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Originally posted by MikeboydUS
In retrospect should any self repecting Judeo Christian society be celebrating the birth of Rome?
February, Purification, and the Lupercalia
The word Februarius itself comes from a word meaning purification or purgation.
Twin themes of purification and fertility come together in the Roman holiday called Lupercalia. Priests (luperci) of two colleges (Quintilii and Fabii) met at the cave where the she-wolf supposedly nursed the founding twins Romulus and Remus. Vestal Virgins offered their holy salt cakes. Priests sacrificed a dog and a goat, and smeared the animal blood on two boys who, clad only in a bit of goatskin, later led a band of revelers (luperci) whose antics included whipping bystanders with a goatskin strip (februa). Women so whipped -- even barren ones -- were thought to become fertile. The priests may also have paired up youth of both sexes who were to stay paired up for the remainder of the year.