Wild as a wolf with a box of chocolates

Feb 15

Yes, it was Valentine's Day yesterday, and I hope you felt the love. My favorite way to celebrate? Chocolate and roses.

Because guess what? Valentine’s Day might superficially be all about overspending on sugary bonbons and ruby red roses in the name of commodified relationship envy…

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But it’s also a day that brings awareness to the heart. And chocolates and roses are both heart medicines.

A spoonful of cacao, a pinch each of rose powder and cinnamon, and a bit of warm cashew milk. Heart-healing heaven.

But I’m not actually here to go all in on Valentine’s themes…

Because long before heart-shaped chocolates and roses, there was Lupercalia—a Roman festival of wild abandon, fertility, and purification that honored the primal forces of nature.

Celebrated on February 15th, Lupercalia was one of the oldest festivals in Rome. It was dedicated to Lupercus, a pastoral god sometimes associated with Faunus (the Roman equivalent of Pan), and always to the legendary she-wolf that nurtured Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome.

The rites took place in the Lupercal, a cave on the Palatine Hill believed to be the very place where the she-wolf suckled the twins.

The ceremony was wild.

Priests of Lupercus, known as Luperci, sacrificed goats and a dog before cutting strips of the animals’ hides to make whips. Clad in little more than these bloodied skins, they ran through the streets of Rome, striking women along the way — an act believed to bring fertility and ease childbirth.

As Christianity spread, Lupercalia faced increasing opposition from the Church…

(And boy did they ban that shit. The horned gods, which Lupercus was associated with via Faunus/Pan, were the primal fertility gods of so many pagan cultures. The lords of life on mother Earth. And their horns literally became the horns of the devil.)

…Anyway, Lupercalia was eventually banned — and though I’m a fan of wildness, I’m actually okay with not killing goats so their skins can be used to whip women. 🤷‍♀️

But the devotion to primal energies and cycles of nature buried within these rites? Humans — at least some humans on some level — know that we need the ecstatic chaos of wildness.

Throughout the Middle Ages, remnants of Lupercalia’s wild revelry survived in fertility rites and frenzied celebrations, with villagers and forest folks donning wolf and goat masks in carnivalesque processions.

Like the Romans before them, villagers saw wolves as creatures of both wilderness and community — fierce hunters who also lived in loyal family groups. The wolf who nursed Rome's founders wasn't just a symbol of wildness, but of protection, guidance, and wisdom.

In these February festivals, the wolf-priests of Lupercalia and wild villagers of Europe weren't just playing at being wild — they were remembering a time when we lived closer to our animal kin. When we understood their languages, followed their signs, and learned from their ways of being.

Perhaps it's time we welcomed a bit more of this wildness back into our lives.

Not by running through streets in goatskins and forsaking the beauty of the cultural threads that keep us safe and sovereign, but by reconnecting with the animal wisdom that still lives in our bones. By remembering that we too are creatures of instinct and intuition, community, and fierce independence.

This is part of what draws me to working with spirit animals, and why I'm excited to share these ancient connections in our upcoming workshop. Because sometimes the best way to find our path forward is to remember where we came from — to let the wolf, or whatever animal speaks to your soul ,show you the way back to your own wild wisdom.

The Spirit Animal Workshop

On Sunday, March 23rd, at 9:30am PT, I’ll be sharing a LIVE 2-hour spirit animal workshop.

You’ll learn all about spirit animals, meet your own animal allies, and begin to cultivate meaningful relationships with all the animal spirits in your life.

This will be recorded if you can’t come live :)

Already purchased The Spirit Animal Workshop? Then you can come for free! Keep your eye out for a separate email with more info.

Join the Spirit Animal Workshop

Celebrating the Spirit of Lupercalia Today

While I’m not encouraging anyone to slaughter animals or run naked through the streets (please, just don’t), this is a good time of year to reconnect with the wildness within.

The heart-centered energy of our modern-day Valentine’s isn’t just about romantic love — it’s about passion.

What inner desires, those messages from your soul, drive you to take action in the world despite all the messages that tell you not to listen?

This Lupercalia, try the following to touch into your wild passions:

Spend time in nature — especially if it’s cold and challenging! Really following your passions in life will definitely be uncomfortable, so practice with the wilderness just outside your door.
Meditate on the spirit of Wolf — Where is it time to become a wolf-like leader in your life? Where is it time to care for community? And what is your heart hunting?
Engage in self-purification rituals — whether through a cleansing bath, fire ceremony, breathwork, or plant brushing.
Do what you love — allowing yourself to be guided by passion, love, creativity, and vitality.

Lupercalia reminds us that beneath the veneer of civilization, we are still creatures of instinct, longing for connection with the primal forces of life.