- HISTORY OF VALENTINE'S DAY
- Valentine's Day started in Rome, February 14th
was the holiday of Juno (Hera in Greek).
Goddess of women and marriage. The following day,
February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.
One of the customs was name drawing. The evening of of
Lupercalia girls put their names into a jar and young man would
draw a girl's name from it and be partners during the festival.
Sometimes they would fall in love and would later marry.
- Saint Valentine
-
Later Emperor Claudius II believed that the reason roman men did
not want join his army beacuse they had to to leave their loves
or families.
Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Saint
Valentine was a priest at Rome than. He and Saint Marius secretly
married couples.
Claudius him to be beaten to death and his head cut off. He
suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year
270.
The Christian Church wanted to associate the Feast of Lupercalia.
with something religious. Well, you guessed it, Saint Valentine's
Day was used to celebration of this new feast.
- CUPID
- Cupid (Eros in Greece) is the most famous of Valentine
symbols. He is known as a mischievous, winged child armed with
bow and arrows. He shot darts of desire into the bosoms of both
gods and men causing them to fall deeply in love. Cupid was the
son of Venus, (Aphrodite in Greece), Goddess of love and beauty.
- HEART
- Emotions are feelings such as love, happiness, anger,
or fear. A long time ago, people believed that all the emotions
were found in the heart. In later years, they thought only the
emotion of love was connected with the heart. The heart is still
a symbol of love, and because of this, it is also a symbol of
Valentine's Day
- LOVEBIRDS & DOVES
- Lovebirds are colorful parrots found in Africa. Most
have red bills. They are called lovebirds because they sit
closely together in pairs.
Doves were thought to be favorite birds of Venus. They remain
with the same mates all their lives. The males and females both
care for their babies. Because these birds are symbols of loyalty
and love, they are also symbols of Valentine's Day.
- SPOONING
- 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!". It is also ment to keep the man's hands busy during
courting.
- RED ROSE
- The rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman
goddess of love. Red is a color that stands for strong feelings.
This is why the red rose is a flower of love.
- RINGS
- In some countries, men and women exchange rings when
they become engaged or marry. Two or three hundred years ago,
Valentine's Day was a popular day for giving an engagement ring.
An engagement ring usually had a stone or jewel set in it.
Diamonds are common in today's engagement rings.
- LOVE SEAT
- 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! bummer
- LOVE KNOT
- A love knot is a series of winding and interlacing
loops with no beginning and no end. It is a symbol of endless
love. People made love knots from ribbon or drew them on paper.
Often, a message was written on the love knot. The message had no
beginning or end. It could be repeated endlessly.
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