Rituals for Lupercalia

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Modern Reconstructions of Lupercalia Rituals

A Ritual for Lupercalia

By 'Philipus', c. 2004.

As luck would have it, we do have a number of texts describing the practices of the Lupercal ritual; however, the exact interpretations of these remain a mystery for the most part.  Comparitive work can make some suggestions, though, and one such is that it is based on some sort of initiation ritual, which could equally be one of incorporation into a youthful hunter/warrior-like class, or re-integration into society after such a period.

The outlines of the ritual run as follows:  two teams of luperci, composed of upstanding youths of the higher ranks in society, would run a footrace, ending at the Lupercal, the cave on the Palatine Hill where Romulus and Remus were supposedly suckled by the Lupa, the she-wolf that was either sent by or identical to Mars (later interpreted as a prostitute, as lupa could mean equally she-wolf or prostitute).  In a shrine within this cave, the priests sacrificed a goat and a dog (it is likely that the dog stood in for an earlier wolf sacrifice), and mixed the blood together and marked the foreheads of several youths with it.  After this, the blood was wiped from their foreheads with wool saturated in milk, and there was then "ritual laughter."  The sacrificed goat's skin was then divided and given to the various luperci to wear as a loincloth, as well as made into thongs which were then used in a further run around the city's bounds, during which the luperci flogged anyone they encountered on the way--it was held to be lucky and to promote fertility, and women freely offered their hands for this purpose (the flogging was probably light and mostly symbolic, and only on the hands, in later periods).  Marc Antony, as a youthful luperci, offered the crown to Julius Caesar on this occasion; and it has been suggested that the subsequent imperial cult took some of its inspiration from these events and rituals.  It has also been suggested that Gerald Gardner's various suggestions in terms of the use of flogging in Wiccan ritual also originate from this ritual in particular, although there are quite limited other rituals in Europe in which this took place.

P. Sufenas was a priest of Antinous in the phratria of Naples devoted to Antinous and Eunostos, as well as a lupercus and several other priestly offices.  It is likely, if Antinous was educted in Rome, that he could have been involved in one of these youthful footraces at some stage, or perhaps was even destined to be a lupercus himself.  On the day of the Lupercalia, we commemorate Antinous Magister Canum, Antinous the Master of Hounds; and again, at the opposite end of the year, on the Rising of Sirius/Sirius Orientus, he is again commemorated under this title.  An adapted form of this sort of ritual is therefore suggested here.

[This ritual should take place outside, preferably during the daylight, but after dark can also be effective.  The officiating priests/functionaries should be lightly clad, or completely without clothes if that suits them better.  If there are enough present, two teams of runners should be organized/divided and a short race should be run around a set course--in effect, a sacred boundary of some kind--to see who officiates and performs the subsequent actions; if there are only two present, then it is an individual race; if there is only one officiant, then a race of some sort or a physical exertion of a type determined by oneself should be performed.  An offering of honey should be made to Antinous, Mars, and the Lupa, and a libation of a dark red liquid should be poured out.  A knife with some of this liquid on it should be touched to each person's forehead by the officiant, followed by the wiping off of the red stain with cotton, or if possible wool, saturated in milk.  Ritual laughter follows this--and this is the part of the ritual that is foolproof, because even if one has to fake laughing, the effort to do so will probably be laughable in itself, and thus the requirement of it will be accomplished!  If a flogging device of lambskin can be obtained, it should be used; if not, a leather implement would be sufficient, or even a cloth belt for those of less-enterprising tastes.  Hands can be presented as consent to be flogged lightly, or other parts of the body as one feels able--however, unless one is an experienced flogger, the officiant should not attempt to flog anyone on any body part other than the hands.  ***DO NOT ALLOW SOMEONE WHO IS NOT AN EXPERIENCED FLOGGER FLOG YOU ANYWHERE BUT ON THE HANDS!!!***  The flogging can be a single time, a set number of times, or with an accompanying rhyme along the lines of the following:

One for good luck, two for great;

Three for long life, four thwarts fate;

Five against poison, six against fire;

Seven is steadfast, eight doesn't tire;

Nine for better, ten's the best;

With eleven and twelve, you've passed the test.

After everyone has experienced this, the remaining libations of milk, honey and red liquid should be consumed by those present.  A closing formula might run as follows:

Antinous Master of Hounds:

From time immemorial young men have gathered in groups,

Hunted and fought in each other's company, loved and died;

The youthful Romulus and his brother Remus founded Rome [current year plus 754] years ago,

The boys who had been suckled on the milk of wolves;

Hadrian, son of Rome, of the wolf-brood of Mars

Called you into his sacred company of youths.

You became his greatest hunting hound, and we are your loyal friends.

Give us celerity like the hounds on the trail,

Give us the taste of blood so that we may be fierce in each other's defense,

Give us nourishing and purifying milk,

Give us the strength to strike blows and to endure them.

Antinous Master of Hounds, let your call beckon us onwards,

And may we pursue you, Hunter and Hunted,

Until our breath stops, until our blood runs dry.

AVE VIVE ANTINOE. 

Finally, one more dose of ritual laughter might not be a bad way to end!]

Source:

• http://www.liminalityland.com/lupercal.htm, accessed 7th February, 2006.

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