Valentine Stuff

One of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day.

St. Valentine's Day...

"When a young man's fancy turns to love, it must be St. Valentine's Day."

The answer may lie with the Ancient Romans. History tells us one of their most prominent pagan festivals was Lupercalia, celebrated on February 15. In 43 AD, the Romans invaded England and wasted no time introducing Lupercalia to the locals. Many years later, the British church erased the festival and linked it with St. Valentine, a cleric murdered on February 14 for marrying soldiers against the Emperor's will. Although many customs are associated with Valentine's Day, none remains more popular than the exchange of Valentine Day cards between lovers of all ages.

Valentine Facts & Superstitions

In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favorite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

Many people give candy to their sweethearts on Valentine's Day. Candy is sweet and so are sweethearts. In North America and Europe, chocolates are sold in fancy boxes shaped like hearts. Some boxes have flowers and ribbons on them.

In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.

A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat one woman and her widow dress. Later, the love seat or courting seat had two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a couple could sit together -- but not too closely!

Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.

Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.

If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.

The History of Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honor Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.

The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. THE good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270. At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honor of a heathen god. On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.

The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavored to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feast. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.

Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine's Day, a holiday honoring lovers, is celebrated February 14. Sending greeting cards or gifts to express affection is the traditional method of celebrating the holiday. The cards, or "valentines", are usually decorated with hearts to symbolize love and carry messages of caring and endearment.

The origins of Valentine's Day are not well documented. It probably derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (February 15). The holiday gradually became associated with the feast day (February 14) of two Roman martyrs, both named St. Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century.

One was a Roman Christian who according to tradition was martyred during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Claudius II on February 14, 270. The other martyr named Valentine, was bishop of Terni, a region in present-day central Italy, they have both been suggested as the inspiration for our modern feast of Saint Valentine's Day. St. Valentine has traditionally been regarded as the patron saint of lovers.

Geoffrey Chaucer should perhaps receive honor as the real Saint Valentine. Although reference books abound with mention of Roman festivals from which Valentine's Day?the day for lovers?may be derived, Jack B. Oruch has shown that no evidence exists to support these connections and that Chaucer is most likely the first to link the saint's day with the custom of choosing sweethearts.

No link between the day and lovers exists before the time of Chaucer and several literary contemporaries who also mention it, but after them the link becomes widespread, a circumstance that makes it seem likely that Chaucer, invented the tradition. The fullest and perhaps earliest description of the tradition occurs in Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, composed around 1380, which takes place "on Seynt Valentynes day,/Whan every foul cometh there to chese [choose] his make [mate]."

Overall, the custom of choosing valentines on this day is of considerable antiquity, and it was an old belief that birds began to mate on this day as Chaucer says above. On the eve of Saint Valentine's day, young people of both sexes used to meet, and each of them drew one by lot from a number of names of the opposite sex, which were put into a common receptacle. Each gentleman thus got a lady for his valentine, and became the valentine of a lady.

The History of Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a time for friends, a time for family, and a time for lovers, but where did it all begin. The following, is just one of many historical descriptions of Valentine's Day. We hope you enjoy it.

In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honor Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the 'Feast of Lupercalia', which was a time to honor several other Gods and Goddesses.

In ancient Rome, the lives of young boys and young girls were strictly separate. However, during the Lupercalia Festival, the boys would each pick a girl's name from a vase. The boys then became partners for the duration of the festival with the girl that they chose. During the festival, the pairs of children danced and played together. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Bibliography:

Valentine's Day by Cass R. Sandak
Crestwood House, New York