💜All About Love Magic, Valentine's Day & Lupercalia💜 (Patreon)

With Valentine's Day coming up, you might be thinking more about love, lust and romance. Let's learn more about love magic, Valentine's Day witchcraft and Lupercalia by Learn Religions!

Did you know that the modern Valentine's Day, although named for a martyred saint, actually has its roots in an early Pagan custom? Let's take a look at how Valentine's Day evolved from a Roman festival into the marketing behemoth that it is today.

Did You Know?

The festival of Valentine's Day may have evolved from a Roman love lottery, held around the time of the Lupercalia.

The holiday got an overhaul as Christianity took hold, and was renamed for Saint Valentine.

Around 500 c.e., Pope Gelasius decided that a lottery of saints was more pious than selecting potential love partners out of a jar.

Lupercalia's Love Lottery

February is a great time of year to be in the greeting-card or chocolate-heart industry. This month has long been associated with love and romance, going back to the days of early Rome. Back then, February was the month in which people celebrated Lupercalia, a festival honoring the birth of Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of the city. As Lupercalia evolved and time went on, it morphed into a festival honoring fertility and the coming of spring.

According to legend, young women would place their names in an urn. Eligible men would draw a name and the couple would pair off for the rest of the festival, and sometimes even longer. As Christianity progressed into Rome, the practice was decried as Pagan and immoral, and done away with by Pope Gelasius around 500 C.E. Recently there's been some scholarly debate about the existence of the Lupercalia lottery–and some people believe it may not have existed at all–but it's still a legend that brings to mind ancient matchmaking rituals perfect for this time of year!

A More Spiritual Celebration

Around the same time that the love lottery was being eliminated, Gelasius had a brilliant idea. Why not replace the lottery with something a bit more spiritual? He changed the love lottery to a lottery of the Saints; instead of pulling a pretty girl's name from the urn, young men pulled the name of a saint. The challenge for these bachelors was to try to be more saint-like in the coming year, studying and learning about the messages of their individual saint.

Who Was Valentine, Anyway?

While he was trying to convince Rome's young nobleman to be more saintly, Pope Gelasius also declared St. Valentine (more on him in just a bit) the patron saint of lovers, and his day was to be held every year on February 14. There is some question about who St. Valentine actually was; he may have been a priest during the reign of the Emperor Claudius.

The legend is that the young priest, Valentine, disobeyed Claudius by performing wedding ceremonies for young men, when the Emperor preferred to see them roped into military service rather than marriage. While imprisoned, Valentine fell in love with a young girl who visited him, perhaps the daughter of the jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter, signed, From your Valentine. No one knows if this story is true, but it certainly makes St. Valentine a romantic and tragic hero.

The Christian church had a hard time maintaining some of these traditions, and for a while St. Valentine's Day disappeared off the radar, but during medieval times the lover's lottery regained popularity. Chivalrous young men paired off with ladies, and wore the names of their lover on their sleeves for a year. In fact, some scholars blame poets like Chaucer and Shakespeare for the evolution of Valentine's Day into today's celebration of love and romance. In a 2002 interview, Gettysburg College professor Steve Anderson said that it wasn't really a big deal until Geoffrey Chaucer penned The Parliament of Fowls, in which all of the birds on earth get together on Valentine's Day to pair up with their mates for life.

"[Gelasius] hoped that early Christians would celebrate their romantic traditions a day early and dedicate them to the saint rather than to the Roman love goddess Juno... the feast day stuck, but the romantic holiday didn't... Unlike Pope Gelasius's feast day, Chaucer's 'lovebirds' took off."

Modern Valentine's Day

Around the end of the 18th century, Valentine's Day cards began to appear. Small pamphlets were published, with sentimental poems that young men could copy and send to the object of their affections. Eventually, printing houses learned there was a profit to be made in pre-made cards, complete with romantic pictures and love-themed verse. The first American Valentine cards were created by Esther Howland in the 1870s, according to Victorian Treasury. Other than Christmas, more cards are exchanged at Valentine's Day than any other time of the year.

All About Love Magic

Wondering what the deal is with love magic? Well, it's something that comes up a lot, so why not read more about magic and matters of the heart? We'll talk about the ethics of love magic, the basics of casting a love spell, love magic in folklore, gods and goddesses of love and marriage. We'll even assume you're going to find love and live happily ever after, because there's plenty of information about Pagan weddings as well!

