Valentine’s Day: A Day for Love with Bloody Past

The day of love and romance. Quite frankly, if you disregard this one day, every day can be a good time to show your love and affection to your loved ones. Everywhere around the world, February 14^th is known as the Valentine’s Day, where for this day alone, people celebrate the gift of love, either to their lifelong partners or closest family members. It is viewed as mainly a Christian holiday, but nevertheless, this particular day is celebrated around the world by all people of various backgrounds. This is also the only day where chocolates and flowers are being sold out, with the two are reviewed as the integral symbols of gifts of love. The name of this particular day is derived from Saint Valentine of Terni, an Italian priest who was martyred after refused to denounce his Christian faith.

            Despite the loving nature of the holiday itself, the history suggests that the origin of the Valentine’s Day is actually the exact polar opposite than our perspective over the years (it’s actually a lot bloodier than we think it is). According to several legends, The story revolved around a priest named Valentine of Terni, at the time in the 3^rd century AD, was the one who opposed Emperor Claudius II’ order to outlaw marriages for young men while citing that single men are made for better soldiers than the ones with family. Realizing the injustice nature of the decree, Saint Valentine performed Christian marriages in secret for young lovers. Other stories revealed that Valentine was an evangelist, spreading the words of Christianity. On one occasion, he was put to a test by a judge named Asterius to proof God’s existence by tasking him to restore his adopted daughter’s eyesight. He completed the task successfully, and thus converted the judge and his family to Christianity, and in turn, using his newfound faith, Arterius released all Christian inmates in his custody. He was taken to Rome to meet Emperor Claudius II, and after trying to convince the emperor to embrace Christianity (to which the emperor refused), He was executed by beheading on February 14, 269 outside the Flaminian Gate, for not denouncing his faith. Before his execution, he wrote a note to Asterius’s daughter signed “from your Valentine”, which is said to have “inspired today’s romantic missives”. 

            Although the namesake saint’s stories are anything but affectionate and caring, the Valentine’s day celebration is derived from a pagan festival in February, with main purpose to commemorate Saint Valentine’s death as a martyr. This is also done to “Christianize” a pagan festival called Lupercalia. The festival itself was an archaic rite connected to fertility. It was mainly consisted of sacrificial of goats (for fertility) and dogs (for purification) by the members of Luperci, an ancient order of Roman Priests. The rites then continued by stripping the goat’s hide to strips; and slapping them after being dipped into the sacrificial blood to women present in the festival, hoping for fertility. Later in the day, the women placed their names in a big urn, and would be draw each by city bachelors to be paired. These pairings often ended up married. It was later outlawed (deemed “Un-Christian”) by Pope Gelasius by declaring that the date of the festival, which is February 14 as the “Saint Valentine’s Day”. It was not until much later, that the day became definitively associated with love. 

            One more interesting legend tied to The Day of Love is the legend of Cupid. Known in the Greek mythology as The God of Love Eros, son of The Goddess of Love and Sex Aphrodite, He was depicted as a handsome man (or a naked and mischievous little boy in some depictions) armed with bow and arrow with a task of shooting golden arrows to unsuspecting lovers. It has been said that the ones who got struck with his arrow would be madly in love with one another. One Greek legend told the story on how he shot an arrow to the God of the Sun Apollo, who fell in love with a nymph named Daphne, but fired a leaden arrow to her, in hoping that she would be repulsed by him. Another allegory told us the tale of how Aphrodite’s jealousy on a mortal named Psyche, she tasked Eros to induce her to fall in love with a monster. In a surprise turn of events, he instead became so enamored by Psyche’s beauty, they actually married (with one condition. In under any circumstances, Psyche was not allowed to see his face). Eventually, Psyche’s curiosity cost her, by stealing a glance, earning the deity’s wrath and flee in anger. They were later reunited and granted the gift of immortality. 

            A typical Valentine’s Day gifts consist of greeting cards (known as Valentines) and various gifts, most commonly confectionary such as chocolates or candies and flowers, most commonly red roses. This practice developed as early as the 19^th century in early modern England, later spread through all English-speaking countries. In the later 20^th to early 21^st centuries, the practice spread to other countries, but with limited effects comparing to other holidays like Halloween or Christmas. In East Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea, this norm instead being offered by women to men, rather than their western counterparts (Where men offer the gifts for women, either wife, girlfriend, or other female relatives), either as an obligatory gift or an expression of affection. There is also a favor-returning day called “White Day”, where the men are expected to return the favor started by their opposing gender, still with the two intentions mentioned above. It is celebrated exactly one month after the fateful day, on March 14. Hence the name, the men would offer either confectionaries made from white chocolate or other gifts bearing the color white. This is typically given to the same girl who gave him her Valentine gifts. 

            To be honest, after the red string of fate article, writing about the day of love can really make you appreciate all the love in the world, since Valentine’s Day is probably the most associated thing when it comes to feelings of mutual affection. And yet, some of them are doing it for the sake of obligation. And on this day, and hopefully the next and the rest of the year, love is in the air. And it started as a reminder of a priest’s sacrifice for the people. And to close this, share the love to your relatives and lifelong partners. You deserve to be loved and to love each other.