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Pagan Community Notes: Week of February 14, 2022

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TWH – Today is Valentine’s Day which is celebrated in some form in many countries around the globe. Restrictions or bans of Valentine’s Day celebrations are found mostly in countries that have a strong Islamic culture, like Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.

While there are attempts to tie Valentine’s Day origins with the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, there is little similarity between the two celebrations and even less evidence to support such a hypothesis.

Lupercalia also known as dies Februatus, was a festival celebrated February 13 – 15 and was centered on the purification of ancient Rome and incorporated ritual sacrifice of a dog and a goat, among other elements–like using bloody strips of the sacrificed goat’s hide, known as februa to lash women for the supposed purpose of increasing fertility and/or strengthening pregnant women for their pending childbirth.

And while some of this is documented, it seems unlikely that fertility played much of a role since February would have been the last month of the Roman calendar year. The name of the month, February, derives from februa, which is defined as “the means of purification, expiatory offerings.” The Romans had plenty of celebrations that revolved around orgies and other rites of fertility but Lupercalia has less of those influences cited in ancient writings of the celebration.

The origins of the naming of Valentine’s Day as such are not much clearer despite stories that cite a connection to a martyred St. Valentine, of which there are several, dating anywhere from the 3rd to 5th centuries. In the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I is believed to have declared February 14 as a day to honor Saint Valentine, there does not appear to be any overlap between that and the celebration of Lupercalia which had died out nearly two centuries before. Nor did it have any romantic associations attached to it.

Valentine’s Day as we recognize it today more likely has its roots going back to the 14th or 15th century, possibly inspired by a poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer and during the idea of courtly love that was prevalent during that period in history.

Written poetic verses that became part of paper Valentines saw an increase in popularity during the early 1800s, and the arrival of postage stamps in 1840 as part of postal reforms in the U.K. saw nearly half a million Valentine cards being mailed just one year later.

In the U.S., Valentine’s Day cards began flourishing in the mid-1800s, largely credited to Esther Howland, whose father owned a book and stationery store. U.S. Greeting Card Association even has an annual award in her name. Each year hundreds of millions of Valentine’s Day cards are mailed around the world, making the second biggest holiday for card mailing.

Those ubiquitous heart-shaped boxes of candy seem to have their origins traced to the sons of English candy maker John Cadbury. Though Cadbury makes no such claims on its website, many other sites credit Richard Cadbury as creating heart-shaped boxes to help encourage sales.

Whatever its origin or the personal preference of celebrating it or at all, Valentine’s Day’s history is as clear as a vat of chocolate!

♥          ♥          ♥


MT. JULIET, Tenn. – Pastor Greg Locke of the Global Vision Bible Church who made national news headlines last week with his book-burning event seemed to threaten six women he alleged are “witches” and part of his congregation.

Hermant Mehta, who is the founder and editor of the blog Friendly Atheist, the podcast by the same name, as well as co-founding the site OnlySky posted a video of Locke ranting about “witches” in a sermon yesterday.

In the footage, Locke repeatedly proclaims that he has the first and last names of the six people he believes are “witches” as well as having one of their addresses.

Locke dramatically ranted, “Three of you in the room right now. You better look in my eyeballs, we ain’t afraid of you, you stinkin’ witch! You devil-worshippin’, Satanist witch!” He went on, “We got your first name, we got your last name, we even got an address for one of ya!”

At one point he shouts, “You even cough wrong and I’ll expose you to everyone in this tent, you stinkin’ witch!”

He goes so far as to say that some of his congregation have been sick because they befriended “that witch.” Without mentioning names, he identifies two of the women as being part of his wife’s bible study group and screams for them to “get out.”

Throughout the roughly two-minute edited clip that Mehta posted, Locke repeatedly threatens to out the women to his followers if they do not cease to attend his church, even saying that next week he will hand out brooms to the “witches” if they show up.

While it seems unlikely that there are actual practicing Witches that are part of Locke’s congregation, the potential for harassment and harm to anyone he might identify as being a “witch” to his followers poses a real danger to them and should certainly be viewed as a threat.

Announcements:

  • Circle Sanctuary is hosting an open Full Moon Circle featuring Candle Magic online via their YouTube channel on Tuesday, February 15, at 7:00 pm CST.

  • The Troth announced last week that their event Heathen Conversations with Lauren that was scheduled for February 9 would have taken place on Wednesday, February 16.

  • The EarthSpirit Community released their EarthSpirit Voices Podcast asking “What does it mean to be Pagan today? Sam Arthen-Long speaks with members of the EarthSpirit Community about their Earth-centered practices and how they contribute to building modern pagan culture.  Other episodes are also now available including a panel discussion on the relationship between science and spirituality, with three scientists who are long-time members of the EarthSpirit Community: Steve Trombulak, Owen White, and Isobel Arthen-Long.

 

 

Crossings of the Veil:

Lora Craig Gaddis

Last week, Lora Craig Gaddis, the creator of the popular Pooka Pages Magazine lost her battle with cancer last week.

Gaddis’ stories about the black cat named Pooka and his Witch Elsie were tremendously popular with Pagan parents as they provided a variety of stories and activities for parents to share with their children. Pooka Pages were published eight times a year and corresponded with each sabbat.

The last issue produced was for Imbolc 2022 and announced it would be the last due to Gaddis’ declining health.

Her stories and approach to sharing Craft teachings for aspiring Witch and Pagan children and their parents were enchanting no matter what age one might be. Her detailed and descriptive writing reflected her general love of animals, gardening, nature, and all the beauty life on this planet has to offer. Many of her beloved stories included in the editions of the magazine are archived and can be downloaded for personal use. So through her decades of creation, Gaddis lives on.

What is remembered, lives!


Positively Noteworthy

This being the Year of the Tiger may be good news for tigers! In 2010 several countries came together with an ambitious goal, to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022. Over the last 12 years, tiger populations have risen modestly from around 3,200 to an estimated 3,900 worldwide, though some sources cite numbers as being as high as 5,000.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has helped to foster programs of preservation and promote better understanding and agreement among countries that hold natural tiger ranges. WWF outlined the key steps in helping to restore the populations of tigers that incorporate the cooperation of countries like Russia, India, Bhutan, and Nepal.

Among the various methods being introduced are those that help to create cross-border pathways and habitats, reduce poaching, get local communities invested in preservation, and promote ways for humans to harmoniously co-exist with tigers. The countries that have supported preservation measures have seen a marked increase in their tiger populations.

While more work certainly needs to be done to meet the goal of doubling the number of tigers in the wild, the increases of the past decade offer hope that their populations can continue to grow with the right support.


Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte

Deck: Modern Witch Tarot Deck, by Lisa Sterle, published by Sterling Ethos.

Card: Six (6) of Cups

This week may call for the need or desire to express compassion, love, and kindness for friends and family. Extending the same expression to the self is also indicated.

Conversely, using past personal traumas as an excuse for abusive or hurtful behavior will not offer a productive outcome, and only create further harm and isolation.

Decks generously provided by Asheville Pagan Supply.

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