Lupercalia and Valentine's Day; how to celebrate both as a Pagan and/or Witch

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It’s February the month all about love, romance, sex, and fertility and we have two major holidays that focus on that for us to celebrate. Most people know about one of them; Valentine’s Day but, do you know where that holiday originates from? Well, that would be Lupercalia, an Ancient Roman festival for fertility and purification. Some even call it the Pagan Valentine’s Day. So, if you don’t want to get sucked into all the commercialism and Christianized holiday plus have a lot more fun and pleasure, Lupercalia is definitely the holiday for you! In this post I will walk you thru both holidays and you can pick which one is more fun to celebrate this month for yourself.

So, What is Lupercalia?

Lupercalia is an ancient Roman festival of fertility and purification. It’s celebrated from February 14th to the 15th and predates Valentine’s Day by centuries! Every year, the ancient Romans would perform rituals and then throw parties all in the name of purification. To purify the city of Rome on this festival guaranteed a good crop, plenty of pregnant ladies, and overall good health and happy people for the whole city. As with most pagan holidays, No one is really sure how far back this Roman festival really goes, but some have traced it back to the 6th century BC. And others date it back to long before Rome was a power. But many agree that It is a Shepard’s festival that was brought to Rome by Romulus and Remus.

The legend of Romulus and Remus; the myth behind Lupercalia

The legend has it that the Roman king, King Amulius, orders his twin nephews to be killed because of their mother’s broken vow of celibacy. The king ordered for them to be thrown in the Tiber River. Instead of just being tossed in- they were placed safely in a basket by a servant. The river-god is said to have carried the basket down river where it got caught in the branches of a wild fig tree. The twins were rescued by a she-wolf who lived in a den at the base of Palatine Hill.

Later, the twins were adopted by a Shepard and his wife and they learned the shepherds’ trade. After killing their uncle- King Amulius, they found the den of the she-wolf that had raised them and whose name was Lupercal. Lupercalia is the celebration to honor both the God and the she-wolf that raised them. In addition to being linked to the wolf, Lupercalia was a “breastfeeding” festival. Specifically representing the fertility tied to the founders of Rome – Romulus and Remus needed to survive when they were thrown into the river.

Who is the god Lupercus?

Lupercus, was an ancient Roman Italian divinity, who was worshipped by shepherds as the protector of their flocks against wolves, and at the same time as the promoter of the fertility among sheep. His sanctuary was the Lupercal, where she-wolf took care of Romulus and Remus. Lupercus is sometimes identified alongside the god Pan in Greek mythology.

So, how did they celebrate Lupercalia?

Ritual sacrifice was completed by the Roman’s to start off this festival. There was a sacrifice of a goat and a dog. The goat for fertility and the dog was most likely to honor the she-wolf. The Roman priests, called Luperci, would sacrifice the goat and the dog, smear the blood on the foreheads of 2 youths and as they wiped it away with a piece of milk-soaked wool, the youths were required to laugh. After the Ritual Sacrifice, came the feast. When the feasting was over, the skin of the goat would be cut into strips or thongs (called februa). The men would then run around naked, or nearly naked, whipping women with the thongs. A lot of women welcomed the lashes as they believed it to be a fertility consecration. Getting whipped was supposed to make you fertile, so the more whippings, the more fertile you were. It was even said by visitors from other cities that the women would “bare” their skin and welcome the whippings. This part of the ritual was also a symbolic gesture of purification of the men and a symbolic purification of the land. Later, during the Lupercalia festival, men would chose women’s names from a jar and would be coupled with them for the festival. Some sources reference this as the lottery of Lupercalia. This festival was all about fertility and sex so all sorts of debauchery happened. Sometimes, they would even stay together until the next year’s festival, or even get married. Over time, the sexuality of the festival was lost until it was fully clothed men whipping women’s hands. BORING!

How did Lupercalia become Valentine’s day?

Saint Valentine was said to be a priest named Valentine who was imprisoned and beheaded by Roman Emperor Claudius II for assisting persecuted Christians and secretly marrying Christian couples in love. He even tired converting Claudius to Christianity while he was imprisoned. He was beheaded on February 14, which later became known as Valentine’s Day. I know you are thinking, okay so how does this become Valentine’s day, well we all know the Catholic church and it doesn’t matter how long it takes they find a reason to Christianize a holiday. Well, after the Catholic church declared Valentine a saint, a pope in 494 CE, Pope Gelasius I eliminated the pagan festival of Lupercalia. He decided that February 14 would be the day to celebrate Saint Valentine, who had become known as the patron of lovers because of the couples he had married. Plus the date they picked just so happened to fall in the middle of Lupercalia that they really needed to get rid of.

