Todays topic is of course
LOVE and with Valentines just passing us by, let's write about.......
-who are the valentines in our lives today
-what are some of fondest memories of Valentines day from the past & present
-what was Valentines like for you as a child
To get a better idea on where this Love Note passing, candy giving,
chubby baby in a diaper with a arrow in hand, day came from....
read on!
February 14 is Valentines Day, the day on which we celebrate and explore
love in all it’s many ideals. How a day for lovers came to be celebrated during the middle of February is an interesting and ages old story. The story of Valentines Day begins during the heyday of the Roman Empire, which held a festival every February. This Lupercian Festival was held in honor of the God of Fertility and during the festivities young men would get to choose their mate. At the time marriage was a common occurrence, but when Claudius became Emperor he changed all of that. Fearing that men would refuse their duty to fight because they would not want to leave their wives behind, he outlawed all marriages. Young couples still fell in
love though and still wished to marry and they took these desires to the Catholic Bishop Valentine who, understanding
love, began to secretly marry couples. When Claudius found out, he had Valentine arrested and ordered put to death. While waiting in jail, Valentine began exchanging letters with the jailer’s daughter and soon had fallen in love with her. The day he was to be beheaded, he wrote her one last note and signed it: ‘From Your Valentine’.
Valentines Day is perhaps best known for its cards. This is a custom whose origins could stem from any number of places. One belief is that the tradition began when St. Valentine himself passed notes to the jailer’s daughter. Another story is that children used to pass notes to St. Valentine while he was in jail. He was so popular that even after his death the children still placed noted through the bars in his empty cell. A third story as to the origin of passing out cards stems from a French Count who was captured and imprisoned in London. From his cell he wrote his wife letters, including a passionate set of poems which he sent to her in February
Valentines Day is a day of symbols. Walking around in the first few weeks of February, you can’t turn a corner without seeing a red rose. The rose was sacred to Venus who is the Goddess of Love. Another popular symbol of the day are birds, particularly doves and lovebirds. These are two birds which mate for life and it was once believed that they choose their mate in the middle of February. Of course no Valentines Day would be complete without a multitude of hearts. It was once believed that the heart was the center of all emotion. People believed that when they gave a heart, they were truly giving all of the love and emotion that they possibly could give. In the Middle Ages men would pull a woman’s name out of a bowl. This would be the man’s Valentine. To show his devotion, the man would wear the paper containing the woman’s name on his sleeve for a week. This soon became known as ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve’. And Valentines Day wouldn't be the same without a visit from Cupid, the winged cherub with a bow and arrow which he uses to place people into love. The origins of Cupid can be traced back to the days of the Roman Empire. Cupid is a Roman God, the symbol of passionate love. (He is the son of Venus, who remember is the Goddess of Love.) Cupid fell madly and completely in love with Psyche, whom it happened was a mortal. This did not please Venus at all and she gave Psyche a particularly hard time, consistently tempting her and driving her off. Eventually, through a small series of human faults, Psyche was tempted to look into the ‘box of beauty’ and when she did, she unleashed a deep slumber onto herself. Cupid then came to Earth and searched the world for her. He found her in her deep sleep. His love for her was so strong though that he was able to take the sleep from her and place it back into the box. Then he used an arrow to pierce her heart and awaken her.
THE END
