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HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Valentine Symbols
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It's not difficult to figure out the connection between the HEART and Valentine's Day. The heart, after all, was thought in ancient times to be the source of all emotions. It later came to be associated only with the emotion of love. It's not clear when the valentine heart shape became the symbol for the heart. Some scholars speculate that the heart symbol as we use it to signify romance or love came from early attempts by people to draw an organ they'd never seen. Anyway, here are some of the other valentine symbols and their origins.
RED ROSES were said to be the favorite flower of Venus, the roman goddess of love. Also, red is a color that signifies strong feelings.
LACE has long been used to make women's handkerchiefs. Hundreds of years ago, if a woman dropped her handkerchief, a man might pick it up for her. Sometimes, if she had her eye on the right man, a woman might intentionally drop her handkerchief to encourage him. So, people began to think of romance when they thought of lace.
LOVE KNOTS have a series of winding an interlacing loops with no beginning and no end. A symbol of everlasting love, love knots were made from ribbon or drawn on paper.
LOVEBIRDS, colorful birds found in Africa, are so named because they sit closely together in pairs -- like sweethearts do. DOVES are symbols of loyalty and love, because they mate for life and share the care of their babies.
How about the "X" sign representing a kiss? This tradition started with the Medieval practice of allowing those who could not write to sign documents with an "X". This was done before witnesses, and the signer placed a kiss upon the "X" to show sincerity. This is how the kiss came to be synonymous with the letter "X", and how the "X" came to be commonly used at the end of letters as kiss symbols. Some believed "X" was chosen as a variation on the cross symbol, while others believe it might have been a pledge in the name of Christ, since the "X" -- or Chi symbol -- is the second letter of the Greek alphabet and has been used in church history to represent Christ.
VALENTINE'S DAY ORIGINS
There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries held in ancient Rome 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 be paired with her for the duration of festival. Sometimes the paring lasted an entire year and they would fall in love and marry.
Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Under the rule of 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 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 aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended, jailed and condemned to death by beating and beheading. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine".
In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine. Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball.
In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first Valentine cards. Commercial Valentines were introduced in the 1800s and now the date is very commercialized. The town of Loveland, Colorado, does a large post office business around February 14th where you can send your Valentine to be postmarked from the romantically-named town.
Valentine Traditions
Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on Valentine's Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they sang was:
Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine --
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.
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.
Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a rich man.
A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat one woman and her wide 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.
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