Valentine's Day Chocolates are a WriterGirl's 2nd Best Friend (after words, of course)

The Vampires for Valentines giveaway post is HERE.

Random.org declares the winner of the Romancing the Book paperback giveaway to be...Anne! Congratulations. I'll be contacting you by e-mail to get your address!

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Happy Lupercalia! To me, nothing says Valentine's Day like chocolate. I'm good with a Ritter Sport hazelnut bar, but for fancy Valentine's Day gift-giving, these chocolates are a girl's second-best friend. After words, of course. I love you, words.

Guylian Belgian chocolate seashells. I actually associate these with Christmas, since that was when my Catholic-of-Jewish-descent grandmother would order these delicacies, considered some of the finest Belgian chocolates. The company donates a portion of its profits to Project Seahorse, which supports ocean conservation.

Ethical Ocean Madagascar chocolate. This award-winning chocolate bar is made with 70% organic ingredients. If that wasn't good enough, it's also fair-trade chocolate; the farmers who produced the organic ingredients earned a fair wage.

Dagoba Organic Chocolate. These bars come in flavors including Eclipse (barely sweetened), New Moon, lavender blueberry and lemon ginger. Prefer to drink your chocolate? Dagoba's drink mixes come in flavors including chocolate chai and xocolatl, the latter of which is flavored with chilies.

Seattle Chocolates. If you like variety, you'll love the selection of specialty truffle bars from this company. They include:

*Pike Place Espresso

*Cappuccino Crunch

*Birthday Cake

*Coconut Macaroon

*Rainier Cherry

*San Juan Sea Salt

Want organic AND fair trade AND an espresso flavor? Then the Equal Exchange Co-Op is there for you.

If you're looking for something different from chocolate bars and hot chocolate mixes, try the Guthrie's Original Sin in a Tin chocolate pate dessert. It's all-natural, and it actually comes in a tin. So does Guthrie's Original Lemon Lust lemon crisp tart. The chocolate pate has a unique texture, and can be served hot or cold, by itself or spread on fruit or cookies.

Any one of these cocoa-rich offerings would make an excellent sacrifice to Juno Februata. They could also make me very, very happy.

Seahorse, Turneffe Islands, Belize. Image taken by Clark Anderson/www.aquaimages.net. Creative Commons license.

Let the Lupercalia Begin!

I love the word “Lupercalia.” It’s an old word, older than the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. In very ancient times, the Romans celebrated the Lupercalia over several days in the middle of February. It’s a festival so ancient, its original meaning has been largely lost. One guess is that it celebrated Lupercus, the god who protected shepherds’ flocks from wolves. Another guess is that a wolf-goddess, called Lupa (which simply means she-wolf in Latin), was worshiped. The she-wolf was honored for having nurtured the infants Romulus and Remus, who went on to found Rome. Lupa was honored with animal sacrifices in her sacred caves.

The Lupercalia fell in the midst of the month devoted to Juno Februata, meaning Juno (the Queen of Heaven and goddess of marriage) of the fever of love. Perhaps because of the Lupercalia’s association with the goddess of conjugal relationships, the wolf-goddess’s feast was also celebrated with erotic games. Young participants in the Lupercalia chose their partners in these games by choosing slips of paper…the ancient ancestors of modern valentines.

Iūnō Rēgina Deōrum

It’s unclear how the Christian saint Valentine became associated with the Lupercalia. Catholic resources suggest there was more than one Roman martyr named Valentine. One Valentine is said to have been a priest who married Christian couples against the wishes of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. He was said to be executed on February 14, 270 CE. A particularly romantic version of the legend says Valentine, imprisoned awaiting his execution, fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and sent her a love letter signed “From your Valentine.” This is probably just a sanitized explanation of the lust notes generated by the Lupercalia, though.

This gives me an idea for a new m/m/f romance: two hot young Roman studs at the Lupercalia, only one slip of paper left…looks like they’ll have to share their blushing maiden. Let the Lupercalia begin!

More Lupercalia fun:
The History Channel on Valentine's Day
10 Most Romantic Valentine’s Day Foods (link no longer works)
10 Most Romantic Literary Classics