In Sabrina, the tradition is flipped on its head because duh, it's 2019! Why should men get to the hunting!? The women, dressed in red, chase their male partners, dressed as wolves, through the woods.
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According to History, "many women welcomed the lashes and even bared their skin to receive the fertility consecration it’s open to speculation what the lashes represented." While Zelda calls it The Hunt, the real life Lupercalia concludes in The Feast, followed by a hunt.Īfter consuming the animal sacrifices, the men cut strips of goat hide and ran around naked, whipping any woman within striking distance. The final part of the festival is MUCH more darker than what we see in Sabrina. Sabrina is paired up with Nick Scratch for Lupercalia. Far less romantic than a night with Nick Scratch alone in the woods in your boujee black underwear, huh? Unlike in Sabrina, where everyone pairs off and does the ritual together, the original festival required two members of the group to carry out the tradition, naked in front of everyone. In the early days of the festival, a group of Roman Priests carried out the rituals. Sabrina skips over this part of the festival but, the next part - the smearing of blood on the forehead and then laughing while the other person wipes it off with a milk-soaked cloth - is an accurate depiction of the festival.
The second part of the festival begins with two animal sacrifices - one or more male goats (a representation of sexuality) and a dog. Sabrina's Lupercalia begins with a matching ceremony. (Sabrina cheats the system and makes sure she ends up with Nick. In Sabrina, there's a lovely game of musical chairs that decides which male the female will end up with. The real festival begins with men picking a woman at random from a jar. In Sabrina, Zelda explains the festival in three parts: The Matching - where you're paired with a random warlock, The Courting - where you and said warlock spend the night together in "unholy abstinence," and The Hunt - a run through the woods which climaxes in a frenzy of orgiastic carnality.
Zelda described it as "a symphony of sensuality and pleasure." Participation is voluntary but, you know, if Nick Scratch wants you to be his Lupercalia date then, WHO ARE WE TO SAY NO?! It’s thought that Lupercalia took place to honour the She-Wolf and please the Roman fertility god Lupercus. Arguably the most important depiction of the event.) (Just kidding.
In Zelda's spiel about the festival, she says that it is "named after the Lupercal, the cave where the twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were suckled by the She-Wolf." (Fun fact: the She-Wolf can also be seen in Ariana Grande's 'God is a woman' video. Lupercalia is described by History as a "bloody, violent and sexually-charged celebration awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility". The depiction of Lupercalia in Sabrina is not that far off what it is in real life. Sabrina's Lupercalia is a real pagan festival but it's much different in real life. Lupercalia is basically one big ritualistic sex and fertility fest - and yes, it's a real celebration.