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| 09-02-2006 10:47:01 |
Love and romance is in the air as Valentine's Day approaches. February 14, the second-most day Hallmark cards are given, phrases like "you had me at hello" mean so much more than words from a Hollywood movie, tokens of love are exchanged over candlelit dinners, and proposals of an everlasting are made. Today, Valentine's Day is a festival of mating and dating...
...and although its origins didn't see the dozen long stem red roses ritual, many traditional customs and interesting facts have brought this celebration of love to us in its modern form.
Saint Valentine was a priest in Rome during the rule of Emperor Claudius II. He and Saint Marius are said to have aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples in contravention of the ban on marriages and engagements of the Emperor. But when he was found out, Saint Valentine was condemned to be beaten to death with clubs and have his head cut off. He suffered his martyrdom on February 14.
In ancient times, February 14 marked the festival of Juno, the queen of the Roman pantheon and the eve of the festival of the fertility goddess, Lupercalia. During this festival, the names of Roman maidens would be written down and randomly drawn out for each youth, and then partnered with her for the duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing would last a whole year, sometimes they would fall in love and, in later patriarchial times, marry.
And traditionally in nature, it is around Valentine's Day that wild birds come together...
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