# The Dark Truth About Valentine's Day Valentine's Day is celebrated as a day of love, romance, and happiness. But behind the roses, chocolates, and cards, there is a dark history and a hidden cost of this popular holiday. ## The Bloody Origins of Valentine's Day The origins of Valentine's Day are not very clear, but one of the most widely accepted theories is that it derives from the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on February 15. Lupercalia was a pagan ritual of fertility and purification, in which young men would run around the city naked, whipping women with animal skins to make them fertile. The festival also involved a lottery, in which men would draw the names of women from a jar and pair up with them for the duration of the festival, or longer if they liked each other. The Christian church tried to replace Lupercalia with a more suitable celebration, and in the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 as the feast day of St. ...