The Untold Origins of Valentine's Day

Episode Description:
Valentine’s Day—a celebration of love, romance, and sweet gestures… but did you know its origins are far from roses and chocolates? Before Hallmark cards and candlelit dinners, this day had ties to ancient rituals, mysterious gods, and even a rebellious king lost in history.

In this episode of LilWeird, we dig deep into the shadowy past of Valentine’s Day, exploring:

🩸 The Roman festival of Lupercalia, filled with wild rituals and strange traditions
🏹 Cupid’s hidden backstory—was he more than just a love-struck cherub?
👑 The controversial connection to an ancient ruler, whose legend still echoes today
🔮 The Gnostic influence that shaped early Christian traditions
💌 How the Church rebranded a festival of fertility into a day of love

Is Valentine’s Day really about Saint Valentine, or is there more to the story? Join me as we question the origins of one of the world’s most beloved holidays.

🎧 Listen now and uncover the hidden history!

🔎 Show Notes:

📖 Further Reading for Curious Minds:

The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop – A controversial book linking modern traditions to Babylonian mystery religions
Babylon Mystery Religion by Ralph Woodrow – Explores the connections between ancient and modern religious customs
Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola & George Barna – A deep dive into how pagan influences shaped Christian traditions
The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer – A study on mythology, folklore, and rituals

🗣️ Join the Conversation:
What do you think about these theories? Do they hold weight, or are they just historical coincidences? Let’s chat!
📩 DM me on Instagram @lilweird_podcast or leave a comment on your favorite podcast platform.


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Instagram: @lilweird_podcast
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X (formerly Twitter): @LilWeirdJane

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode!

⚠️ Disclaimer:
This episode of LilWeird explores various historical theories, interpretations, and myths surrounding Valentine’s Day. While some of these ideas are based on historical records, others stem from alternative research and speculation. This episode is intended for discussion and curiosity—not as a definitive historical account. Listeners are encouraged to think critically, do their own research, and form their own conclusions.

📚 References & Sources:
The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop – A book that claims many modern traditions have roots in ancient Babylon, though it is debated by historians.
Babylon Mystery Religion by Ralph Woodrow – A book that explores the evolution of religious customs, though the author later distanced himself from Hislop’s conclusions.
Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola & George Barna – An exploration of how pagan traditions influenced Christian holidays and practices.
The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer – A detailed study of mythology, folklore, and ancient religious customs.
Historical references to Lupercalia – Sourced from Encyclopedia Britannica and various academic texts.
Biblical references – Genesis 10:8-12 (Nimrod), interpretations of Saint Valentine, and theories surrounding Babylonian religious influence.

📌 Note: Some of these sources present alternative or speculative theories. Listeners are encouraged to explore multiple perspectives and conduct their own research.

Credits:
Closing Music: 'Dystopia' by Neutrin05

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lilweird-podcast--6099720/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Lo this in the air, chocolates, roses, and hard shaped cards,
feel store shelves everywhere, people are celebrating romance, fashion, and affection.
Valentine's Day is perhaps the most romantic day of the year,
or is it. What if I told you that Valentine's

(00:26):
Day was not always about love, that we need to
sweep messages and candle the tinners. There lies a history
filled with blood rituals, ancient cuds, and dark traditions that
the origins of this holiday race back to the festival
that had nothing to do with love and everything to
do with sacrifice, lust and for deity rites, and even

(00:48):
go even further back beyond the days of rope, we
might find that the roosty celebration run much deeper than
we think, echoing traditions from ancient civilizations that cheap the
wild in ways we still can't fully understand. Now, don't
get me wrong, I didn't want to ruin anyone's Valentine's Day.

