Happy Valentine’s Day
“Loving is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction”
– Antoine De Saint-Exepury – Poet
What is valentine’s day?
Valentine’s Day has always been viewed as a romantic day and my curiosity into the story behind it has led me to carry out some much needed research into this topic and I am really excited to share some valuable information about this day called Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day is the last day in the Valentine’s Week calendar and it is the most awaited day of the Valentine’s Week for couples. It is a day to express that powerful emotion called ‘love’ to your special someone. It is a day to make your partner feel valued and special by showering gifts such as flowers, heart shaped candies and greeting cards with a hope of becoming closer to him or her.
It turns out that Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers, you can also give gifts to your father, mother, brother, sister, daugher or son as a sign of your love.
Did you know that the first day of the Valentine’s week is called as the Rose Day?
It is very interesting to see how the Valentine’s Week progresses. The first day of the Valentine’s Week is called as the Rose Day as it starts with a lighter note where a man gives a rose to his lover and it slowly progresses into something serious like a promise or a kiss by the end of that week. The second day is called as the Chocolate Day followed by Teddy Day, Promise Day (not connected to World Promise Day which falls on 11 February), Hug Day, Kiss Day and finally the most awaited day ‘The Valentine’s Day’.
I found out that the 13th of February is called the Kiss Day and this is the day that is dedicated to that intimate expression of love. This is the day lovers can express their feelings in a better and more romantic way than most words can. A word of caution, if you are in the initial phase of a relationship, what is more appropriate is just a kiss on the cheek and definetly not a passionate kiss! It’s easy to get this aspect wrong so, first, learn and then dive!
When I was reading through some articles dating back to February 2014, I found CNN.com (Cable News Network) released some statistics which projected that the average person would spend around $130.00 total on Valentine’s Day. In addition, they anticipated that, across the country, $1.6 billion would be spent on candy, $1.9 billion on flowers and a whopping $4.4 billion on jewellery. The article also forecasted that $145 million Hallmark cards would be sold and 1,400 different varieties to choose from.
When I look at these numbers, it is clear that companies like Hallmark, Russell Stover and ProFlowers.com will be in for some great sales figures leading up to February 14.
Despite the commercialisation of this day, I believe there is still a romantic aspect to Valentine’s Day. Remember the significance of this day is straightforward. Valentine’s Day is about spending time with people we love, showing them that they are important in our lives and that we appreciate them. It’s as simple as that!
Although Valentine’s Day is about romance, heart shaped candies, roses and chocolates, it is also a day that is riddled with mystery and there is more to this day. According to historians the association between mid-February and romance can be traced back to 3rd century A.D., when a pagan, ancient Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia took place in mid-February dedicated to Faunus, the Roman God of agriculture, and Lupercus, the God of fertility. According to history, it was a shepherds’ festival and hence it was connected to the Kings of Shepherds known as Romulus and Remus. This festival was very different to a festival we have in modern times. The festival began with an animal sacrifice, followed by the ritual of slapping women with strips of the animal’s skin and blood, which was believed to bestow fertility on them for the coming year. This is a far cry from the romantic day that we celebrate today. This was a shocking revelation to me!
I could not hold my curiosity when I read that there was animal sacrifice involved and continued my reading to find out how many years did these rituals last and when did this animal sacrifice come to an end. I was pleased to discover that, it was in the 5th century A.D., Pope Gelasius eliminated the Lupercalia festival and declared February 14 as Saint Valentine’s Day as a means to “Christianize” the events.
Still a question remained as to who was this mysterious Saint Valentine?
Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers.
The story goes that, according to historians, “The Valentine” (a Roman priest) who inspired the holiday was sentenced to death after the emperor, Claudius II had banned marriage in Rome. Why was he sentenced to death? The emperor Claudius II believed that single men made better soldiers than men in love or married men with wives and families. Against the emperor’s orders, Valentine continued to perform wedding ceremonies in secret for young couples.
Valentine’s actions were discovered by the emperor and emperor Claudius ordered that Valentine be put to death, and before he was beheaded, some say that thankful couples would leave red roses for him outside of his cell to thank him for his defiance.
Valentine’s Day became associated with love and romance only in the 1300s. Isn’t it interesting that it was commonly believed that the people of France and England back in the 1300s belived that February 14th was also the beginning of birds’ mating season!! This of course added to the idea that February 14 should be a day for romance.
Now that I have covered some aspects of the Valentine Day, it’s time to Celebrate your Valentine’s Day.
The team at Deliciously Indian would like to send the warmest wishes possible to the most wonderful people we know for a very happy Valentine’s Day. Go ahead and celebrate this special day with your significant other.