Magical themes of Lupercalia

Every season and every pagan holiday has certain concepts and magical themes. Which means, depending on your tradition and needs, you can weave one or more of these themes into your personal celebrations. This festival perform spells to harness the energies of fertility, purification, pleasure, lust, and prosperity. This is also a time to reflect on your relationships and future goals in regards to children. This festival is reminder to harness the fertility of spring awakening soon to bring you what you deeply desire. On Lupercalia, we see the following magical rituals and spells below as well. Remember these are just some of the themes and energies you can connect to and work with on Lupercalia.

fertility
purification
lust
prosperity
pleasure
good health
renewal
community
family
protection

Correspondences for Lupercalia

First, what is a correspondence? A correspondence is an item or symbol that is meant to connect you to a specific energy thru it’s representation. It is seen also as an item to respect, honor, and venerate that energy as well whether it be a deity, an archetype energy, the zodiac energy the moon is currently or for A holiday or sacred time like Lupercalia. I will list below for you to use. Remember this is not an all encompassing list and there may be other correspondences to use. Just follow your intuition and use what calls to you.

Planet-Jupiter
Animal-goat, wolf
symbol-phallic symbols, wolf, Romulus, Remus, roman empire
colors-White:, red
Herbs/flowers-rosemary and lavender
Stones/ crystals-carnelian and amethyst
Deities-Lupercus
Food/drinks- milk, goat meat

Correspondences for Valentine’s Day

Remember, what is a correspondence? A correspondence is an item or symbol that is meant to connect you to a specific energy thru it’s representation. It is seen also as an item to respect, honor, and venerate that energy as well whether it be a deity, an archetype energy, the zodiac energy the moon is currently or for A holiday or sacred time like Valentine’s day. I will list below for you to use. Remember this is not an all encompassing list and there may be other correspondences to use. Just follow your intuition and use what calls to you.

Symbols- Hearts, doves, birds, cupid
deities- Venus, Aphrodite, Eros, Dionysus, bachas, any deity of love, fertility and sex
herb/flowers- roses, lavender, basil, cinnamon
colors- pink, red, white
crystals/stones- rose quartz, garnet, ruby, green aventurine, red jasper, rhodochrosite
tools- candles
foods- strawberries, avocado, cherry, chocolate

How to celebrate Lupercalia

However you choose to work with the Lupercalia magic and energies make sure to follow your intuition where it leads you. Make sure you tap into the energies of fertility, renewal, purification, pleasure, and prosperity. In your everyday life, you can work with any affirmations, mantras, and visualization work for abundance, fertility, the coming spring, and community. Let’s take a look at some of the many different ways you can magically work with the energy of Lupercalia.

Cleansing & Purging
Lupercalia is in the month of February, and it was also called dies Februatus by the ancient Romans. Februatus translates to “purge”. Therefore, if you don’t want to celebrate the pagan Valentine’s Day with love-making and feasting, make it a day of cleansing and purging. Get rid of what no longer serves you in the physical realm. Including clutter in your space (think junky closets, pantries, fridge, etc.) and then cleanse the negative vibrations via smoke-cleansing. In addition, purging yourself of unwanted thoughts and harmful habits and cleansing your aura via a ritual bath or shower.

Feast on the Pagan Valentine’s Day!
Whether you have a love interest or not, Lupercalia is about celebrating what we have on this earthly plane. It’s the perfect day to throw a feast! Choose foods that are traditional Roman or Italian, red sauces, wine, and other red foods. Aphrodisiacs are appropriate if you are getting romantic with the meal including strawberries, oysters, chocolate, and dairy.

Drink Wine
The Romans were all about their wine. If you want to do Lupercalia right, you got to drink the wine. Red is best to represent love and passion. Be sure to make a toast to the ancient Romans and a fertile life before drinking the wine. Clink your glasses together to scare off the bad spirits lurking in the wine. Setting up an altar for the god of wine Dionysus or Bacchus is also appropriate whenever you have a feast with Roman influences behind it.

Fertility Rituals
Trying to conceive? Or maybe you have no desire for a baby at all. Either way, fertility isn’t just about conceiving children. It also relates to prosperity and growth of nearly any other goal in life: career success, your passions like art, etc. Lupercalia is a powerful day to do fertility spells and rituals of any kind! Some of my favorite fertility spells involve using eggs. Check out my guide here to read all about it and use some of them listed there.

