Valentine's Day Origins

I thought I would find out a bit more on the origins of Valentines Day as it's always seemed a bit of an odd celebration to me and I've wondered in past years why is a saint in charge of love and stuff, this is what I found:

There are a few different variations on how Valentine's Day began, but the most common one seems to be that the term St Valentine's Day originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop who was beaten and beheaded around AD 270 by Emperor Claudius for secretly marrying couples and refusing to give up his Christian faith.

The date of his death (February 14th), funnily enough coincided with a holiday to honor Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses, she was also known as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia the Roman Spring festival, held in honor of the gods Pan and Juno. This was one of the most important festivals in the Roman calendar, a festival to the gods of fertility and a celebration of sensual pleasure, a time to meet and court a prospective mate and had been going on for around eight hundred years prior to the the establishment of St Valentines Day.

As Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors of the early Christian church in Rome appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feast.

The young Roman boys and girls at that time lived separate lives however, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of the girls were written on slips of paper and placed into a box. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the box and they would then be partners for the duration of the festival, sometimes the pairing of the couple lasted for the year.

Pope Gelasius tried to change this lottery to something deemed more morally suitable, instead of the names of young women being placed in the box, it would contain the names of saints. Men and women were allowed to draw from the box and then try to emulate the saint chosen for the rest of the year. Many of the young men were not keen on the change!

The pagan festival died out, but instead of the people trying to live the lives of saints they instead latched onto the more romantic aspect of Saint Valentine's life to replace the pagan deity Lupercus. While not immediately as popular as the more passionate pagan festival, eventually the concept of celebrating true love became known as Valentine's Day and eventually Valentine became the Patron Saint of Lovers.

Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

As to why Valentine was executed: Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius believed that married men tended to be poor soldiers as they were reluctant to leave their loves and families. As a result, Claudius canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome in the hope of building up his army again, but Valentine would secretly marry young couples that came to him. Claudius had him put to death for defying him. During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine" a phrase that has lasted through the centuries.

Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. 

Happy chocolates and flowers day :0)x

Chesterfield/Derbyshire Pagans Lammas Camp tickets 2015

Happy Imbolc

Imbolc Bessings to you all, may your ideas germinate and become fully grown

Artwork of Brighid - Jo Jayson

The midpoint between winter and spring.  Spring is starting to show signs of renewing the earth with leaf and bud.  The days are getting longer and hopefully soon warmer too.


As it is Imbolc time it is also time for us to get camp tickets underway.  Yay happy thoughts of camp, friends, fire, dancing, drumming and general merriment.  Not to hopefully distract from good memories, but to make sure this years camp is even better, we have had to put extra rules into place this year from lessons learned last year.  Below are the rules, even if you have been to Lammas Camp before please read them and follow them if you intend coming along this year.  There is also ticket info at the bottom.  We are not using Zeta to take money for tickets this year, to keep costs down (and you must admit our camp with all the workshops, entertainment etc is really good value) Cherill is giving herself the headache of dealing with tickets and ticket enquires.

Derbyshire Pagans Lammas Camp Ticket Application Form Information, Rules and Regulations!

Please read these terms and conditions before applying for tickets. The  ticket application form is on page 4.  Once you have read these pages, please indicate on your ticket application form that you agree to abide by these rules/conditions. Failure to do so will result in your ticket request being denied.

Tickets

Tickets are limited. We reserve the right to refuse ticket applications without giving a reason.  Tickets will be sent out by email once payment is made and cleared.  These tickets must be printed and presented to the Marshalls at camp where they will be exchanged for wristbands.  No ticket = no entry!

Arrival

Please do not arrive before 2.00pm

On arrival please report to the Marshalls at the entrance to the first field. The Welcome tent will be at the entrance to the camping field. Also, there is a steep hill to climb in your vehicle to get into the camping field, which can be difficult in wet weather.  Please follow the instructions the Marshalls will give you about this hill and about where you must camp/park.  Marshalls will also be in the main events/camping field and you must follow their instructions should they give you any. We will try our best to help you if necessary!

