The Origins of Valentine’s Day 

By: Deona Zani

Valentine’s Day originated in Ancient Rome dating back to around the 6th century. At first, it was a festival around the 14th of February. This festival was made to honor the Roman goddess of marriage who was called Juno and the wolf Capitoline. Although February 14th was supposed to be a day of love, it had very dark and violent origins. Many sacrifices were made which involved dogs and goats (both animals were males). It was sexist and men used blood from the sacrificial knife on their foreheads. During this time they believed that this practice meant women who were pregnant would be helped during their delivery. During this festival men would take a woman’s name from a jar and escort her to the festival which could lead to them getting married or developing a relationship. This day was later declared a feast of Valentine’s so the usual day would get supplanted. The legend of this day then grew when a man gave a letter to a girl when he was behind jail which was signed with “your valentine”. Later on, members of a court of Paris met for dinner and the men would sing an original love song, which was judged by the women to distract from a plague that had happened in 1400. The normal traditions that we have now on this date emerged in the 1600s. 

Source: https://www.cnet.com/culture/valentines-day-2022-history-and-meaning/