Paganism
Saints, love, chocolate, and goatskins: How we got from Lupercalia to Valentine’s Day
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We review the Pagan and not-so-Pagan history of the Valentine’s Day holiday, right down to the goat-skin loin clothes.
Arts & Culture
Pagan themes abound at the Carnival of Viareggio
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The Carnival of Viareggio is one of Italy’s most spectacular and this year several floats and happenings had Pagan themes.
News
Mardi Gras feels Pagan. Is it?
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TWH looks into claims that the Catholic holiday of Mardi Gras, celebrated earlier this week, have pagan origins.
Living
Love actually: Lupercalia and St. Valentine’s Day
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TWH -Feb. 14 marks the secular holiday St. Valentine’s Day, complete with chocolates, hearts, roses, and all things that symbolize love. While this contemporary holiday is mired in overly-commercialized products and is considered inconsequential in some circles, the celebration does have spiritual roots and ties to deeper religious meaning. In ancient Rome, Feb.
Paganism
A Fertile Lupercalia to You!
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Today is the festival of Lupercalia, the ancient Roman observance of fertility and the coming of spring. Not to be confused with a the overly commercial celebration held yesterday, Lupercalia is a holiday sacred to the god Faunus, and the mythical she-wolf who reared Romulus and Remus the semi-mythical founders of Rome. It was considered an important holiday of religious observance and purification. There are many lurid accounts of what goes on during Lupercalia, some make it seem like an excuse for copulation and frivolity. One description comes from W.