(01:09):
That's why I decided to make this an after Valentine's episode.
This is back into reality. None of trolllics are half price,
and the flower booqets are starting to build. But here's
the real question. Is Valentine's Day truly about love or
is it a cleverly disguised relic of something much older
and much darker. Let's underbolt the origins of Saint Valentine's Day,

(01:31):
what we have been told, what was hidden, and whether
this holiday is truly about love or something else entirely
Welcome back to the Lyric Podcast. I'm your host, Jane,
and I hope you all had a wonderful or at
least interesting Valentine's Day, whether you spend it with a
special someone, your friends are just a good book and sex,

(01:53):
I hope it does exactly what you wanted.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
So tell me how is your Valentines?

Speaker 1 (01:57):
For you one of those people receiving flowers and Chilid's
army me.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
You were the one buying as many gifts.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
And panic, or perhaps you completely ignore the they intituaited
for the discounts on apiliary for intern For me, Valie's
Day always reminds me of my college days. See in
my university, Valentine's Day was bigger than intermurals. It wasn't
just couple celebrating, it was friends propping each otter random

(02:26):
serenus in the middle of class, and skilled organizations turning
love and laughter into business.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
You can literally pays it.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Or to delivery a flower, a song, or even embarrassing
on this pot performance their friend. And trust me, people
did not hold back. Professors getting loves on afterdam students
running away, embarrassment, friends secretly sending fake confessions. It was fun, romantic,
firs and most definitely profitable. But here's something to think about.

(02:56):
Why is Valtine's Stay the most popular saying stay in
the Philippines. I mean, when we think of Saint's Day,
most of them just passed by without much recognition. But
Valentine's it's celebrated like a major event. Other than of course,
classes are not suspected, other than all Saints Day, which
let's be honest, we don't really celebrate for the saints,

(03:17):
but as an accession of also a state to.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Honor the dead.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Now, other Saints Day gets this much attention, So why
does Saint Valentine's Day stand up? Is it really because
of Saint Valentine or is there something much older behind it.
That's what we're going to uncover the day, starting with
what most people know about Valentine's Day before peeling back
layers of history to see where it really began. Let's

(03:41):
start the story. Most of us grew up with the
legend of Saint Bath all right, Let's start with the
version of Valentine's Day that most people know the story
of Saint Valentine. If you ask around, most people will
say Valentine's Day is about a kind hearted scene who
secretly help lovers divide an emperor and died for love.

(04:02):
It sounds like something straight out of a romance novel.
But what's the actual story. The truth is, there wasn't
just one Saint Valentine. The Catholic Church actually recognizes at
least three different Saint Valentine's, all of whom were martyred,
which you know isn't exactly romantic. One leon says that
Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome during the reign

(04:23):
of Emperor Claudi used the second in the third century.
The story goes that Claude Us outlood marriages for a youngmen,
believing that single men made better soldiers. Valentine, however, continued
to perform marriages in secret for young lovers. Another person
claims that Saint Valentine was in prison for helping persecuted Christians.
Val in prison, he supposedly healed the jailor's blind daughter,

(04:46):
and before his execution he left her a note sign
from your Valentine, which, if true, would make that the
first ever Valentine's message. The third person tells of a
Bishop Valentine of Attorney who was also martyr for his faith.
Some restaurants believed this Valentine and their prest Valentine might
actually be the same person, just with different parts of

(05:06):
the story called over time. Here's where things get interesting. Valentine,
or at least one of them, was supposed to be
executed in February forteen, around two hundred and seventy eighty.
That's why Pope galashes the first later degree February fourteen
as Saint Valentine's Day in four ninety six eighty.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
But here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Many early Christian martyrs had fist days. So why did
Saint Valentine's Day become this huge celebration of romantic life.
Why not any of the other martyrs. Well that's where
history gets murky, because this wasn't just about a say,
the timing of Valentine's Day suggests that something else, something
much older, was already being celebrated in mid February, and

(05:45):
that's where we meet Lupercalia, a festival filled with wild rituals, sacrifices,
and a celebration that had nothing to do with Saint
Valentine but everything to do with fertility, us and ancient cats.
All Right, so we've talked about Saint Valentine and how
February fourteen pickame his bas day. But here's where things

