When Valentine’s Day Started
More than two thousand years ago, Valentine’s day was known as Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a day celebrated by the ancient Romans. On February 15, they would celebrate spring and new life. On February 14, all girls who were of marriageable age would put their names into a pot. All eligible young men took turns drawing names from out of the pot. The young man and the girl would be partners for the celebration.
Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine was a Roman Christian who secretly married young couples after Emperor Claudius made it illegal for young men to marry. As a result, Valentine was executed on February 14. Because he helped young lovers, he became the patron saint of lovers and his name was given to the day we now celebrate.
The Duke of Orleans
A French nobleman, the Duke of Orleans, wrote the first Valentine that still exists. While imprisoned in during the early 1400’s, the Duke began to write love poems to his wife, one of the poems refers to St Valentine (the patron saint of love) and so his poem is the oldest surviving Valentine.
Fat Babies and Arrows
Cupid was the Greek god of love. He had wings and carried a bow and arrow that he used to cause people to fall in love. If his arrow pierced the heart of someone they would fall in love.
Sometimes, pictures of Cupid show him wearing a blindfold, the blindfold symbolizes the saying that “Love is blind.”
Doves
Doves are a popular symbol for Valentine’s Day because they stand for eternal love. Doves mate for life, making them ideal symbols for eternal love.
Ribbons and Lace
It would seem enough that ribbons and lace make pretty decorations, however, they are also symbolic when used on valentines.
Ribbons hearken back to the Middle Ages when chivalry was at its peak. When knights competed in tournaments, ladies would tie their scarves or ribbons around the arm or lance of the knight that they favored.
Lace originally meant a noose or snare. The root of the word lace is the Latin word laqueus (noose) which was related to the word lacere (lure or deceive). These two words together implied entrapment or enticement. As a result, people began using lace on cards in hopes of catching or snaring someone’s heart.
Candy
If you like someone, you might say they are sweet. Candy is a wonderful symbol of sweetness and if the person you like likes the candy you give them, then they might look favorably on you or even fall in love with you.
How to Discover Your True Love
The English had several ideas about discovering who their love would be. One of their methods was similar to the method the Roman celebrants of Lupercalia used. They would put the names of all the people they were interested in into a bowl. Then they would draw a name from the bowl to find out who their love was.
Another method that girls would use to find out the name of the boy who was to be her Valentine was to write the names of all the boys she liked onto a piece of paper. She rolled up each slip into a ball of clay. All the clay balls were placed in a container of water. The first name that rose to the top was her Valentine.
Others believed that when they went to the window in the morning, the first person they saw would be their true love.
Maybe a woman wanted to know what their future husband would do. If so, she would watch the birds on Valentine’s Day. If she saw a robin, she would marry a sailor. A sparrow meant she would marry a poor man. A goldfinch was lucky, she would marry a rich man.
Sources
Gibbons, Gail. Valentine’s Day Is. Holiday House, 2006.
Heinrichs, Ann. Valentine’s Day. The Child’s World, 2006.
Tompert, Ann. Saint Valentine. Boyds Mills Press, 2004.
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