Love Magic Folklore

Love and its pursuit have driven us for millennia. It should come as no real surprise that most modern-day magical practitioners will tell you that hands down, they get more requests for love spells than anything else. And why not? Love magic has been the staple of the wisewoman, the cunning man, and the village herbalist for ages. Read through any account of rural folklore, and you'll find frequent references to charms, talismans, potions, and amulets that people have used to draw love their way. Here is a look at some of the best-known, and most popular, forms of love magic from around the world.

In some traditions of hoodoo and rootwork, those in love are advised to obtain a piece of their intended's hair. Wrap it in a piece of cloth and then carry the cloth in your shoe, and you will attract the person's love.

Many magical traditions encourage the use of bodily fluids to attract a person you're in love with. Like many magical customs, if this goes against your personal code of ethics, then you may want to skip it.

According to folklorist Vance Randolph, in parts of the Ozarks a man can make a woman love him by hiding the "dried tongue of a turtle dove in [her] cabin." Likewise, he says that a woman can make a powerful love charm by taking a needle which has been stuck into a corpse, covering it with dirt, and wrapping the whole thing up in a strip of winding sheet (Ozark Magic and Folklore, Dover Publications, 1946).

In many European countries, apples are considered a great form of love divination. By using the peels, the seeds, and even a few chunks, you can tell a lot about the identity of a potential lover!

Virgil and Hesiod both write of the ancient Greek practice of using hippomanes as an ingredient in love potions. The word Hippomanes applied variously to the semen of a stallion, the vaginal discharge of a mare, or a specialized herb.

Animal parts were popular in love potions of days gone by. During England's medieval period, girls were encouraged to make a liquid including–among other things–hare's kidney, a swallow's womb, and a dove's heart. Blood and wine was added to make it drinkable (see Rosemary Guiley's Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft for more on this).

Make a Love Magic Bag.

Create a small drawstring pouch out of fabric–preferably a piece of your lover's clothing. Fill it with cinnamon, rosemary, and a piece of rose quartz. Add a magical link of some sort to the person you're in love with. Wear the bag around your neck or carry it in your pocket, and it will attract the person to you.

Some folk magic traditions call for a woman to grind up a piece of her own hair or fingernail clippings into a fine powder, and then brew it into the tea or coffee of the man she is in love with. This will draw him to her.

Ethics of Love Magic

Love spells. They're one of the things that often draws new folks to Wicca and Pagan religions. However, there's a lot of question within the Pagan community about the ethics of casting a love spell on someone else. After all, if you're performing magic on someone without their knowledge, aren't you messing with their free will?

Gods and Goddesses of Love and Marriage

Throughout history, nearly all cultures have had gods and goddesses associated with love and marriage. Although a few are male–Eros and Cupid come to mind–most are female, because the institution of marriage has long been viewed as the domain of women. If you're doing a working relating to love, or if you wish to honor a particular deity as part of a marriage ceremony, these are some of the gods and goddesses associated with the very human emotion of love.

Chocolate, the Magical Aphrodisiac

How many time have you bitten into a piece of chocolate and found yourself moaning from the sheer pleasure of it? How often have you joked about why chocolate is as good as–or better than–sex? Believe it or not, there is a scientific link between chocolate and sexual arousal. Why not use a bit of chocolate in magic?

In 2004, researchers at a hospital in Milan, Italy, questioned nearly two hundred women about their consumption of chocolate and their feelings of sexual fulfillment.

The results are impressive. Women who consumed chocolate daily reported a higher degree of sexual satisfaction. The study, which was funded by a university for academic purposes, and not by a chocolate company, indicated that even women who normally had a lower libido reported an increase in their sex drive after consuming chocolate.

From a scientific standpoint, chocolate contains both Serotonin and Phenylethylamine, which are mood-lifting hormones found naturally in the human brain. When we consume chocolate, we increase our normal levels of both, which leads to that feeling of excitement, as well as an increased level of energy.

So although chocolate may or may not be a true aphrodisiac, it certainly does have some aphrodisiac properties. After all, it makes us feel good all over–much like being in love!

In some magical traditions, food and magic go hand in hand. It stands to reason, then, that a great way to bring someone closer to your heart is to give them a gift of chocolate!