(06:08):
take an interesting third because while the holiday in my
teena after saying its traditions, they didn't exactly start before
saying Valentine was even a thought. The Romans were already
celebrating something else around this time of year. It was
called Lupercalia, and let's just say it was nothing like
the Valentine's Day we know today. Lupercalia was held every
year from February thirteen to fifteen, and it was all

(06:31):
about purification, fertivity, and ensuring good fortune. But the way
they went about it a little unconventional. So here's how
it started. The festival took place the lupercoll Cave, which
according to legend, was where Romulus and Remus, the three
brothers who found the room burners by a ship wolf,
so honor that story. The festival beginning with the sacrifice

(06:52):
schools and dogs were offered by Roman price called the
luperci and things get a little more hands on. The
prisbee smeared the fresh blood onto their for it, wipe
it off it milk, and then run through the streets
of Rome. But they weren't just running for fun. They
were carrying strips of gold skin. And here's the part
that might surprising. Women actually line up to completely weep
with it. Now, before you start picturing something violent, this

(07:15):
was not about punishment.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Women believe that being touched.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
By these good hide strips would bring them good fortune
and boost their fertivity. It was more of a symbolic
blessing than anything else. And if that wasn't interesting enough,
Libercalia also had a unique match making tradition. Young men
would draw the names of women from a jar and
the two would be paired up for the festival. Sometimes
it was just for fun, but other times these matches
actually led the marriage. Now, this was one of the

(07:40):
most popular festivals in Rome. People loved it so much
so that even after Room officially became Christian, they kept
celebrating it. The Church wasn't exactly thrilled about that though,
see Liberclia didn't quite fit into Christian teachings. So the
church had two choices, find it completely or repurposed into
something more acceptable. And that's exactly what happened. In four

(08:02):
nine six eighty pop Gettishus the first officially declared February
fourteen as Saint Valentine's Day, slowly replacing the old traditions
in humans that focus more on love and devotion. Over time,
the retols of Lupercalia faded away and Saint Valentine took
the spotline. But here's where things get really interesting. Some
historians believe that Lipercolia itself might have been influenced by

(08:24):
an even older tradition, one that didn't begin in Rome
at all, but in an ancient civilization much further back
in history, a civilization where a mighty ruler built an
empire and may have shaped traditions that still echo in
our modern world. But we'll get to that next. So
we've talked about the Lupercolia, the bloody forensic possible that

(08:47):
somehow got rebranded into Valentine's. Say, let's go even into
the rabbit hole. Some researchers and alternative historians claim that
the origins of this festival may even be older, racing
back to a controversial, almost mythical figure, a mighty hunter,
a king, a goddessm Nimerod. Now let me be clear

(09:08):
what we're about. The discuss is debated, controversial and far
from being accepted history, but it's fascinating. Nonetheless, some believe
that luper Kaya and even the way we portrayed Cupid
might have a surprising ties to Nimrod, the ancient king
of Babylon. But who has Nimrod and why is he
linked to Valentine's Day. Nimrod is a character straight out

(09:30):
of the Book of Genesis. It's described as a mighty
hunter before the Lord Genesis, chapter.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
The verse nine.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
Some interpretations suggest that that phrase doesn't mean he was
a heroic figure. It might actually mean he was a
rebel defying God. Nimrod is often credited with founding Babylon
and the Tower of People and attempt to reach the heavens,
which of course didn't end well. But over time, different
cultures gave him many names, by Mardu, Society's and even

(10:00):
Saturn in later Roman traditions, So what does this have
to do with Cupid? The chubby little win baby shooting arrows.
Most of us picture Quepid as disadorable, mischievous jerub who
makes people fall in love. But in all their myths,
Cupid wasn't always so innocent. His Greek equivalent was Rous,
a powerful god of desire who could overwhelm people with

(10:23):
uncontrollable passion. But here's where things get weird. Some accounts
claim that Cupid is actually a symbolic representation of Nemerod himself.
According to some interpretations, Nimrod was so revered that his mother,
Semaramis sefied him after his death. Some legends she even

(10:44):
married her Omuzan, claiming he was reborn as a god.
And guess what the word cupid actually means?

