Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day started during the time of the Roman Empire, during the rule of Emperor Claudius II. Rome had been involved in many bloody and unpopular wars, and the Emperor was finding it difficult to attract young men to join the army. He thought that it was because the young men didn’t want to leave their loves and wives, not considering that it might be due to the fact that these young men didn’t want to join the army to die a pointless death! Therefore, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.

However, in Rome there was a Christian priest called…yes, you guessed it – Valentine…who secretly carried out marriages, defending love and defying the Emperor’s orders. When Claudius found out, he had Valentine arrested and sent to prison, where he stayed until he died on February 14th, AD270.

Valentine’s Day did not start then though. In those days, Christianity was just beginning to take hold across Europe, and Christian festivals were replacing old, pagan ones. There was a pagan festival on February 15th called Lupercalia, which was in honour of the goddess Juno. It was a bit of a lottery – the names of young men and women were put into a box – when the names were drawn, the people matched together were considered partners for the rest of the year. The men often wore the names of the women they had been matched with on their sleeves – hence the expression “to wear your heart on your sleeve”.

Eventually, the Lupercalia became a saint's day honouring Saint Valentine, a day for all those looking for love, or already in love.

One 17th century tradition was that a young girl should eat a hard-boiled egg and pin five bay leaves to her pillow before going to sleep on Valentine's eve. This would apparently make her dream of her future husband. Later, people began to exchange Valentine cards instead of presents. The Duke of Orleans is believed to have made the first valentine card. Imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415, he wrote love poems, or valentines, "to his wife in France”. Sweethearts exchanged handmade cards during the 17th and 18th centuries. The French trimmed huge paper hearts with yards of real lace. Valentine cards became popular in the United States during the Civil War. Elaborate cards trimmed with satin ribbons, mother-of-pearl ornaments, and spun glass were sold. Within a few years Valentine's Day received almost as much attention as Christmas.

And now it is a worldwide business that makes millions. You can buy all sorts of crap that just because it has a heart on it, is obviously a Valentine’s gift. Mugs, teddies, flannels, bath soap – just because someone has printed a heart on it, does not make it the perfect, romantic gift! And then there are the “funny” presents – fizzing willies for the bath, a super willy water gun, a vibrating boob hand massager. What happened to romance and love, and when did it all become so tacky?

I hope that you all have a lovely Valentine’s Day. If you are in a relationship already I hope that your loved one does something lovely and romantic. If you are not, I hope that you meet someone lovely, or get a card from someone you never knew liked you, but that you’ve always secretly fancied!