Issue #39 Feb 2025
“Roll your triangle.”
~Jane Heap
Hi
In Roman times, February was, to some degree, a month of purification. On the 15th February – not the Ides of February, by the way, which was the 13th of February (the Ides meaning “the middle of the month”) – occurred the festival of Lupercalia, the festival of purification.
“Lupercalia” comes from Lupercus, the Roman god associated with flocks but also connected to the wolf (lupus means wolf). Lupercal was the name of the cave where Romulus and Remus were supposedly suckled by a she-wolf.
The festival primarily focused on the purification of the city of Rome, promoting fertility, and ensuring protection from wolves. On the 15th, the Luperci, a college of priests, would sacrifice goats and a dog. After the sacrifice, the Luperci would cut thongs (strips) from the skins of the sacrificed animals, then run around the Palatine Hill, striking women with these thongs. This act was believed to promote fertility in the women.
These thongs, the instruments of purification, were called “februa” and this is where the month of February derives its name.
I hope you had an excellent Lupercallia this year.
Sincerely
RB
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