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Desire.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
Some sources claim that when Samaramis saw her son, she
desired him. This disturbing connection is why some conspiracy Cupid
is not just a kid glove angel, but a remnant
of an ancient fertility cult. It gets even stranger. Some
believe that when Nemero died, his body was dropped into
pieces is scattered across different Eddi baries. He's missing body

(11:15):
part well, let's just say his reproductive organ was never found.
Some claim it was later symbolized as an obelisk like
the one in Washington, DC or in the Vatican's own
Saint Peter's Square. That's why the heart shape, the universal
symbol of Valentine's Day, was never originally based on human heart,
but on ancient fertility symbols. Of course, these theories are

(11:38):
a part of mainstream history, and why their numerous influence
truly stretches into the traditions we see today is still
off for debate. But here's what we do. Throughout history.
Belief systems have a way of adapting, absorbing, and repackaging
all their evolutions, whether intentionally or through cultural evolution.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
So while we look.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
At how ancient kings, fertility golds, and Roman festivals might
have shape what we now call Valentine's Day, there's still
another leader to uncover, one that doesn't come from the
rulers or the Pagans, but from a group beating early
Christianity itself, a group that's not hidden knowledge, spiritual unions
and a mystical understanding of love before the church fully

(12:21):
established its controls, before it decided which traditions to keep
and which ones to raise. There is a different kind
of Christianity, one the marriage faith with ancient wisdom, secrecy,
and sometimes controversial riddles. And at the center of it
was a movement named after mind Valentines, but it bed
Valentine's Day despite its mainstam Christian Identitiestic carries echoes of

(12:45):
these hidden teachings as fine. Now, so we've gone from
Valentine to Lupercalia and even further back to the England. But
there's still another fascinating leger to thea story, one that
involves early Christian mystics, secret teachings, and a movement that
the Church later tried theories. I'm talking about the Gnostics,

(13:07):
a group of early Christians who had a very different
interpretation of faith, one that tended elements of philosophy, mysticism,
and in some cases even the Bigan traditions.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
Of fertility cults.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
So who are the Gnostics? The very gnosis means knowledge,
and for Gnostics, the goal was to gain hidden spiritual
knowledge that they believe would lead to enlightenment and salvation.
But their version of Christianity look very different from what
you know today. While Meysiam Christianity focus on faith in doctrine.
The Gnostics believe in mystical experiences, sacred unions, and rituals

(13:42):
that sometimes involve sexual symbolism. Some even claimed that the
physical world was created by get imperfect guide and the
true salvation could only be found through esoterist And this
is where things stayed.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Unexpected dream because some.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
Historians suggest the Gnostic sex, especially the followers of a
teacher named Valentinus, we have played a role in reshaping
Liupercalia into something resembling what we now call Valentine's Day.
One of the most well known Gnostic sects was led
by Valentinus, a second century Christian mystic is. Followers known

(14:18):
as the Valentinians had their own mystical interpretation of love
and spiritual union, and according to some sources, the rituals
may have included elements of the ancient fertility traditions from Liupercalia.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
One of their most.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Controversial rituals was called the Sacrament of Copulation, which, as
you can probably guess, wasn't your typical church a service.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
This ritual was said to.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
Involve a symbolic or sometimes literal, re enactment of divine
union between the male and female principles. The participants within
books a sacred blessing saying let the seed of life
descend into their bridal chamber. Received their bride group open
nine arms to embrace him. We hold crazes the sent
the funding. Now, whether this was purity symbolic or in

(15:04):
both physical acts this is still debated, but what certain
is thought. The Valentinians places strong emphasis on law, spiritual union,
and the merging of the divine masculine and feminine, and
when the Catholic Church leader tried to suppress Gnostic beliefs,
they re these ideas with something more acceptable. By the
fourth and fifth centuries, the Orthodox Church had been the