Pitches

There are no set pitches.  We cannot save any spaces for anyone and NEITHER CAN YOU!  The pitching is on a first come, first choice basis.  If you want to camp next to your family/friends, we suggest you arrive together.  Also, be aware that some workshops may be noisy.  Therefore, if you want a quieter pitch, you may want to consider pitching further up the field.

Water

There are two standpipes which supply cold water only. Please use these responsibly and be aware that the area around the taps may get very muddy!

Toilets

The toilets are eco long-drop toilets, but we do supply two toilet tents on ground level for children and disabled people only! There are also two eco toilets at the bottom of the first field.  We also provide gents with urinal area. There is no hand washing facilities, other than the cold water supply.  You are responsible for your own hygiene standards.

If you are using camping toilets, you must use biodegradable toilet fluid only and empty these in the long drop toilets.  Do not empty them in the hedgerows! Female Urine upsets the Ewes and this is a nasty thing to do.

Please leave all toilet areas in a clean condition, as you would wish to find them.  If you ‘miss aim’ please wipe the seats!

Showers

There are NO showers or hot water!  You are responsible for your own hygiene needs.

Cars

All cars/vans must park in the first field unless you have a Disability Blue Parking Badge.  We shall require proof of the badge holder’s identity on the site. You will be allowed to drive onto the main field to unload etc but then you will need to go and park in the other field.

Small motor homes will be allowed on the camping field, but larger ones will be asked to park in the first field. 

Caravans can park in the main field but your vehicles must go into the first field.

This change is due to the cramped conditions of 2014 and the increase in larger vehicles/caravans. 

Non – compliance with the parking changes will result in you being asked to leave the site. 

Vehicles are parked at owners own risk.  The organisers take no responsibility for any vehicle.  We suggest that you lock any valuables in your vehicle.  The organisers cannot be held responsible for missing items.

Children

Please be aware that there is a very steep cliff on the field above camp, so do not allow your children to wander unaccompanied in this area.

IT IS VERY DANGEROUS!

Please do not allow children of any age to play on the Hay Bales or in any part of the farm yard, by express wishes of the farmer!

Dogs

Dogs are welcome but must be kept under control at all times.  There are children and livestock around (and adults!).

All dog mess must be cleaned up and put in the long drop toilets.  Eco bags will be available if required at the Welcome Tent. 

Please be aware of the safety issue with dogs on tethers or long leads.  People do not always look for ropes etc when walking round!

Please do NOT approach dogs without the owners’ permission!

If ANY dog is found off a lead, or if any owner is found not to be cleaning up their dogs mess, they will be asked to leave the site immediately, or to take the dog/dogs and place them in nearby kennels. This is your choice!

Stalls

You are welcome to put a small stall outside your tent FOR FREE! However, due to the increase in insurance costs, we must insist you have your own Personal Liability Insurance.  We will need to see proof of this before you set up a stall.  Please note that you are responsible for your own stall and goods displayed on them.

Fire-pits

There are a few fire-pits available to loan, but you can bring your own.  However, they must be kept off the grass!  You MUST bring YOUR OWN wood to burn or logs can be purchased from Bob the farmer!  We do not supply you with logs! 

ANY aggressive or violent behaviour will be dealt with by INSTANT EVICTION!

We have qualified First Aiders on camp should you need them.  Please go to the Welcome Tent if you require help.  We also have Health and Safety Officers should you require advice.

Camp closes at 2.00pm. Please leave by then!

So in Short:-

Please be kind to one another!

Keep your area pretty.

Respect the environment.

Look after your kids, pets, cars and stalls etc.

And:-

HAVE A BLOODY GOOD TIME!

Looking forward to seeing you all,

The Lammas Camp Organisers & Crew.

p.s.   Workshop info and sheet is available to download at chesterfieldpagans.org from late June/July but may be subject to change.

(Also look out for workshop and other info on this here blog MorningStarCraft, my web page and our Chesterfield Pagans facebook page)

So there you have it folks, hope to see you there :0)