Is Valentine's Day Good or Bad?

Valentine’s Day is Pagan and hated by YHWH

What do the Scriptures say about love?

1 Cor 13:4-8 Love is patient, and is kind; love is not envious; love does not shout loudly; and is not boastful; and does nothing that causes shame; and seeks not her own; is not passionate; and thinks no evil; it does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes for all, and endures all. Love will never cease…

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

1Jo 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1Jo 2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of Elohim perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

Let us look at a certain commandment that we are to keep if we love the Almighty:

Deut 18:9 “When you come into the land which YHWH your Elohim has given you, do not learn to do according to the abominations of those gentiles.

Is valentines day good to keep or is it an abomination of the gentiles?

Let us have a look at where it comes from:

The Romans celebrated a holiday on February 14th to honour Juno Fructifier, Queen of the Roman gods and goddesses as well as goddess of marriage. In one ritual, women would submit their names to a common box and men would each draw one out. These two would be a couple for the duration of the festival (and at times for the entire following year). Both rituals were designed to promote not only fertility, but also life generally.

February 15th & Feast of Lupercalia:

On February 15, Romans celebrated Luperaclia, honoring Faunus, god of fertility. Men would go to a grotto dedicated to Lupercal, the wolf god, located at the foot of Palatine Hill and where Romans believed that the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were suckled by a she-wolf. The men would sacrifice a goat, don its skin, and run around, hitting women with small whips, an act which was supposed to ensure fertility.

St. Valentine, Christian Priest:

According to one story, Roman emperor Claudius II imposed a ban on marriages because too many young men were dodging the draft by getting married (only single men had to enter the army). A Christian priest named Valentinus was caught performing secret marriages and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, young lovers visited him with notes about how much better love is than war — the first “valentines.” The execution occurred in 269 CE on February 14th.

St. Valentine, Second and Third:
Another Valentinus was a priest jailed for helping Christians. During his stay he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and sent her notes signed “from your Valentine.” He was eventually beheaded and buried on the Via Flaminia. Reportedly Pope Julius I built a basilica over his grave. A third and final Valentinius was the bishop of Terni and he was also martyred, with his relics being taken back to Terni.

Christianity Takes Over Valentine’s Day:

In 469, emperor Gelasius declared February 14th a holy day in honor of Valentinus instead of the pagan god Lupercus. This allowed Christianity to take over some of the celebrations of love and fertility which had perviously occurred in the context of paganism. Pagan celebrations were reworked to fit the martyr theme — Christianity did not approve of rituals that encouraged sexuality. Instead of pulling girls’ names from boxes, both boys and girls chose the names of martyred saints from a box.

Valentine’s Day Turns to Love:
It wasn’t until the Renaissance of 14th century that customs returned to celebrations of love and life rather than faith and death. People began to break free of some of the bonds imposed upon them by the Church and move towards a humanistic view of nature, society, and the individual. Moving towards more sensual art and literature, there was no shortage of poets and authors connecting the dawning of Spring with love, sexuality, and procreation.

Valentine’s Day & Divination:
As with so many other holidays that have pagan roots, divination came to play an important role in the development of modern Valentine’s Day. People looked to all sorts of things, primarily in nature, in order to find some sign about who might become their mate for life — their One True Love. There were also, of course, things which came to be used to induce love or lust.

Commercialization of Valentine’s Day:
Today, capitalist commercialism is the biggest aspect of Valentine’s Day. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on chocolate, candies, flowers, dinners, hotel rooms, jewellery, and other gifts used to celebrate February 14th. There’s a lot of money to be made from people’s desire to commemorate the day. Only Christmas and Halloween come close in the way that modern commercialism has transformed and adopted an ancient pagan celebration.

Valentine’s Day as a Pagan, Commercial Holiday:
Valentine’s Day is no longer part of the official liturgical calendar of any Christian church; it was dropped from the Catholic calendar in 1969. It’s not a feast, a celebration, or a memorial of any martyrs. A return to more pagan-like celebrations of February 14th is not surprising — and neither is the overall commercialization of the day. Millions of people all over the world celebrate Valentine’s Day in one fashion or another, but it’s unlikely that even one of them celebrates it in an even remotely religious manner.

Commercial interests make so much money from Valentine’s Day that they aren’t going to accept any changes that won’t lead to even more profits. Christians helped make Valentine’s Day a cultural holiday, and now it’s entirely out of their hands.

Symbols of Valentine's Day

Red Roses
Red roses were said to be the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Red is also a colour that signifies strong feelings.
Cupid
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. Today, Cupid is frequently shown shooting his bow to inspire romantic love.

Heart Symbol

The shape of the heart is an IVY LEAF, the symbol of Bacchus, the male deity of wine and love (orgiastic). He corresponds to Nimrod and Tammuz, and also the archer, Sagittarius or “Cupid”. Another name for him is Orion, the hunter. The arrow penetrating the “heart” symbol represented mating. Bacchus is seen in art wearing a wreath of ivy leaves on his head during his mating rituals. So, even the familiar “heart” symbol comes from Pagan Rome, and echoes their idolatry, as the symbol of Bacchus

So we can clearly see that Valentine’s Day is of Pagan (Gentile) origins. The Scriptures forbid us to partake in such rituals

1Jo 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Shalom