Wear Red and White as a rebellion to Valentine’s day

Instead of wearing red and white to connect to valentines day you can wear it to connect to Lupercalia. You were red to represent the blood of sacrifice and the white of milk of the she wolf and goddess Rumina.

Creative Endeavors on Lupercalia
Since Lupercalia is a fertile time, creativity is given a boost in different aspects. Have you been waiting for the right time to start a new project? To learn a new skill? Engage in some sort of arts and crafts to celebrate Lupercalia and the inspiration will not flow short.

Have sex!
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. OR when it’s Lupercalia, do as the Romans do. And have sex! You can even add some sex and lust magic to spice it up a bit! I have quite a few sex magic spells on my Pinterest. Plus don’t forget to sign up and register for my Valentine’s day sex magic event to learn more about it all!

Other ways to work with Lupercalia

Create an altar for Lupercus
perform prosperity and abundance spells
work with the she wolf in meditations or shamanic journeys
work with awakening your kundalini energy
leave an offering of milk on your altar
add some whipping to your sex life in honor of the old rituals
create fertility amulets and charms
set intentions and plan SMART goals for the coming spring and planting season
share some time one on one with your loved one
plan for having a children in the future
mindfully spend time outdoors to connect to nature
dance
serve your community in a way that works best for you
Craft Lupercalia Cards
plant and start sowing seeds for the coming spring
bless your seeds
Donate to an animal shelter or spend time volunteering at your local humane society with the dogs there
Participate in a Community Cleanup
get creative and express yourself artistically

Magical themes of Valentines day

Every holiday has certain concepts and magical themes. Which means, depending on your tradition and needs, you can weave one or more of these themes into your personal celebrations. This holiday perform spells to harness the energies of love, romance, fertility, sex, and abundance. This is also a time to reflect on your relationships and future goals in regards to commitment and romance. This festival is a reminder to harness the potent energy our love and romance with others in our life can create. On Valentine’s Day, we see the following magical rituals and spells below as well. Remember these are just some of the themes and energies you can connect to and work with on Valentine’s day.

Romance
Fertility
Commitment
love
pleasure
sex
abundance
relationships
friendship
admiration
affection

How to celebrate Valentines day

However you choose to work with the Valentines day magic and energies make sure to follow your intuition where it leads you. Make sure you tap into the energies of fertility, love, sex, pleasure, and abundance. In your everyday life, you can work with any affirmations, mantras, and visualization work for abundance, fertility, the coming spring, love, and commitment. Let’s take a look at some of the many different ways you can magically work with the energy of Valentines Day.

Share a meal with your loved ones.

Valentine’s day is about connection to others whether it be romantic love, or your family. So, take this time to connect with them through a delicious meal and you can make sure to have fruits like strawberries, passion fruit, cherries and more to connect to the energy of love.

Create a self love altar or do a self love ritual.

Valentine’s day is all about the energy of love and connection and that doesn’t have to be to anyone else that can be all about yourself and increasing your love of self. You can use this as a reminder that you are worthy of love, worth celebrating, and create a sacred space to connect to yourself. To learn more about self love and how to maintain it through self care you can check out my guide here.

Do a beauty or glamor ritual.

This type of magic can help you feel more desirable, have a higher level of self confidence, and turn up your sexual passion with heightened self esteem and valentines day is a perfect time to cast this with the heightened connection to Aphrodite who is great to use during these type of workings

Love spells to attract or enhance your love life.

Since, Valentine’s is all about love, romance, and connection why not use this time to cast a love spell or do any type of love spell work like a spell jar or honey jar? This time will enhance any of these type of spells whether you are looking to attract to new love to your life or rekindle it in your current relationship.

Work with Deities Aphrodite or Venus.

With Valentine’s day being all about love and romance what better deities to work with on all fronts whether its self love or with a partner than Aphrodite and Venus? These two are known for beauty, love, fertility and more. You can connect to them through any attracting love spells, beauty spells, work with your partner, and adding offerings to them to your altar during this time.

Use sex magic to enhance your life or manifestation work.

Valentines is a great time to do sex magic with yourself or your partner. What are sex magic spells and lust spells? Sex spells are magical rituals ready to help you boost your sex life, creating a unique luxurious burning desire between you and your partner. These spells and rituals are a great tool if you feel any lack of confidence, any distance between you and your loved one but, most of all, to have the best sex of your life! They are also a great tool for manifestation but, I feel for this holiday focus on the fun this magic can add to your life! To learn more about sex magic you can check out my class on YouTube with DiviNation Academy here.

Other ways to work with Valentine’s day

To get 9 spells to make this Valentine’s Day enchanting and magical click here!

