St. Valentine's Day
Who would have thought men running through Roman cities slapping women with goat hides would lead to a modern romantic holiday filled with lacy hearts, chocolates, and chubby, arrow toting, winged boys? It's true; the modern St. Valentine's Day is thought to have roots in the ancient Roman holiday Lupercalia. This Roman pastoral celebration, thought to secure fertility and ward off evil, included goat hide slapping fun along with other creative activities inspired by love and relationships. One such custom consisted of putting all eligible women's names in to an urn in the hopes of finding a mate. Each eligible man would then pull a name out of the urn, thereby choosing a woman to romantically couple up with for the following year. For the hide slapping ritual, boys dressed up as goats (a symbol of sexuality) and ran through the streets gently patting women with the hides cut from a sacrificial goat. Women welcomed the goat skin slap, whereas being touched by the hide was thought to bring fertility and easy childbirth.
Historically, Lupercalia was celebrated on February 15th, but in an attempt to re-invent a Pagan holiday as a Christian one, Pope Gelasius I declared in A.D. 496 that February 14th was hence forth the date for St. Valentine's Day. Which St. Valentine the Pope meant to honor with the holiday remains unclear, although there are three widely recognized candidates - one a priest in Rome, one a bishop in Terni, and one that almost nothing is know about other than that he died in Africa.
The most popular legends about the birth of Valentine's Day surround the St. Valentine from Rome. His story has different variations but most include a couple common themes - St. Valentine defying the Roman Emperor Claudius II by refusing to give up Christianity and St. Valentine continuing to marry young men (to women) who were going off to war after Claudius declared no soldiers were to marry (stating single men make better warriors). Legend tells how St. Valentine was put in jail and sentenced to death. While in jail he is said to have sent a letter to the jailor's daughter on the eve of his execution, signing it "With love, from your Valentine". The jailor's daughter was thought to either have been the betrothed of St. Valentine, the subject of a miracle the Saint performed while in jail to cure her blindness, or both.
St. Valentine was executed on February 14th, hence the date chosen for the holiday. However, not everyone associates that holiday date exclusively with the St. Valentine. Others link February 14th to the date when birds choose a mate. This idea most likely comes from Chaucer's "The Parliament of Fowls", a poem written for England's Richard II and fiance, where Chaucer links St. Valentine's Day with romance and the pairing up of birds.
While St. Valentine is still the namesake of this romantic holiday, common symbols associated with the day also include Cupid (in Roman mythology the son of Venus, in Greek mythology the son of Aphrodite), heart shapes, and the color red. St. Valentine's Day is the second largest card sending holiday (Christmas being number one) according to the Greeting Card Association. Common celebratory practices include exchanging "Valentines" with friends and loved ones and giving candy and flowers to a significant others. Most countries have a "day of love" they recognize but not all coincide with the February 14th holiday. St. Valentine's Day, as it is known on February 14th, is practiced by most western countries and has gained recent popularity in places such as United Arab Emirates, India, Japan, and China. It is a particularly popular holiday in South Africa where it is celebrated with great fervor. It is not an official government holiday anywhere.
