Let's do abit of history first : ) I know, i can hear you all groaning there but hang on, this isn't any old history. I did some research on the internet about how Valentines Day came around and i bet you guys have no clue as to why you're handing around chocolates and cards expensieve enough to suck up 3 months worth of allowance around for free on this particular day.
Every February, all over the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones and all in the name of Saint Valentine. But who is this mysterious dude and why do we celebrate this holiday?
One legend tells us that Mr. Valentine here was a priest who served during the 3rd century in Rome. The emperor at the time, Claudius III was a real pain in the flugen. He, for some reason, decided that single men made better soldiers than those who had wives and families and outlawed marriage for young men to become his batch of potential soldiers. Saint Valentine soon realised the unfairness of the whole thing and continued performing marriages for young lovers in secret(go team Valentine!)
But then stupid Emperor Claudie found out about Valentine's actions and killed him. Boohoo : (
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While he was in prison, it is believed that he fell in love with a young girl - possibly his jailor's daughter. And being the unmarried old geezer he was, decided to send her a sweet little love letter signed 'From your Valentine'. And this all happened during his confinement before his death sentence. Talk about tragic.
While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. But honestly, i have no idea.
(no religious offence intended)
On to more recent valentines-day-related topics :)
You all probably know that little half naked kid with the bow and arrow too. Yes, you know who. Cupid! The god of luuuuurve. Or so some people say. Not correct but you were pretty close! I was wondering how HE came into this whole Valentines day thing so i decided to google him.
Yes, Cupid. We all know him. We all love him. But who is he exactly?
He is known as a mischievous, winged child armed with bow and arrows. The arrows signify desires and emotions of love, and Cupid aims those arrows at Gods(??) and Humans, causing them to fall deeply in love. Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers bla bla bla.. we all know that. Let's just get to the point shall we?
In ancient Greece he was known as Eros, the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Romans he was Cupid, and his mother was Venus and this is their story.
Once upon a time, there was this beautiful woman named Phsycho. Wait- no i mean Phsyche. She was really beautiful. Like gorgeous beautiful. Not just pretty beautiful. Well beautiful enough to make the god Venus so jealous she wanted to kill her anyway. And that was saying alot since Venus was already the God of Love. So Ms. Venus here ordered her son, Cupid to punish the girl. But instead, he fell deeply in love with her. He took her as his wife, but she as a mortal was forbidden to look at him. That is really really sad.
(the rest was taken from the website)
Psyche was happy until her sisters persuaded her to look at Cupid. as soon as Psyche looked at Cupid, Cupid punished her by leaving her.
Their lovely castle and gardens vanished too. Psyche found herself alone in an open field with no signs of other beings or Cupid. As she wandered trying to find her love, she came upon the temple of Venus.
Wishing to destroy her, the goddess of love gave Psyche a series of tasks, each harder and more dangerous then the last.For her last task Psyche was given a little box and told to take it to the underworld. She was told to get some of the beauty of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto, and put it in the box.
During her trip she was given tips on avoiding the dangers of the realm of the dead. She was also warned not to open the box. But temptation overcame Psyche and she opened the box. But instead of finding beauty, she found deadly slumber. Cupid found her lifeless on the ground. He gathered the deadly sleep from her body and put it back in the box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods, moved by Psyche's love for Cupid made her a goddess.
Psyche and CupidAnd they all lived happily ever after..
THE END
Me: WAAAA!! That was s-so s-s-sweet! (sobsobsob)
You know what? I think this is where those corny love stories get their inspiration from.
Speaking of corn has led me to remember one more very obvious thing abt Valentines Day. The yummies! And speaking of yummies, i think we should at least touch a little bit on the CHOCOLATE section seeing as this is a very biiig part of VD.
So why chocolate?
Since the days of the Aztecs chocolate has been used as a gift. Today a box of luxurious quality chocolate says a thousand “thank you’s”, “good luck”, or “I love you”. Chocolate can be given as a way of saying “congratulations”, “I am sorry” or “get well soon”. On Valentine’s Day chocolate clearly says “I LOVE YOU!” Chocolate is more than just a food. It's a DRUG. What with it's seductive taste and addictiveness. You'd be crazy not to love this sensuous, oh-so-delectable dessert. But of course, it doesn't have to be pricey to be meaningful!
A cute little cadbury bar with a ribbon would be enough to satisfy your loved one. Unless of course, she has a thing for gifts that come with obscene price tags.
So before we part, i would really like to wish you all
A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
