February Februation!
17 February, 2020
Oh February! What a Dark Past You Have!
The Februarius Mensis, the cleansing month, so-called because of the festival Februa (see februum: “religious purification” and Februa, the Roman feast of purification held on 15 February) reminds us of the pagan past from which Western (and especially Christian) civilization emerged. (Thanks be to God!)
February takes its name from the Latin februa, meaning “religious purification,” and so means “the month of purification,” or “the cleansing month,” referring to the numerous festivals of that theme held then, especially the Lupercalia. “Februation” would be a proper word for defining the sacrificial religious cleansing process involving sacrifice of animals.
“The Lupercalia, held on the 15th, was a very ancient and very popular holiday that included rituals to purify the city of Rome and bring fertility to it. The celebrations were centered on the Palatine Hill, where the twins Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome, were said to have originally settled. On this day a goat (or goats) and a dog were sacrificed. From the skin of the goats were made loincloths, which were the only clothing worn by certain groups of young men who ran the bounds of the city carrying whips, also made from the sacrificed goats’ skin; with these they hit the people they came across. This act was thought to not only drive away the bad but also to draw in the good in the form of fertility for the people and the city in general, and it is said that women hoping to get pregnant or looking for an easy time in childbirth would deliberately put themselves in their way so they could be hit. Plutarch, who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, when the Lupercalia was in full swing, said that because the Lupercalia was so heavily involved with purification the day was called februata or dies februata (“the day of purification”). (Incidentally in the same passage he mentions a Greek ritual of purification called periskylakismos, in which the person to be purified was rubbed all over with puppies, apparently because puppies absorb bad vibes.” (See http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/februtis.php)
Indeed, let us thank God for Christian civilization and let us, furthermore, strive to restore and preserve it. And let us begin by abandoning abortion. “Blow ’em up!” as they say.
Comments are currently closed.