Idon’t think we have cornered the market on “stupid beliefs” in the 21st century.

Some of these old pagan festivals were really dumb.

What were they drinking?

You will remember that:

Roses are red.

Violets are blue.

Happy Valentine’s Day

to you!

This romantic holiday is filled with chocolate and flowers, but it has a dark and not-so-sweet side.

The roots of the “month of love” date back to an ancient Roman fertility festival, Lupercalia, celebrated February 13-15, according to History.com.

Luperci priests would meet at the sacred cave where the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were supposedly cared for by a wolf. They sacrificed a goat and a dog.

Young men would cut the goat hide in strips and run through the streets naked and strike at maidens. The maidens believed being hit with the goat hides would make them fertile.

Maidens placed their names in an urn, bachelors would choose a name and they would “become paired” for the next year. Matchmaking in ancient Rome was a bit strange.

Pope Gelasius I, an African Pope from modern-day Tunisia, abolished this pagan celebration.

He established the feast of St. Valentine, the patron of love, young people and happy marriages, on February 14 in 496 AD.

St. Valentine is said to have died in 269 AD.

Will the real St. Valentine stand up?

Legend says St. Valentine was martyred. However, several Christian clerics were named “Valentine,” and multiple legends were associated with that name.

A St. Valentine lived in Rome, another in Terni, and a 3rd in a Roman providence in North Africa.

The Roman Valentine lost his head for marrying Roman soldiers. Emperor Claudius had outlawed marriage for all single soldiers. He thought single men made better soldiers than married ones.

Another Valentine may have been killed for aiding persecuted Christians.

Still another legend says Valentine fell in love with a young girl while in prison and before his death wrote her a letter.

He signed it, “From your Valentine.”

It was also believed in the middle ages that February 14 was the beginning of bird mating season.

In 1382, Chaucer’s poem reflected this belief, “For this was on St. Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”

The Middle Ages

Valentines greetings of songs, poems and a romantic verse date back to the middle ages.

Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415, wrote a poem to his wife while a prisoner in the Tower of London.

We can thank Ester How-land for mass-produced Valentine’s Day cards.

In 1840, she was displeased with the quality of the fancy valentines from Europe and wanted to make her own.

She convinced her father, owner of a stationery store, to order her supplies and made sample cards.

She hoped for just $200 worth of orders, but customers ordered over $5,000 worth of her valentines.

Her new business blossomed into an assembly line of women working to produce beautiful valentines for happy customers.

The simple cards were 5 cents, and fancy ones ranged from $1 to $50.

She wrote a 31-page book of Valentine’s Day verses in case her customers wanted a different message in their cards.

Today the Greeting Card Association estimates 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year.

Heart-shaped chocolate

Richard Cadbury perfected those sweet treats for sweethearts in 1861. He introduced chocolates with imprinted cupids and rose buds in heart-shaped boxes.

Russell Stover wrapped candies in heart-shaped boxes in the US in 1923.

As a child, I always took a small bite out of each chocolate in those shiny red heart-shaped boxes to find my favorite caramel piece. A couple of years ago, I found a whole bag of valentines I was supposed to have given my 4th-grade class. Whoops!

Here is the verse I’m planning for my husband’s and children’s cards:

“Roses are red,

a clean house is sweet.

Here is my card and hey,

let us go out to eat!”

I’m hoping for a large T-bone valentine treat!