Valentine’s Day is Tuesday. Luckily we have the weekend to prepare if you haven’t done shopping for your loved ones. You might consider jewelry or a fancy dinner at a local restaurant, but with today’s economy it might be better to be a bit conservative. Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate our love for spouses, friends and family, but most folks don’t know about the dark origins of this holiday. The history is shrouded in mystery. It appears to have started with the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia . Of course, they borrowed it from even earlier pagans. At any rate, before it became a Christian holiday, men sacrificed goats or dogs and then whipped the women with the hides of slain animals. This was supposed to enhance fertility! According to some historians, there was lots of drinking and nakedness. A lottery was often included where men would pull a woman’s name from a jar for a temporary match. Some matches lasted and some were one night stands. The result was almost certain fertility!

This past week was an amazing one with Easter, Earth Day, The Merrie Monarch Festival and the Hawaii Chocolate Festival all happening. What they have in common is that they all relate to the rebirth, renaissance and the evolution of life and culture.