(15:27):
Gnostics heretical whene of their texts. Surburn and their followers
were forced to either abandon their redease or keep them
in secret. But some scholars believe that instead of raising
Gnostic ideas entirely, the Church absorbed and repackaged them into safer,
Christian friendly traditions. This might explain why Valentine's Day became
associated law, unions and devotion, not just in religious sense,

(15:51):
but in a way that echoed ancient fertility rites. Essociated,
the Church allowed a version of these or beliefs to
survive of their more mystical or controversial aspects. So was
Valentine's stay shaped by the Gnostic Valentinians who blended ancient
traditions mystical Christianity. Did their interpretation of spiritual love and

(16:14):
divine unions influence how is he Romans today? Or was
it just the co incidence that they named after Saint
Valentine shares some echoes of these secret turtles. Again, we
may never know for sure, but one thing is clear.
Valentine's Day as we know it as more than justice
and roses. So we've gone through the la years of history,

(16:36):
Saint Valentine, the Percalia, ancient eulers, and even the influence
of mystical Gnostic traditions. But now let's bring it all
back to the present. How did Valentine's Day go from
sacrifices and fertility rights to what it is today? A
global celebration of love, romance, and let's be real consumerism
for the Middle Ages. Thanks to the influence of bus

(16:57):
like Geoffrey Chaucer, the idea of February fort by the
Day of Romance started catching it. Then came Shakespeare, who
helped romanticize the legend of saying Valentine even further. By
the Victorian era, the exchange of handmadden love letters became popular,
and eventually companies saw an approaching plusk forward to the
twentieth century and their hallmark Jocolic companies and florists. One

(17:21):
times they became less about history and more about flowers,
jolis and grand romantic gestures. And today, well it's somewhat
a billion dollar industry now. Does not mean that we
shouldn't celebrate it, not necessarily, but it's fascinating how a
holiday with such deep, strange and complex origins has become

(17:42):
so universally accepted a simple day of love. And that
leads us to our final part. The conclusion after everything
we've uncovered was surreal takeaway from all of this, Let's
talk about that his stored on this journey with a
simple question, what are the origins of the Valentine's Day?
Turns out the answer is anything but simple. We haven't

(18:04):
covered a tangled web of ancient Roman festivals, Christian martyrs,
pabula and rulers, mystical traditions, and a whole lot of rebranding.
It's not nine stage, really about Saint Valentine or is
it a sanitized version of a wilder, more ancient celebration
of fertility, power and control. Now, of course it's important to.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
Say these are all theories. Some of what we.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Discussody is historically verified, while other parts come from interpretations,
religious traditions and speculative research. That's something about history. Sometimes
what you know is the service layer, and beneath it
lies a world of forgetting stories, loss tax and hidden meanings.
But here at CLARRIERD that's exactly what we love to do.

(18:52):
Into this chrange, the bizarre, the what if, some history
and culture, and at the end of the day, it's
not about blindly believe in any theory. It's about questioning.
It's about looking at the things we take for granted
and asking where did this really come from? So, whether
you see Valentine's Day associates, celebration of love, of cleverly disguise,
ancient Britle, we're just a good excuse to eat chocolate's

(19:15):
you do you? But if there's one take away from
this episode, it's just always stay curious, Always ask questions,
because sometimes the real story is much weirder than me
ever imagine and that's a part today's episode of little
Ward Podcast. We've gone from Saint Valentine to Lupercolia, from
Babylon and Kings to winkibids and antsty. History is always

(19:39):
so much messier and weirder than it seems on the surface.
Before I go back to enjoying discount of charcolates and
post Valentine sales, let's keep the conversation going. What do
you think about these theories? Do you see connections or
it's just just another case of history testing itself over
by making up on Instagram at Milward podcast are wherever

(20:01):
you like to chat about two years and bizarre And
if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to follow Share
or Liberta. It really helps live word crew and which
more curious minds like yours. And as always, stay curious,
stay weird, and never stop questioning the story is you
think you though?

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Thanks for listening.