Lupercalia

Lupercalia (or "Wolf Festival") was an ancient Roman (possibly pre-Roman) festival.  During the festival days, the city was cleansed to rid it of evil spirits, promoting the health and fertility of it's citizens.

Lupercalia was held on the anniversary of the founding of the temple of the God Lupercus.  Lupercus is associated with both the gods Faunus and Pan and is the god of shepherds.

Giorces via Wikimedia Commons

 The festival was also dedicated Lupa, the wolf who found and suckled the twins, Romulus and Remus (left to die in the wilderness), who went on to found Rome.

The Lupercalian rites were done by the Luperci ("Brothers of the Wolf"), who were also priests of Faunus.   The festival would begin with the sacrifice of two goats and a dog.  The priests would wipe the blood from the sacrificial knife with a piece of wool soaked in milk, and use it to anoint the foreheads of young priests. Whips would then be cut from the skins of the sacrificial animals, and the Luperci would run through the town and whip the women lined up along the path.  This was said to ensure their fertility and keep them from experiencing  unbearable pain in childbirth.

The Lupercalia festival was banned by Pope Gelasius in AD 496, who rededicated the festival by declaring February 14 as the feast day of St. Valentine


Sources:
The Lupercalia by Alberta Mildred Franklin
The Ides: Caesar's Murder and the War for Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins




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