In this modern day, the typical Valentine’s Day tradition is to show affection towards your partner through gifts, most popularly chocolates and flowers. However, the holiday was not originally celebrated this way. Valentine’s Day falls on February 14th, and during the Ancient Roman time period, the holiday, “St. Valentine,” was confused with the celebration, “Lupercalia,” that fell on February 15th. The holiday was much different than St. Valentine, as it was known as a day to perform sacrificial rituals. The sacrifice was typically a dog or a goat that was killed and slapped onto women to enhance fertility for Roman women. 

Valentine’s day was not a romantic holiday up until the Middle Ages in Europe. Shocking, right? The day of love had not always been the day of love, until the 14th century came along. The notion of “flourishing love” came to be in an early spring that inspired people to associate St. Valentine’s Day with romance and love. In the 18th century, England began the tradition of gifting flowers and greeting cards to their loved ones, and the tradition carried on to the present day!