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Writer's pictureValeria Sweet

The Saga of St. Valentine's Day

Updated: Aug 10, 2020

Day 14: 14 Days of Valentines. Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovers and loved ones!

This day is what you make of it. You can love it or you can say it's not that meaningful. Either way you're right, it's in the eye of the beholder. 


For those who do celebrate it, it's a wonderful time to remind those you love how much you care about them. Sure, you should love and care for them all year long, but nothing's wrong with expressing how you feel on Valentine's day as well. The day makes it a little more special and it's a good excuse to plan something romantic for each other. Just telling each other or writing a note about how much someone means to you could uplift your relationship to an all new level.

 

So where does Valentine's day come from? 

The popular story is of the priest named Valentine in 3rd c. A.D. Rome, who would marry couples in secret. After Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriages concluding that never-married soldiers were better soldiers, Valentine stood his ground, being one of the only priests to bless elopements. Alas, Valentine was imprisoned and centuries after his death canonized to become St. Valentine, a martyr of love. 

However, if we dig deeper, there were three men named Valentine who were all sentenced to death on February 14th in 3rd c. A.D. None of them were connected to romantics, but two of them did possess healing ability, for which they were beheaded. One of the Valentines was a preacher that healed a blind girl (which sometimes gets retold as a romantic tale).


It's told that in 5th c. Pope Gelasius might have blended together St. Valentine's day and a pagan holiday Lupercalia by abandoning it in favor of Christianity. Prior, it was a celebration of fertility, usually celebrated February 13-15. During this holiday people were drunk, merry, and ran around half-naked. Women lined up to be touched or slapped by a sacrificed goat's hide dipped in sacrificial blood, in hopes of being more fertile that year. Then, men and women were coupled up through the drawing of the names, which sometimes ended in marriage.


Most recently, in Chaucer times, 1400s European nobility took note of the middle of February as the bird-mating season and started sending each other love notes. An example in literature, Shakespeare's Ophelia called herself Hamlet's Valentine. Starting in 17th c., romantic love became popularized and lovers and friends of all social strata began sending each other love notes and gifts. Then in early 1900s printed Valentine's cards began to appear.


And the rest is history. 

If you haven't yet, don't forget to watch my films about two soulmates. The films explain two kinds of soulmate relationships, Red String of Fate and the sequel, Karmic Connection

Let me know in comments on Instagram @ValeriaSweetOfficial if you've learned something about Valentine's Day or any questions you have!

Happy Valentine's Day,

Valeria ♥

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