Why is it that every February 14th we celebrate a love holiday called Valentine’s Day? According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
Another interesting history mystery that surrounds the celebration of Valentine’s Day goes back to 270AD, the supposed death date and burial of Valentine. The Christian church banned the celebration of many Roman feasts and declared them pagan. However, there was an effort to appease the peoples by “Christianizing” certain pagan celebrations—Valentine’s Day being one of them. The pagan Roman celebration went something like this:
To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goat hide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.
Okay, now to the fat baby with wings, diapers, and a bow and arrow named Cupid. What the heck is up with this? Cupid has not always been a flying baby angel. It all started about 3000 years ago with a Greek mythological sex symbol named “Eros” (The Greek word for “erotic” kind of love). Supposedly, he was so handsome that he could make both gods and humans go weak in the knees. His bow and arrow was for both love and hate—a gold arrow tip for love and a lead arrow tip for hate. Apparently Eros was a little deviant too. In one mythological story he shot Apollo the sun god was in love with a nymph named Daphne. Eros shows up and shot Apollo with a gold tipped arrow and Daphne with a lead tipped arrow. Their relationship never worked out.
Eros’ downfall came when he fell in love with a mortal named Psyche (actually he shot himself in the butt with his own golden tipped arrow in the site of Psyche). As he became less and less the erotic god of love, he became younger and younger in the hearts and minds of people. Through the centuries as Greek myth gods begin to be less and less important, a few stuck around under Roman rule and festivals; Eros’ name was changed to Cupid. During the Renascence Period, artists began to paint the symbol of cupid using baby angels called “Putti” as his symbol. In the 1700’s when people started sending Valentine’s cards, the little “Putti” symbol called Cupid became the icon and he is just as popular. However, if Eros the love and sex symbol could see what he has become today, I think he would be ticked off.
No comments:
Post a Comment