Do You Know Valentine's Day History?
How did it all start? The origins of Valentine’s Day explained
There are many different explanations for the start of this custom we call Valentine’s Day today and celebrate as a day of love. But while what we see today is the fluff of marketing and stereotypes propagated by commercial interests, i.e all those companies who want you to buy their teddy bears, cards, hearts, balloons, flowers and chocolates, there’s a lot more to February 14 than any of those things! If you want to make Valentine’s Day really memorable for you and your special someone, you should probably do some research on the pagan origins of the day as a fertility celebration so you can know what you’re really being a part of –an ancient, timeless ritual. Much more appealing than fluff, don’t you think?The original St Valentine was a Catholic martyr, having been executed by Emperor Claudius II of Rome for refusing to renounce his faith. Popular legend has it that Valentine performed marriage ceremonies in secret for Christian soldiers in the Roman army and was therefore executed. He is also said to have written the first Valentine himself, having written a note to his jailer’s daughter whom he had cured of blindness and fallen in love with on the eve of his execution.
While this is a pretty tradition, it is preceded by a much older celebration that has pagan, pre-Christian origins in antiquity. One of the links identified between ancient Greece and February 14 is that mid-February was dedicated to the celebration of the divine marriage of Zeus, the king of the Gods and Hera, his queen. Ancient Rome also celebrated the festival of Lupercalia at the same time, honouring the goddess Juno and praying for fertility. It is possible that the early Christian church, in its attempt to be a natural successor to earlier pagan religions, adopted February 14 as its own feast day for St Valentine.
The tradition of exchanging hand-written love notes was particularly prevalent in the nineteenth century, when men and women got around the prudish traditions of the Victorian era in order to express, tentatively, their romantic love for each other. In our own modern times however, we’ve moved from writing our own notes to using mass-produced greeting cards that express the same sentiments. Some estimates say that February 14 is second only to 25 December in the number of cards that are sent out on each day!
While the origins of the tradition may be murky, what is important is that February 14 is a day that is meant to celebrate love and togetherness. If you’re in love, or in a committed relationship with someone, it is a good day to introspect and reflect on the happiness you’ve brought each other and to give thanks, even in a small way, for being lucky enough to have found and kept one another for however long you’ve been together!
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