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Valentine’s Day!
Do your cheeks go hot pink? Do you feel butterflies in your stomach or feel slightly dizzy? Do you feel a slight reaction to something normal as a smile? Well you most likely have been hit by cupid’s arrow!

In Roman mythology cupid is the god of love and romance, and is used in modern days as the icon of Valentine’s Day. Cupid is frequently shown shooting his bow inspiring love. Who he chooses is quite puzzling. You can recognize Cupid by his adorable chubby baby figure, his wings and his bow. Those hit by Cupid’s arrow are known to be in love, thus portray their love in various ways.

So the question is what is Valentine’s Day? Was it just a day fabricated by the card makers and florists to profit? The answer is no! Because there actually was a St. Valentine.
However there exist a couple different folktales recounting the origins of Valentine’s day!

During the reign of Emperor Claudius, Valentine was a priest. The Emperor was determined to get as many soldiers for upcoming wars. However the Emperor had noticed that many of the soldiers were being distracted by their lovers, and were not interested in leaving their sweethearts and families to fight in foreign land. Hence Emperor Claudius was extremely angry with this and prohibited marriage and cancelled the upcoming weddings.

The young sweethearts were extremely upset and Valentine feeling rather sorry for this unfair trail decided to help them. He would allow secret marriage ceremonies for the ones who still wished to get married, even though he was aware that it was against the law. He was considered somewhat of a hero in his village. However Emperor Claudius had discovered that there were secret marriages being allowed, and had poor Valentine thrown into jail. There he would receive flowers and cards as gratitude from the young couples he wed. In jail Valentine had fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter. This you can imagine infuriated the jailor and Valentine lost his life, which many believe on Feb 14 269 A.D. Before his execution he sent a card signed “From Your Valentine”.
He had become a patron saint of lovers through his death, thus St. Valentine! Pope Gelasius in 496 had declared a day for him to honor of his courage, his love and compassion. It has become centuries and we still celebrate to this day his heroism. As many other celebrations fade Valentine’s day only becomes stronger.

One way sweethearts show their love for each other is by sending beautiful flowers, especially red roses. These flowers in a way are the language of love, emphasizing your affections. That is to say a lovely floral bouquet can show a heartfelt message of love and care. Ever since Victorian times, Valentine’s Day cards were decorated with hearts, flowers and you guessed it cupids! With the famous line “From Your Valentine”.

Customs have slightly changed from then. No longer is it much of a mystery guessing who your valentine is. Men are not the only one who sent out flowers, or lovers are not the only ones to receive them. It is more a day of love and care for anyone who you feel dear. You can send flowers to your siblings and parents to your best-friends and yes your lovers. It is true that still most flowers are sent out by men; however statistics show that it is becoming more common for women to send flowers. Also statistics show that at least 60% of men consider receiving flowers a romantic gesture. Unfortunately only 40% are so honored.

There are also speculations that Valentine’s Day was not to commemorate the anniversary of Saint Valentines burial, however the day the Christian church may have dedicated to celebrate Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February as to ‘chiristianize’ the celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. Back then, February was the official commencement of spring and was considered a time for purification. It was time for cleaning the houses by sweeping the floors and sprinkling salt and a wheat called spelt throughout the rooms. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, Faunus, along with the Roman founders Remus and Romulus.
The festival began with the Luperci, a group of Roman priests, gathering at the sacred cave where it was believed the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were cared for by the she-wolf lupa. There they would sacrifice a dog for purification and a goat for fertility.

Boys then would slice goats hide in strips dip it into a sacrificial blood and go to the streets, gently slapping women and field of crops with the goat hide strips. The women of Rome actually greeted the gentle slaps as it was believed it would make them more fertile in the upcoming year. Then all the young women would place their name in a big urn. The bachelors would then choose a name from the urn, and become paired with the chosen women for the upcoming year. These matches often would become marriages. Hence the Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentines day around 498 A.D. However this pairing was deemed un-chirstian and was outlawed.

In France and England, the middle of February was believed to be the birds’ mating season, which emphasized the idea of Valentine’s Day being in the middle of February, a day of Romance.
One of the oldest known Valentines to this date is written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his beloved wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his confinement in the battle of Agincourt. His letter was written in 1415, is part of a manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. It is also believed that years later King Henry V hired a writer; John Lydgate, to write a valentine not to Catherine of Valois.

Here is a summary of Valentine History for you to watch!