Model Alexia May wearing Diana Mahrach Red illusion
Dress all photos: Looking Glass Photography
Hair and Makeup: Brittany Weyhrauch
Blood Red Hearts on Valentine’s Day
By TaraJean McDonald
Red hearts and cupid arrows seem very innocent and romantic for those of us who are searching for the perfect Valentine’s card for the one’s we love. But the deep red colors we wear on this special day could be more of a reminder of the crimson blood that has been shed on February 14th so many years ago.
Fifteen centuries ago Pope Gelasius declared February 14th to be St. Valentine’s Day. The stories of at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus who were put to death on this day lead us to believe that the origins of this romantic holiday revolved around the martyrdom of saints. But history tells how many years before Christianity declared Valentine’s Day a holiday, there was a very bloody beginning to one of the most popular card-sending holidays in the world.
February has long been considered a month of romance. There are some very interesting mating rituals among some animal species beginning in
Late March through mid February. Perhaps these coupling rituals throughout the animal kingdom impressed the Ancient Romans more than 2000 years ago to make February the best time to celebrate the feast of Lupercalia. The festival not only celebrated the coming of Spring, but it also included fertility rites and the matching of women to men for coupling for the duration of the festival and hopefully through the year into marriage. The men would meet at a sacred cave and sacrifice a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. The Roman women would willingly line up to receive this sacrificial gift from the men. Their gift was to be gently slapped with strips of fresh animal’s skins that were drenched in warm blood, covering them with the deep red color of sacrificial blood. As the day progressed the women would drop their names in a big urn in the center of the city so the single men could choose a partner perhaps through destiny. The couple would pair off to join in games and parties for the remainder of the celebration. Many of these matches would end in marriage at the end of the year. This is a far cry from Match.com to find the perfect mate, but for the single men and women of Rome this was the ideal time to meet your one true love.
Bloody festivals and sacrificed saints may have began this holiday, but by the middle of the 18th century friends and lovers were exchanging small tokens of affection to celebrate this special day. So wear your red lipstick and your silky red dress on Valentine’s Day, and you decide what this intensely passionate crimson color symbolizes for you.
Dress all photos: Looking Glass Photography
Hair and Makeup: Brittany Weyhrauch
Blood Red Hearts on Valentine’s Day
By TaraJean McDonald
Red hearts and cupid arrows seem very innocent and romantic for those of us who are searching for the perfect Valentine’s card for the one’s we love. But the deep red colors we wear on this special day could be more of a reminder of the crimson blood that has been shed on February 14th so many years ago.
Fifteen centuries ago Pope Gelasius declared February 14th to be St. Valentine’s Day. The stories of at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus who were put to death on this day lead us to believe that the origins of this romantic holiday revolved around the martyrdom of saints. But history tells how many years before Christianity declared Valentine’s Day a holiday, there was a very bloody beginning to one of the most popular card-sending holidays in the world.
February has long been considered a month of romance. There are some very interesting mating rituals among some animal species beginning in
Late March through mid February. Perhaps these coupling rituals throughout the animal kingdom impressed the Ancient Romans more than 2000 years ago to make February the best time to celebrate the feast of Lupercalia. The festival not only celebrated the coming of Spring, but it also included fertility rites and the matching of women to men for coupling for the duration of the festival and hopefully through the year into marriage. The men would meet at a sacred cave and sacrifice a goat for fertility and a dog for purification. The Roman women would willingly line up to receive this sacrificial gift from the men. Their gift was to be gently slapped with strips of fresh animal’s skins that were drenched in warm blood, covering them with the deep red color of sacrificial blood. As the day progressed the women would drop their names in a big urn in the center of the city so the single men could choose a partner perhaps through destiny. The couple would pair off to join in games and parties for the remainder of the celebration. Many of these matches would end in marriage at the end of the year. This is a far cry from Match.com to find the perfect mate, but for the single men and women of Rome this was the ideal time to meet your one true love.
Bloody festivals and sacrificed saints may have began this holiday, but by the middle of the 18th century friends and lovers were exchanging small tokens of affection to celebrate this special day. So wear your red lipstick and your silky red dress on Valentine’s Day, and you decide what this intensely passionate crimson color symbolizes for you.