The sweetest day of the year for couples to celebrate but the worst for those who don’t have partners, an ordinary day for a regular worker and a time when children were ask by their teacher to create valentines card to be given to their parents when they go home. This is our typical Valentine’s Day routine.
Though it is not declared as a special non-working holiday, this day seemed to be, people are very busy even a day before to buy gifts and greeting cards for their spouse and partner. Hotels and Restaurants are at its peak on this season and fully booked. Amusement parks and malls were loaded with teenagers that in despite of their young age, it seems that their heart is fully conscious of showing love and caress to their partners.
Though it is not declared as a special non-working holiday, this day seemed to be, people are very busy even a day before to buy gifts and greeting cards for their spouse and partner. Hotels and Restaurants are at its peak on this season and fully booked. Amusement parks and malls were loaded with teenagers that in despite of their young age, it seems that their heart is fully conscious of showing love and caress to their partners.
Save the day because it is a very popular date to exchange vows making this day a very popular date for weddings and to ask for a marriage proposal where men mostly get their sweet yes from their fiancé.
Valentine’s Day would not be completed without Cupid, the God of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. Most recognized for his vow and arrow that is said to be the source of his power. It is said in Roman mythology that a person or a deity who is shot by his arrow will be filled with uncontrollable desires with the next person he meet. The iconography of Cupid as a symbol of Valentine’s Day can be seen in all the greeting cards and stuffs related to the celebration.
Valentine’s Day would not be completed without Cupid, the God of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. Most recognized for his vow and arrow that is said to be the source of his power. It is said in Roman mythology that a person or a deity who is shot by his arrow will be filled with uncontrollable desires with the next person he meet. The iconography of Cupid as a symbol of Valentine’s Day can be seen in all the greeting cards and stuffs related to the celebration.
Another man who is linked to the celebration is Saint Valentine; he is a widely recognized third-century Roman Saint. Though nothing is reliable on his identity except the fact that he died on February 14 yet honor of dedicating the said date was given on him. It is also uncertain whether St. Valentine is to be identified as one saint or two saints of the same name.
In ancient Rome, a festival that was observed annually every February 13 to 14 which is called Lupercalia, it is said to be the origin of the celebration of the month of love and romance. The feast is believed to avert evil spirits and purify the city, to promote fertility and ward off disasters.
In ancient Rome, a festival that was observed annually every February 13 to 14 which is called Lupercalia, it is said to be the origin of the celebration of the month of love and romance. The feast is believed to avert evil spirits and purify the city, to promote fertility and ward off disasters.
Lupercalia
The ritual is lead by a corporation of priests called Luperci, the men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.
According to Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Romans were drunk and naked. Young women line up for the men to have sex with them which they believed this would make them fertile. Also a matchmaking lottery in which young men drew the names of women from a jar to form a couple that would last for the whole duration of the festival or longer if the match is right.
During the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I conglomerated St. Valentine’s Day and Lupercalia to exorcise the pagan ritual. Ever since the holiday grew sweeter and gained its popularity in the Western countries and to the whole world. The celebration nowadays was so commercialized like other celebration such as Christmas and New Year. But the transformation of the celebration from being barbaric ritual to a gentle and sophisticated festival of love is a proof that our society nowadays have leveled up from its ancient past.
According to Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Romans were drunk and naked. Young women line up for the men to have sex with them which they believed this would make them fertile. Also a matchmaking lottery in which young men drew the names of women from a jar to form a couple that would last for the whole duration of the festival or longer if the match is right.
During the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I conglomerated St. Valentine’s Day and Lupercalia to exorcise the pagan ritual. Ever since the holiday grew sweeter and gained its popularity in the Western countries and to the whole world. The celebration nowadays was so commercialized like other celebration such as Christmas and New Year. But the transformation of the celebration from being barbaric ritual to a gentle and sophisticated festival of love is a proof that our society nowadays have leveled up from its ancient past.
Our love for our partner, parents, children, friends and neighbors must start at ourselves, the art of selflessness as the primary medium of our character must be practice at all times. Love is a universal language that can be understood by many, let us celebrate Valentine’s Day together every day in our hearts and minds not just with our loved ones but to all forms of life that breath around us.
Sources:
http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/351677/Lupercalia
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day
