It is here where the figure we know is Cupid emerges. The name Cupid comes from the Latin verb cupre meaning to desire. Cupid was the son of Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty and love. Originally known as Tammuz and Ishtar, this mother and son couple are the progenitors of all pagan religions on earth today. In this ancient Babylonian writing, we can see the true identity of Tammuz revealed. Quote, the little demons and the great demons cried aloud. Demons and their companions cried aloud. Our heroic Lord, He who was seized away forsake us not.

Tammuz our Lord was seized away forsake us not. End quote. Yes, you heard that correctly. Tammuz is being referred to as the Lord of demons. In this chapter, it gives us more detail about the true identity of Tammuz. Quote, the litany’s and the theological lists refer to Tammuz by a title which occurs as frequently as any other and which I have reserved for a separate treatment for in this title, we have evidence that this deity was connected with serpent worship. It is true that this connection is to be regarded as prehistoric and one which was forgotten in the age when our sources begin.

For not only is Tammuz called the great serpent dragon, but the same title is more than once applied to the mother goddess herself. The title in Sumerian is God, a name which is regarded by the theologians apparently as the most important of all the titles of Tammuz. The name should mean the great serpent of heaven. End quote. The great serpent of heaven. Hmm. Where have we heard that before? Revelation chapter 12 verse 9. And the great dragon was cast out. That old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world.

He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Mythology describes Tammuz as having both a cruel and a happy personality. He would use his invisible arrows tipped with gold to strike unsuspecting men and women causing them to fall in love. He did not do this for their benefit, but to drive them crazy with intense passion and to make their lives miserable and laugh at the results. Famously, Tammuz used the love arrow on his own mother, causing her to fall madly in love with him. Mother and son got married and the story of Cupid was born.

Quote. In Babylonian religion the earth goddess was regarded as the mother and wife of Tammuz. That the son should be also the lover of the goddess is explained on the assumption that in ancient society the imperial power descended through the female line. In that case the heir to a throne is the daughter of a king. To retain a throne the son of a king must marry his sister or failing a sister his own mother. In the Sumerian myth we have both circumstances represented. In the Egyptian version Isis is the sister of her husband Osiris.

In Sumer the original myth represented the mother goddess as the mother of Tammuz. End quote. Now further down in the story as Tammuz grows and becomes a man, Tammuz actually marries his mother and they have a very sexual relationship and that baby Tammuz and his mother Semiramis is where you get the story of Cupid. So now that we know where Cupid comes from let’s take a look at Valentine’s Day itself. The association between mid-February and romance goes back to a pagan festival known as Lupercalia, likely honoring either Lupa the she-wolf of Rome who suckled Romulus and Remus or Faunus their god of fertility.

The festivities began with an animal sacrifice then the ritualistic slapping of young women with strips of the animal’s skin and blood to bestow fertility for the coming year. Alberta Mildred Franklin writes this in her 1921 book entitled The Lupa Calia quote these occasions are celebrated by the worshippers with extravagant orgies of mourning and of joy. In the death and the resurrection of the deity the people find assurance of human immortality. Much of the homage offered by this agricultural people to its earth goddess consists of fertility charms to arouse the dormant powers of productivity or to secure rain for the crops but often the goddess withholds her blessing and sends barrenness blight and pestilence upon her people.

To avert these destructive forces and to set free all beneficent activities the devotees resort to strange orgiastic practices. Often they seek to propitiate the Dread Goddess by the sacrifice of a human being end quote. Most people are completely unaware of this link between human sacrifice and Valentine’s Day. Let’s continue. Pausanias an ancient Greek geographer and historian tells us that quote a child was sacrificed his blood sprinkled upon the altar and his entrails tasted sacramentally by the priest. Thereupon say the legends he who had tasted the entrails was transformed into a werewolf for a period of nine years end quote.

Werewolves, human sacrifice, incest and orgies these are all reasons why we should avoid celebrating Valentine’s Day but we’re not done yet. As mentioned the Romans celebrated Lupercalia to honor the hunter-god Lupercus. To the Greeks from whom the Romans had copied most of their mythology Lupercus was known as Pan the God of Light. The Phoenicians worshiped the same deity as Baal the Sun God. Baal was one of many names or titles for Nimrod a mighty hunter especially of wolves. Defying God Nimrod was the originator of the Babylonian mystery religions whose mythologies have been copied by the Egyptians the Greeks the Romans and a multitude of peoples around the world.

Under different names or titles Pan, Lupercus, Saturn, Osiris, Tammuz Nimrod is the strongman and the hunter warrior god of the ancients. Now let’s move on to the heart symbol and why we associate it with Valentine’s Day and love. The title Baal means Lord or master and is mentioned throughout the Bible as the God of the pagans. God warned his people not to worship or even tolerate the ways of Baal. In the ancient Chaldean language which is the original language of the Babylonians Baal which is similar to Baal meant heart.

So there you have it historical proof that the holiday we know as Valentine’s Day is nothing but an ancient ritual repackaged for modern times. In the fifth century perhaps in an effort to Christianize the pagan festival Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as Saint Valentine’s Day. As for the real Saint Valentine there were reportedly several canonized by the church. Legend has it that one Saint Valentine a defiant Roman priest lived during the third century AD under Emperor Claudius the second. Claudius was an ambitious ruler his battles required vast armies of men to abandon their young families for long periods of time resulting in a military that was half-hearted and homesick.

So determined was Claudius to stop love from sapping the will of his armies he banned marriages altogether. Father Valentine fought the ban unjust and defied the Emperor continuing to marry young lovers in secret. The Emperor eventually caught on to the priests actions arrested him and sentenced him to death. [tr:trw].