The Romance of Spring Flowers

As spring arrives, our gardens begin to bud and eventually bloom. For hundreds of years, the plants that we grow have been used in magic. Flowers in particular are often connected with a variety of magical uses, particularly involving love and romance. Keep an eye out for some of these flowers around you, and consider the different romantic applications they might have!

Interfaith Relationships

So, you're Wiccan or Pagan and your spouse/partner/lover/significant other/fiancé is ... something else. Is there a way the two of you can manage to find balance? Or are you doomed to a lifetime of worrying whether every little disagreement will end with someone throwing out the “Oh yeah? Well, your beliefs are STUPID!!” trump card? Learn some simple strategies for maintaining an open and respectful relationship with your mate, even if he or she doesn't understand your religious viewpoints.

Handfasting: A Pagan Wedding Primer

Handfasting was common centuries ago in the British Isles, and then vanished for a while. Now, however, it's seeing a rising popularity among Wiccan and Pagan couples who are interested in tying the knot. Find out where this custom came from, and what brought it back. Also, we've got tips on how to have a successful ceremony, where to find an officiant, and even a sample ceremony you can use!

Make a Love Magic Mojo Bag

The use of a mojo bag or spirit bag in love magic spans a variety of cultures and societies. It's found in hoodoo, Appalachian folk magic, and a number of European societies. Here's how to make a simple one, as long as it's not against the guidelines of your tradition.

As always, if your particular magical system frowns upon the use of love magic, then follow the guidelines of your tradition.

You’ll need the following:

A piece of fabric, preferably from your lover’s clothing. If you can’t get a piece of his or her clothing to cut up, then use red fabric to symbolize love.

Cinnamon

Rosemary

Rose Quartz - this is a stone often associated with love magic

A magical link to your lover–some traditions of folk magic refer to this as a taglock

To make a love magic mojo bag, start by making a small drawstring pouch out of the fabric. There are a number of ways you can do this, but the simplest is to just fold a fabric rectangle in half and stitch on three sides. Then press a seam around the open end, and stitch that down as well, leaving a small opening for a drawstring. You can use the instructions for the Drawstring Tarot Pouch to make a love magic mojo bag.

Fill the bag with cinnamon–sticks broken into bits will work far better and be less messy than powdered cinnamon–and some rosemary sprigs. Both of these are associated with love and passion. Add a piece of rose quartz, which is associated with long term loving relationships.

Finally, add a link to the person you love. In some traditions, this is called a taglock, but it's essentially a magical link. It helps to connect the individual to you on a magical level. You can use a photo, a business card, a piece of hair or fingernail clippings–anything that is associated with that individual.

Using Your Mojo Bag

Close the bag, and carry it in your pocket or wear it around your neck. This will draw your lover to you and keep him or her close. Once you’ve made your “love connection,” you can get rid of the bag using one of these disposal methods:

Bury it someplace where it won't be disturbed–if you've used an organically based fabric for the bag, such as cotton, it will eventually biodegrade on its own.

Burn it. Fire is considered a cleansing force, as well as a destroyer.

Release it into the wild. If you use all natural items in your mojo bag, you could hide it in an old tree or place it on a stone that holds special meaning for you.

Stash it away. In some folk magic traditions, the love mojo bag is kept for as long as you want the relationship to continue. If that's what you choose to do, put it someplace safe where it won't be bothered.

Cat Yronwoode over at LuckyMojo has a fascinating article on the history of mojo bags, as well as the origins of the practice. She says,

"Some root workers top off their mojo bags with parchments upon which are printed medieval European grimoire seals and sigils of talismanic import, particularly the Jewish-derived seals from the Greater Key of Solomon and The 6th and 7th Books of Moses, both of which are sold as sets of seals printed on parchment paper, and are used without reference to the rituals given in the texts of the original grimoire books. These last items surprise many Caucasians, who are unaware that a strong vein of Germanic and Ashkenazi Jewish folklore runs through traditional African-American hoodoo. Still, however strange it may seem to cultural anthropologists in search of "African survivals" in hoodoo practice, it is a fact that John George Hohman's "Pow-Wows or the Long Lost Friend"–first published in America in 1820 and translated into English in 1856–has long been a staple source of inspiration for conjure-workers in both the African-American and European-American Appalachian traditions."

Sources:

https://www.learnreligions.com/make-a-love-magic-mojo-bag-2562251

https://www.learnreligions.com/all-about-love-magic-2562360

https://www.learnreligions.com/valentines-day-pagan-celebrations-2562121