Valentine's Day Magic: 5 Simple Rituals to Fall in Love With Yourself
Is Valentine’s Day Pagan?
Valentine’s Day is a modern secular celebration of love held annually on the 14th of February.
The celebration has its origin in the Christian feast day honouring Saint Valentine.
It’s been suggested that the Roman fertility festival known as Lupercalia was replaced by Valentine’s Day, but this appears to be untrue.
Lupercalia: Pagan Valentine’s Day
Lupercalia was a raucous sexually charged festival dedicated to fertility and purification.
Those Romans sure knew how to party.
Lupercalia celebrated annually on the 15th of February. The festivities began with a sacrifice of goats and a dog.
The designated priests would be anointed on the forehead with blood, which would then be wiped off with milk soaked wool.
After the sacrifice, a great feast would be held and the priests would strike women with thongs made from sacrificed animals.
The strike was a form of ‘blessing’ that would bestow fertility.
The Roman festival was so bawdy that it was banned in 494 CE by the Christian church.
It appears that the connection between Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day emerged from romantic poets like Chaucer.
While Lupercalia wasn’t directly replaced by Valentine’s Day, there’s no denying that the themes of love and sex are similar.
Whether or not you usually choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
It can still be a magically profound day of self-love and empowerment.
Our society tends to venerate romantic love above all else.
But that doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
Why Valentine’s Day is Perfect For Self-Love Magic
This Valentine’s Day, why not celebrate the divine miracle that is you?
Self-love is often defined as ‘regard for one’s own well-being and happiness’.
But it’s far more than just spending money and having bubble baths (as fun as those are).
Self-love is a divine act of self-empowerment.
In a society that constantly says ‘you’re less’ if you’re alone.
Self-love can help teach you to honour yourself as truly worthy no matter what your relationship status.
Here are five simple rituals to fall in love with yourself this Valentine’s Day.
1. Create a Self-Love Altar
Create a small altar dedicated to the goddess that is you!
Pink and red are the colours traditionally associated with self-love.
But feel free to use your favourite colour instead.
Some simple ideas for your self-love altar include:
Photograph of you
Self-love themed oracle cards
Rose quartz crystals
Ornate mirror
Journal
Pink or red candles
Rose scented incense
When your altar is finished. Light the candles and incense.
Imagine red or pink light pouring down from the heavens, saturating your altar with loving energy.
Then spend some time silently honouring your divine self.
2. Write Yourself a Love Letter
Light a pink candle and some rose scented incense.
Choose your favourite pen and a pink piece of paper.
Write down all of your positive qualities.
Start each sentence with ‘I love…’ Then write down what you love most about yourself and why.
Think about your personality, habits, quirks and physical appearance.
When you’ve finished, read your list out loud in front of a mirror.
This is a powerful spell of self-love!
Leave your love letter on your self-love altar.
Repeat this ritual anytime you need a boost of unadulterated adoration.
3. Self-Love Anointing Oil
Anointing oils were traditionally used to confer consecration upon something or someone.
In the Bible, Mary Magdalene was said to have anointed the Nazarene with an expensive spikenard oil.
In the Homeric Hymns the Greek goddess Aphrodite was anointed with perfumed oils by the Kharites.
The Kharites bathed her with heavenly oil such as blooms upon the bodies of the eternal gods - oil divinely sweet, which she had by her, filled with fragrance.
Choose a diluted, skin safe essential oil.
Anoint your forehead, heart and palms while reciting an affirmation of love for yourself and your body.
You can even read the love letter you wrote to yourself as you anoint your sacred body.
4. Celebrate Your Beauty
Valentines Day is the perfect day to embrace your beauty.
Do your hair.
Put on some makeup if it makes you feel beautiful.
Wear your favourite outfit.
Spritz yourself with perfume.
It doesn’t matter if you’re working from home, or you’re not going out anywhere special.
You’re doing this purely for yourself.
Celebrate your beauty in whatever way feels best to you.
And for extra Venusian points…
Compliment yourself every time you look in the mirror.
5. Self-Love Spell: Fall in Love With Life
This is a spell is fall more deeply in love with life.
What You’ll Need
Friday
Waxing moon
Pink or red candle
the spell
Hold the candle between your hands.
Conjure and invoke the feelings of joy and love. Hold onto those feelings and imagine them flowing into the candle.
As you do this, whisper this chant or something similar:
‘Every day I fall more in love with life.’
Do this until you feel like the candle is bursting with joyful, loving energy.
Light the candle and imagine it glowing with pink light.
Place the candle in a safe place to burn out completely. Don’t leave burning candles unattended.
Feel free to make this spell more complex.
You can create sacred space, add more correspondences or change up how you raise energy.