May the depth of love that sweetens the hive inspire us in all ways.
Beloved Heart-throb – Yep, here we are again on the eve of the Ides of February – the time when St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated. Have you ever wondered where this hearts & flowers frivolity came from? Well it wasn’t always about chocolates & sappy hallmark cards. Let’s look back to the origins of this Holiday & set the record straight.
For one thing, Valentinus was a very common Roman name meaning ‘strong, effective fertility’.
Please excuse me if I must commit a little history here, but basically the church fathers were trying to replace a very potent ancient Roman Festival called Lupercalia with a Christian martyr named Valentinus, to usurp the power of this Rite of great antiquity. Now don’t get me wrong, frivolity has its place, & so it was in the Festival of Lupercalia, a Ritual of Purification & Fertility, sacred to the Wolf-Goddess Rumina. Maybe you’ve heard of Her, the She-Wolf & founder of Rome?
The Festival of Lupercalia was celebrated on the ides of February (the 15th)…& the name ‘February’ comes from the Latin word ‘februare’, meaning tool of purification. The Rite began in the cave of the She-Wolf, where legend has it, the founders of the city, Romulus & Remus, were suckled by the Wolf-Goddess. As fate would have it, a sacred fig tree (symbol of the feminine sex) grew outside the cave, & vestal virgins would come with cakes made from the corn of last year’s grain harvest, laying them beneath the fig tree as offerings.
Meanwhile Rumina’s priests would preside over the sacrifice of a goat. Now this was a pretty big deal since this was the only time of year a goat was used as a sacrifice. It was an offering given to the Guardian Angels associated with the crops, & the Ancestral Guardians, as well as the Spirit of the city & community. The priests would mark their foreheads with its blood, which was then ritualistically wiped clean with a ‘Februare’ or tool of purification, which was, in this case, wool, dipped in the milk of the goat, which had just starting to flow around the Crossquarter time. The priests would then dress themselves in the skin of the sacrificial animal, & using strips of the hide they would fashion a scourge, another tool of purification. They would then jog around in their little loincloths, running up & down Rome’s seven hills, wielding their strips of hide, ‘purifying’ anything & anybody in their path.
Women seeking pregnancy & easy childbirth lined the streets, extending hands, or baring their bodies, to afford a better target, to be briefly & symbolically ‘purified’ as they passed by. Fertility, of course, is worthless without s.e.x, so as time passed, sex became the Festival’s primary focus for the average Roman citizen, & the occasion took on a character much like Carnival.
When the church tried to ban it, the people needless to say, stubbornly resisted. Hence the need for the substitute of St. Valentine’s Day emerged, with its more saccharine version of love.
But let’s face it folks, the real Cupid was not the cute little Cherub he is thought of today, but rather, a very randy Roman God responsible for a more tangible fertility. So all the frivolous frivolity aside, let’s take ourselves back to the days when the Wolf Goddess Rumina, was at the heart of this time of celebration, as we purify & purge all of our afflictions & ills before we begin to plant the new seeds of creativity. For by the ancient calendars, Winter is ended by the ides of February, & Spring, a season of new beginnings, has arrived.
So on Valentine’s Day, let’s remember the potent powers of the Wolf, asking Her to spare the herds, taking only what She must, to keep us free & fertile & abundant, like the crops – as fruitful, & as wild as we want to be. ~hag
14 February 2025 - “Speaking with the Stars”: Venus, named for the Roman Goddess of love, reaches its greatest brilliancy Today on Valentine’s Day - blazing, low in the West after sunset, with Saturn below.
Jupiter remains high overheard toward the South in early evening this week. It makes a right triangle with Aldebaran & the 7 Sisters of the Pleiades.
The 1 year anniversary of David Ward Tresemer’s transition was on February 12th, at 12:12 pm.
And so it is that today it is 8 years since Richard Dancey crossed the Threshold – & Valentine’s Day has forever taken on a deeper dimension now that it is Richard’s Death-Day. He comes up in my thoughts at all the obvious times, when I’m at the Christian Community where his picture graces the sacristy, & many times when I am writing my blog. He always encouraged me to write & inspired me so much over the years with his amazing storytelling.
Video: ‘The Truth about Valentine’s Day’ starts at 9:24 A Love Storytelling on the ‘I Think Speech Podcast’
WHAT IS YOUR DESTINY?From Necessity to Freedom – The Evolution of Human Consciousness - w/ Hazel Archer-Ginsbergfor The Minneapolis Theosophical Society Monday 10 March 2025 - on ZOOM - 7–9 pm CDT From the vaporous cleft of Mount Parnassus, and the birth place of Greek Philosophy, to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and the Holy Grail – From Prophesy to Warning, from Fate to Karma, From Destiny to Free Will. Hazel Archer-Ginsberg – Interdenominational Minister, Essayist, Presenter, Poet, Anthroposopher - Founding member of the Grand Lodge of (MA) Mysteria Mystica Americana - Cognitive Ritual: ~Confessions of a Modern Rosicrucian, & the ‘I Think Speech’ Podcast - YouTube Video Recordings Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84368789880?pwd=bUI5b3FZcHNoc3NLaXpUbktHejRGUT09
ONLINE COURSE IN 12 MEETINGS LINK TO REGISTER
Mysteries of Egypt - The Hermetic WayThis Journey is sponsored by PLEROMA Viaggi, with Guide - Giorgio Tarditi Spagnoli PhD*9 days in Egypt: 31 May – 8 June 2025TRIP PROGRAM
If you want to support the Biodynamic Farming done on Zinniker Farm, you are invited to become a paid subscriber, with all donations going directly to the farm
Greetings Friend, you currently a free subscriber to Cognitive Ritual. Thank you for receiving my workings freely offered. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. ALL donations go to support Zinniker Farm - The oldest Biodynamic Farm in America! Together we can spiritualize the Universe. XOX ~hag
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Friday, 14 February 2025
BeLoved
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