The Bloody-Weird Origins of Valentine's Day

Today's diabetic-shock inducing Valentine sweetness is a looooong way from its roots in an ancient Roman love festival. In mid-February, the Romans practiced a ritual so old and strange, even they couldn't tell you what it meant and how it started.

Actor Charlie Hunnam @ http://www.worldoffemale.com

It went like this: During the Lupercalia (usually February 15), a group of handsome young men would strip naked, get oiled up and present themselves at the Forum where priests would sacrifice a dog and a goat in front of them. The priests would then smear the young men's foreheads with the blood of the animals.

The nekkid young men would then wipe off the blood and laugh. The laughing part was very important. No one knows why.

Then the priests skinned the goat and dog and made tiny whip-like-thongs out of the skins, handing it to the young men.

The slicked up hotties then chased young women throughout the streets of Rome with the intention of slapping them with the skins. Women thus "annointed" were said to instantly become fertile.

Hmmm. Maybe today's blood-red roses came from the bloodied strips of skin the men offered women! Wait, what do you mean I'm ruining the romance?

Young married women who wanted to get pregnant, as a result, accidentally-on-purpose put themselves in the way of the slicked-up boys. To no one's surprise, there was much drinking before, during, and after this festival. 

By implication there was a lot of er, "romance" happening later too. I guess we've come a long way.  The Romans stripped naked and anointed young women in the name of fertility. Today, we strip our wallets and anoint each other with flowers and chocolate.  Progress, right?