Imbolc Valentine Moon
Back in the far away long ago my mother used to bake heart shaped cakes, devil’s food, for my birthday. This Valentine holiday birthday has always been one of the semi-secret joys of my life. I get to celebrate my annual pilgrimage, my odometer turns over, on a day now celebrated for love; special enough to remember, not so special that it overpowers my birthday, like I always imagine Christmas would or July 4th.
It did make those elementary school rituals, often laden with important messages not quite understood, hoped for, but more often missed than received, even more fraught.
Now that I know it’s the mid-day of the ides of February, 13-15th, and that Lupercalia followed it in Roman times, it makes this whole approaching time more special. February was the Roman December, the last month of the year and the ides, those mid-month days sacred to Jupiter, usually had festivals and celebrations. On this last month of the Roman year the Romans took care to purify themselves and offer sacrifices to absolve themselves of whatever needed to be left behind in the old year.
We could approach Valentine’s Day as a day for clearing up any uncertainties or unpleasantnesses built up over the previous year. Seek a way to resolve them, then go out for a meal to seal them off, leave them behind.
