As the saccharine celebrations of Valentine’s Day fade, with its bounty of chocolates, roses and gushing Instagram posts, this morning’s dawn brought on another festival which celebrates love in a very different way.
Falling on 15 February, Lupercalia has its origins in Ancient Rome. As with all such things, many of the finer details depend on who you ask, or which sources you read.
Plutarch, in his Parallel Lives outlines his version: Building on an ancient festival of purification, the festival was named and linked to the she-wolf who, according to legend, suckled and protected Romulus and Remus, the founding brothers of Rome. Much of the festival took place at the Lupercal, a site in central Rome where the brothers were saved by the wolf. As part of the ceremony, goats and a dog were sacrificed and two youths anointed with the blood. Following a feast, the two young men were given thongs of animal hide with which they used to run through the streets, striking all they came across. Women were particular targets and offered themselves for striking, as the practice was believed to aid with fertility and childbirth.
The wider celebrations of the festival have been much discussed. Indeed, even the focal gods seem to be under debate, with the shepherds’ fertility god Lupercus, and Faunus, a bestower of fruitfulness on the fields, both cited by some. However, both of them were later identified with the more famous Pan, he of pipes and goats’ legs, who is the most well-known of the Roman Pantheon associated with the festival.
But, at its core, Lupercalia seems to offer a more tangible and enjoyable approach to romance and renewal in the cold – and currently very wet – depths of February. Some sources suggest the festival included the coupling of young people who would remain entwined for the duration of the celebration – or beyond.
Lupercalia, as seen in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
This image was seized upon by the writers of Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, where Lupercalia became an unholy festival of abstinence and debauchery, featuring chases through the woods, men dressed as wolves and mass outdoor coupling at the climax. And people say the ancient festivals can’t be translated for a modern audience.
Valentine’s Day has become a hyper-commercialised burden for many in the modern world. It is another day when costly and often performative displays of affection are required. And that can be fun. If it’s for you, then I salute you an urge you to enjoy, indulge and celebrate your romance as you wish. But if you are looking for something fresh, may I suggest Lupercalia. I am not, I should clarify, advocating for sacrifice or whipping people with animal hides. But the pagan and natural-world foundations of this festival offer space for us to mark it in our own way.
The Romans, Plutarch admits, adapted an ancient festival to mark the founders of their city, and a celebration meant to bring fertility to sheep and a bounty to the natural world became an event for wider revelry. So, let’s revel once more; grab those closest to you, throw off the cold shackles of winter and look ahead to the fruitful bounty to come. Celebrate what is to come – and if you can make the celebration a little carnal then I am sure Pan will approve.
If you need more evidence, I think we can all agree that the spirit of Lupercalia would be right up the street of that most aspirational of couples, Morticia and Gomez Addams. What higher praise could there be?
Gomez & Morticia Addams
More articles and notes are available on my Millennial Gent Substack
[MAIN IMAGE: The Lupercal Feast. Drawing by Edme Bouchardon. Engraving by Etienne Fessard and Anne Claude Philippe Caylus]
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