. (Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

Even then, the reason as to why these things continue to exist is clear as crystal. It is the handy-work of advertisers that earn billions of pesos for businesses. They say this is a free country, and there's no question about that. But to continually assault our consciousness with such rubbish makes us numb and uncaring for the real world and the continuing degradation of our environment.

But who cares? As educators, we can do some “damage control” by examining and truly understanding this non-event, if we can call it that. Love for family and love of country, these are but among the important things that children need to understand about giving importance to "Valentine's day" celebration, more than what is being hyped in mass media and in cyber world.

We can still refocus the young minds to what is more immediate and significant love, not so much on the physical, outward expressions but more on how they can express gratitude to the people in their lives who really matters. In this way, real love is given prime importance over and above "crazy" emotional love for other people which are often destructive and obsessive.