Love Before Hallmark and Cupid
Valentine’s Day today is all chocolates, roses, pastel hearts. But before Cupid shot his commercialized arrow, love rituals looked much wilder, stranger, and deeper.
As an artist, I’ve always been drawn to the symbolic, the sensual, and the mythical layers of our traditions. That’s why I wanted to trace the roots of Valentine’s Day — not to dismiss the present, but to expand the story.
Explore the Valentine’s Day Gift Collection
What Was Lupercalia?
Long before Saint Valentine or heart-shaped boxes, there was Lupercalia — a Roman fertility festival celebrated on February 15th. Rooted in the cave of Lupercal (where the mythical founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were said to be nursed by a she-wolf), it honored themes of protection, purification, and raw vitality.
It involved sacrifices, nudity, rituals of cleansing, and wild, symbolic acts. Young men would run through the streets lightly clothed, playfully whipping women with thongs made from goat hide — a gesture believed to increase fertility and ease childbirth. It wasn’t cruel; it was ecstatic.
This wasn’t about gentle romance. It was primal, poetic, chaotic love.
Sensuality and Symbolism
When I create art for Valentine’s Day, I often lean into this sensual ambiguity. Not everything about love is sweet or gentle. Sometimes love is wild, visceral, layered with fear and longing. My print “Fetish” is one such exploration — not erotic in an obvious way, but suggestive, textured, symbolic.
Even in the softer pieces, I often encode tension. Desire can be sacred and disruptive at once.
Love Rites Around the World
Lupercalia wasn’t the only ancient celebration of love or fertility. Around the same time of year, Celtic Imbolc honored the feminine principle of renewal and light. In Japan, seasonal festivals offered plum blossoms as love charms. In Slavic folklore, springtime dances and fire-jumping rituals were ways of honoring desire, union, and transformation.
There’s a shared thread across cultures: love is a ritual. And ritual is often sensual — not always sexual, but deeply embodied. When I create prints inspired by ancient symbolism, I want to channel that sense of deeper connection. The pulse beneath the ritual.
Why This History Matters
I’m not interested in nostalgia for the past — but I am interested in remembering what love used to mean before it became a shopping holiday. Love as a force of nature. As transformation. As pain, pleasure, mystery.
That’s why I often incorporate ancient symbols, mythic references, or even raw, unfinished textures in my Valentine’s-inspired pieces. I want to create something that doesn't just say “I love you,” but feels like a spell.
Reclaiming the Ritual
Today, we might not run wild in the streets with goat skins, but we still seek meaning. Whether we’re lighting candles, giving flowers, or hanging art on our walls, we’re signaling: I feel. I remember. I desire.
So if you’re tired of the clichés and craving something deeper this Valentine’s — look beyond Cupid. Look to symbols, textures, colors, and stories that stir something ancient inside.
Love is older than any holiday. Its rituals have changed, but the longing is the same — to connect, to be seen, to touch something sacred in another.
I make art for that space. Not just to decorate, but to mark emotion. Whether it’s a gift or a piece for your own wall, I hope it stirs something beyond surface.
Because love, in all its forms, deserves to be honored with depth.