Cast friendship spells
make offerings to deities of love to strengthen your relationship
volunteering your time to your community
add some sigils for love, romance, and passion to your meals with kitchen magic
make a spell jar to sweeten up your love life or attract your ideal partner
Use flowers in your spells or leave them at your altar
write love letters
watch romantic movies
Wake up your kundalini energy with some dance
Tanta
Take a ritual bath together to promote love
create a simmer pot spell to promote a deepened commitment in your relationship
cast spells to attract your ideal partner
perform a commitment ceremony
do some knot magic
cast fertility spells

Lupercalia/ Valentines day Spell

Celebrate the season of love with a simple and effective Lupercalia or Valentine’s Day love spell! This spell is designed to help you attract, give thanks for, and honor your current and potential loves. Whether you’re looking for a spark in an existing relationship, or wanting to draw new love into your life, this ancient ritual will infuse all forms of attraction with passion and romance. Whether you are single or in a committed relationship, this is the perfect opportunity to manifest more love into your life. A little bit of magic can take us far – so why not cast this pleasant celebratory spell? You might just see some amazing results!

What you will need:

Cinnamon
Ginger
Damiana
Rose petals
Honey
Empty jar
Rose quartz
Amethyst
Fire safe bowl
Red candle
Mirror
Piece of paper
Red ink pen

How to perform spell:

Light the red candle and place it near the fire safe bowl.
Take the cinnamon, ginger, damiana, and rose petals and mix them in the bowl.
Hold the ingredients in your hands and feel the energy flowing through you. Visualize yourself surrounded by love and positivity.
Light the ingredients with the candle flame, and while they’re burning, write down your love intentions on the piece of paper with the red ink pen.
Take the jar and add the burning ingredients and honey to it.
Place the rose quartz and amethyst into the jar and seal it with the lid.
Hold the jar in front of the mirror and say the following incantation with conviction: “By the power of love and the energies of Lupercalia, I call upon the universe to bring love and positivity into my life.”
Put the jar in a safe place and let the spell work its magic.

Final thoughts

Whether you choose to celebrate Valentine’s day or Lupercalia or even both just remember these holidays are all about fertility, purification, sex, and love. To celebrate Lupercalia and Valentine’s day is to immerse oneself in the embrace of nature’s beauty and the magic of community. So, take the time to connect to those however fits into your path and don’t forget to have fun with it and enjoy it!

Don’t forget to head over to my shop and register for my Valentines day sex magic event as well; Essence of the sacred dance. When you register for this event you will learn; Sex magic techniques to increase pleasure, create more presence in the moment, manifest your desires through organisms, and strengthen your connection through timeless intimacy! Let me show you how something as simple as the right energy, intention, and breathing technique with your blowjobs can heal years of trauma for your partner even! Plus you will leave with an eBook full of sex magic spells you can do on your own and journal prompts to help unlock more of your sexual prowess, desires, and release blockages holding you back in bed.

If you have ever wanted to learn how to make sex apart of your magic and spiritual life this event is for you! We begin at 6:30pm CST- 8:30pm CST on Wednesday February 11th in google meet. To register for this event purchase today!

Join my Patreon Community; The modgepodgemystic Mysteries

About Me : I have been a solitary grey magic practitioner for 15 + years. First and foremost, I consider myself a mystic and seeker of all knowledge. I am dedicated to the restoration, and re-enchantment of Magic in society, across this realm, and in each and every soul I come across in life! I am here to create a container that promotes healing, duality, and raw authenticity. I do this by guiding you on your personal journey to understanding your unique magic and sacred contracts. I facilitate this for you through embracing your shadow, duality and learning to live in energetic balance while not wearing a mask. When you work and learn from me you do so from your “darkness” as much as your “light” and in a way to truly harness and accept it not to just go thru it on the way to your light. But, I teach you how to truly embrace it, work with it, and use it alongside your light as a partner. I hold up a mirror for you to be able to see your authentic reflection looking back. Then have the courage to take the next step and do the uncomfortable but vital inner work to completely remove your mask. By facing all of your past wounds, traumas, and hurts. Allowing you to see both the dark and light within your story and take each chapter and alchemize it into something that is so powerful. your unique internal flame will shine so bright you will always be able to go within and find it on a dark cold night. You will learn how to truly live in duality and energetic balance to allow growth, and alignment with your sacred contracts and purposes. to finally move on and truly let the things that hold you back in this life from healing and manifesting go. To see everything I offer; like personalized shadow work sessions, womb healing, eBooks for you to work through on your own, Tarot sessions for guidance and more! Go to my shop!

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