When I first began working as a Mental Health Professional, I immediately became aware of the anger and rage that many Black African American women harbored towards their significant other. These women’s rage was all because their significant other failed to fulfill their fantasy on Valentine’s Day. (As in all of my posts, underlined words are links.) Either their significant other totally forgot to give them anything on Valentine’s Day or they did not give them enough of what they wanted.
Although we call it, “Saint Valentine’s Day,” very few celebrants or participants have any idea or knowledge about the origin of this pagan/religious ritual, which dates back to antiquity. Neither do they know they are actually celebrating two fictitious individuals – St. Valentine, and Cupid.
As far back as 44 BCE (“Before the Common Era”) (if not further), pagans celebrated a fertility and health ritual known as “The feast of 
Lupercalia,” from February 13th -15th. Initially, the emphasis was on the shepherds and it was supposed to make their cows and sheep healthier and fertile. During the Lupercalia festival, priests sacrificed goats and dogs because these animals were, thought to have robust sexual prowess.
After the sacrifices, the celebrants consumed copious amounts of food and wine, then, men wrapped their naked bodies in the goatskins and streaked through the city hitting women (Today, we call it – “Being hit on”) in hopes that the pregnant would deliver and the barren would become pregnant.
Women placed their names in a bowl to be drawn by the men. Those selected were paired together for the duration of the festival. If they liked each other afterwards, they would marry; if not, they would go their separate ways. This was the first formalized matchmaking program in recorded history.
Throughout their conquests, the Romans incorporated the “feast of lupercalia” into their rituals as the celebration of “Lupa,” the female wolf who allegedly nursed both Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome) back to health.
Around 496 AD, Pope Gelasius banned this pagan ritual, claiming it was making a mockery out of Christianity. However, he felt that if you can not beat them, rename them, so the ritual continued under another name.
As we know, Christians cannot denounce a holiday, without replacing it with one of their own creation; so Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as, St. Valentine’s Day, although he was not sure which St. Valentine he was actually celebrating, because there were several.
Allegedly, there was a St. Valentine, who was beheaded in the third century because he disobeyed Emperor Claudius‘ edict, declaring it illegal for any of his soldiers to marry. Emperor Claudius reasoned that an unmarried soldier was more loyal and a better fighter because he had nothing to lose. There are several other fictitious accounts of other St. Valentines, who also met their untimely deaths in the name of L-O-V-E.
Geoffrey Chaucer is credited with our still celebrating Valentine’s Day when he wrote “Parliament of Foules” in 1382 as an anniversary gift to King Richard ll of England and Anne of Bohemia. Allegedly, this was the first Valentine love poem.
Today, the Catholic Church is still clueless about which St. Valentine they are celebrating, so, in 1969, Pope Paul VI removed St. Valentine from the church’s official Calendar of Saints, so it is now a purely commercial celebration.
Ester A. Howland, a White American female entrepreneur received a Valentine card and realized she could make a fortune by selling them in her father’s bookstore. By the 1850s, she had cornered the American market. Today, Valentine’s Day is a “cash cow,” second only to Christmas in the number of cards, flowers, candy and jewelry sold. In fact, 25% of all Greeting Cards sold in America are for Valentine’s Day.
During the 1980s, the diamond industry came on board and declared; “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and foolish men failed to hear the real message. If the “diamond” is your girl’s best friend, what were you, “her second best friend?”
Last year, Valentine’s Day candy sales ranked #1, and 13 billion dollars were spent in America on this pagan/religious ritual, averaging about $116. 00 per consumer. Be mindful, this is just the average, because many of you go overboard in your spending. By the way, elementary school teachers receive the most Valentine cards, because they are the ones brainwashing their young students into adopting this pagan/religious ritual.
Men, when you need to blame someone for having to spend money for flowers, candy, cards and diamonds, remember Pope Gelasius.
If it were not for him, you would still be able to eat, drink, get nude and run around the city “hitting on” women without having to spend money on a one-day event or making a permanent commitment to the women you spent those few days with.
How can you celebrate Valentine’s Day without acknowledging “Cupid?” In fact, “Cupid” is synonymous with love. As the fantasy goes, if Cupid shoots you with his arrow, you will immediately fall fanatically and insanely in love with the very next person that you meet.
However, I never could understand the depiction of Cupid as a White male toddler with wings, a bow and arrows, until I realized White Romans were and still are (Roman Catholic Church) deeply engaged in pedophilia and the creation of ritualistic fantasies. Today, super-rich and powerful men (only men) meet annually at the Bohemian Grove in Northern California, to fulfill their fantasies.
Just like many other things created by the Romans, Cupid is just another pagan creation of theirs. Supposedly, Cupid was seeking someone to pierce with his arrow and he accidentally pierced himself. He then saw Psyche and fell madly in love with her.
Unfortunately, for Psyche her new mother-in-law, Aphrodite was extremely jealous, as well as was Psyche’s sisters.
Because Cupid was a god, he told Psyche never to look at him. Consequently, he would only creep around to see her during the nighttime, and he would be gone before sunrise. However, Cupid would lavish Psyche with beautiful gifts and jewelry. (Sound familiar, ladies?)
Finally, with much meddling, Psyche’s sisters persuaded her to look at Cupid, telling her that he does not want her to see how grotesque and ugly he was. Her own curiosity finally got the best of her, so Psyche lit a candle and held it over Cupid while he was asleep.
To her amazement and joy, Cupid was the finest man she had ever seen. He was so fine, that she could not take her eyes off him, (Nancy Wilson) resulting in the hot candle wax dripping on him. This is probably not what Teddy Pendergrass meant when he sang, “Turn Off The Lights.”
Of course, that “burning hot wax” (Teddy) caused Cupid to immediately awake and realizing Psyche broke her promise never to look at him, he immediately left her, not intending to return. Psyche was heartbroken (pun intended) and she pleaded with her mother-in-law, Aphrodite to help her get Cupid back.
Aphrodite agreed upon the condition that Psyche successfully complete four tests, with the fourth test consisting of her searching for a box of “beauty cream” and returning it to Aphrodite. Once Psyche retrieved the box, which she thought contained “beauty cream,” she wanted some for herself, so she opened it, only to find it was empty.
It was a trick, which Aphrodite knew would work and Psyche immediately fell into a coma. 
Cupid rescued his wife, and brought her to Olympus and gave her nectar of ambrosia, turning her into an immortal. Psyche gave birth to their child, Pleasure and Aphrodite became a doting grandmother, and they all lived happily thereafter.
Now that you have the fictitious stories of both Valentine’s Day and Cupid, I have a question for my Christian readers. How does God feel about your celebrating pagan rituals such as, Valentine’s Day? For those who are interested, you will find the answer in Deuteronomy 12:29-32, KJV, which reads as follows:
“29 When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.”
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
Of course, many Christians only use God as a spare tire. If there is not a need for God, He is stored in their closed trunks in order for them to be able to pursue Cupid and other pagan/religious rituals. Yet, the moment they encounter a flat along life’s highway, they immediately go to their trunks and pull out their God for help and salvation.
Oh, what a blessing it is that my people do not read, think, or use common sense says the Pastors, Pimps, and Politicians.