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February 14th is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers' holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between couples in love, but Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate for anyone you love, be they your parents, your friends, or your lover. It originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday?
For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year. But, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?
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Although
the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February
holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men
to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give
the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's
name.
The first
Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Valentine’s Day
card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was
imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time. |
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Cupid, another
symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the
son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears
on Valentine cards.
Likeness,
fondness, passion, lust, love are all emotions that can be confused
for each other depending on one's perspective. If you think you're sweet
on someone - relish the day of love and take a risk, bust-a-move, or
if you are on the other side say yes to that date, you never know.
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Happy Valentine's Day
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Related Links
101eGreetings.com - Free Greeting Cards, Valentines Day Ecards, Egreetings
Provides Valentines Day History Origin, Recipe, Symbols and Greetings.
St Valentine’s Day Festival – Read about celebrations, customs, history, legends of St Valentine, st.valentines day massacre, gifts ideas, quotes, humor, symbols, recipes and more.
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