Cockroaches and Conversation Hearts

Everyone is familiar with the chubby cherubs and chalky conversation hearts that represent Valentine's day, but February 14th hasn't always been the commercialized Hallmark holiday of love. 

Valentine's day stems from the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. This ancient feast included animal sacrifice and the beating of women with animal skins as a ritual to purify the city, in order to promote health and fertility. The violent fête was celebrated from February 13th to 15th, falling under the full moon according to the Roman lunar calendar. 

Despite its current connection to love and romance, early celebrations were purification rituals that connected to overall health, rather than a celebration of love and fertility.  Even the name of the month is related to the Romans' desire to cleanse: The Latin root of the word February is Febrarius, meaning “of Februa,” which was the name of another festival of spiritual cleansing. 

Around the third century, Emperor Claudius II executed a bishop and a priest, both named Valentine, on February 14th. Their martyrdom was honored by the Church with the celebration of St.Valentine's day. Later, Pope Gelasius I combined tamer versions of Roman rituals with the celebration of Saint Valentine’s day to get rid of any pagan connection to the feast. Instead of making animal sacrifices to Juno and Pan, couples paired up for the festival and exchanged tokens of affection to symbolize the Christian love of the saints. This change rebranded the holiday as a celebration of love and romance.

After the holiday was successfully removed from its pagan roots, it was romanticized by poets like Chaucer and Shakespeare and gained attention throughout Europe. Eventually, the Industrial Revolution ushered in technology that allowed for the mass production of cards and candies. Since then, Valentine's day has been big business. In 2025, the National Retail Federation predicts that Americans will spend a projected $27.5 billion dollars on the holiday, breaking the previous record of $27.4 billion set in 2020. 

While a traditional Valentine's day may have been celebrated exclusively by couples in years past, people today have taken to celebrating love in all its forms. February 13th, also known as Galentine's day, is now dedicated to celebrating female friendship. This unofficial holiday was popularized by a 2010 episode of Parks and Rec in which main character Leslie Knope gathers all the women in her life to celebrate the importance of female friendship. To many, Galentine's day is considered just as important as its romantic counterpart the following day, with friends gathering for luxurious dinners, exchanging gifts and heartfelt cards as expressions of their appreciation and affection for each other. 

Throughout history, Valentine's day has celebrated love in all its various forms. Whether you are spending the day alone, with a significant other, or with friends, make sure to acknowledge the love in your life. 

However, for any Cougars-scorned, the Bronx Zoo has a wonderful conservation program dedicated to naming their cockroaches after your special someone. With a small donation to the program, you will receive a certificate stating that a Madagascar hissing cockroach has been named after that slimy, hissing ex of yours. Happy Valentine's day.