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tarigwaemirAd Mundo Exteriore,
From the Encyclopedia Britannica (yes, Harvard does apparently have an online subscription to it after all--I love this school):
"Each Lupercalia began with the sacrifice by the Luperci of goats and a dog, after which two of the Luperci were led to the altar, their foreheads were touched with a bloody knife, and the blood wiped off with wool dipped in milk; then the ritual required that the two young men laugh. The sacrificial feast followed, after which the Luperci cut thongs from the skins of the victims and ran in two bands around the Palatine hill, striking with the thongs at any woman who came near them. A blow from the thong was supposed to render a woman fertile. In AD 494 the Christian church under Pope Gelasius I appropriated the form of the rite as the Feast of the Purification."
Fertility rite, huh? Also amused by the fact that it was one of the pagan rituals incorporated into the Church calendar--do you think that whole part about striking people with thongs eventually turned into self-flagellation? I'm reminded of that scene in The Seventh Seal where the procession of monks and Black Plague victims march slowly while whipping themselves continuously.
According to Britannica, during the ninth century, the Feast of the Purification was on the second of February, and the liturgical color was black. Of course, priests don't wear black vestments anymore (I'm not talking about black shirt with Roman collar, but the robes that are worn during Mass). According to the Catholic Encylopedia at New Advent, the Armenian church still celebrates the Feast on February 14, which is pretty close to the commonly accepted date for Lupercalia (in Harry Potter fandom anyway).
Oh, another reference in the Catholic Encyclopedia says: "The feast of the Purification or Candlemas (2 February) has a celebrated rite with ancient prayers concerning the emission of liturgical fire and light. One of them invokes Christ as 'the true light which enlightenest every man that cometh into this world'. The canticle of Simeon, 'Nunc Demittis', is chanted with the anthem "A light (which my eyes have seen) for the revelation of the Gentiles and for the glory of thy people Israel.'"
I'm still pretty intrigued about the connection to Lupercalia. I don't see any dipping wool in milk or ritual laughing in Candlemas...do you? The full title is the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, which may be a means of connecting Mary to the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. I mean, they're both mother figures right? Although comparing Santa Maria to a wolf is extremely weird.
I suppose it also has something to do with fertility after all. According to these websites, Jewish women had to be in seclusion for forty days after giving birth to a son, in obedience to one of the many mandates in Leviticus. February 2 is apparently exactly forty days after Christmas, thus, the purification of the Virgin Mary. I suppose this purification rite itself can be seen a restoration of a woman's fertility after pregnancy, right? By fertility, I mean, the ability to conceive again. (Isn't it true that it's pretty difficult to get pregnant immediately after giving birth? Something about hormones in breast milk, I think. Ugh, why do I remember anything from tenth grade health class?)
Yes, I'm drawing farfetched connections. Whatever. And oh look, it's midnight. >_< Anyway, aren't encyclopedias fun? ^_^
...Tari
From the Encyclopedia Britannica (yes, Harvard does apparently have an online subscription to it after all--I love this school):
"Each Lupercalia began with the sacrifice by the Luperci of goats and a dog, after which two of the Luperci were led to the altar, their foreheads were touched with a bloody knife, and the blood wiped off with wool dipped in milk; then the ritual required that the two young men laugh. The sacrificial feast followed, after which the Luperci cut thongs from the skins of the victims and ran in two bands around the Palatine hill, striking with the thongs at any woman who came near them. A blow from the thong was supposed to render a woman fertile. In AD 494 the Christian church under Pope Gelasius I appropriated the form of the rite as the Feast of the Purification."
Fertility rite, huh? Also amused by the fact that it was one of the pagan rituals incorporated into the Church calendar--do you think that whole part about striking people with thongs eventually turned into self-flagellation? I'm reminded of that scene in The Seventh Seal where the procession of monks and Black Plague victims march slowly while whipping themselves continuously.
According to Britannica, during the ninth century, the Feast of the Purification was on the second of February, and the liturgical color was black. Of course, priests don't wear black vestments anymore (I'm not talking about black shirt with Roman collar, but the robes that are worn during Mass). According to the Catholic Encylopedia at New Advent, the Armenian church still celebrates the Feast on February 14, which is pretty close to the commonly accepted date for Lupercalia (in Harry Potter fandom anyway).
Oh, another reference in the Catholic Encyclopedia says: "The feast of the Purification or Candlemas (2 February) has a celebrated rite with ancient prayers concerning the emission of liturgical fire and light. One of them invokes Christ as 'the true light which enlightenest every man that cometh into this world'. The canticle of Simeon, 'Nunc Demittis', is chanted with the anthem "A light (which my eyes have seen) for the revelation of the Gentiles and for the glory of thy people Israel.'"
I'm still pretty intrigued about the connection to Lupercalia. I don't see any dipping wool in milk or ritual laughing in Candlemas...do you? The full title is the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, which may be a means of connecting Mary to the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. I mean, they're both mother figures right? Although comparing Santa Maria to a wolf is extremely weird.
I suppose it also has something to do with fertility after all. According to these websites, Jewish women had to be in seclusion for forty days after giving birth to a son, in obedience to one of the many mandates in Leviticus. February 2 is apparently exactly forty days after Christmas, thus, the purification of the Virgin Mary. I suppose this purification rite itself can be seen a restoration of a woman's fertility after pregnancy, right? By fertility, I mean, the ability to conceive again. (Isn't it true that it's pretty difficult to get pregnant immediately after giving birth? Something about hormones in breast milk, I think. Ugh, why do I remember anything from tenth grade health class?)
Yes, I'm drawing farfetched connections. Whatever. And oh look, it's midnight. >_< Anyway, aren't encyclopedias fun? ^_^
...Tari
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Date: 2004-04-07 04:48 pm (UTC)O.o