The weekend before February 14th seems a good time to post this. So here goes.

Way before the three possibly mythical St.Valentines of the Church, the days February 13 to the 15th were celebrated in ancient Rome. The season was called the Lupercalia, the Wolf Festival, and has been described by several historians, including Plutarch.

We are approaching the beginning of February, which means about forty days after Yule. The mother of the Celtic Sun god, born again on the 21st of December, the Solstice, has experienced her customary forty days of purification after childbirth and is now entering her cyclical change into maidenhood.

Today is the 21st, the Solstice, the day that begins the victory of the Light over the Darkness, the day and period when our ancestors rejoiced that the Darkness had not overcome the Light. The Real Reason for the Season. Nothing whatever to do with Jesus or Camels or Shepherds. It’s also the anniversary of the day when the Pilgrims arrived here without having to go through the humiliation that immigrants now endure. But that was in 1620. The celebration of the Light is thousands of years older than that snip of time.

Back to the Christmas material:

Hallowe’en is just a few days away, celebrations began days ago in Salem over here, so it’s time for my annual updated historical story about it.