| Valentines Day |
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The Story of Valentine's Day |
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The holiday of Valentine's Day probably derives it's
origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia. In the
early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods
nearby. The Romans called upon one of their gods,
Lupercus, to keep the wolves away. A festival held in
honor of Lupercus was celebrated February 15th. The
festival was celebrated as a spring festival. Their calender
was different at that time, with February falling in early
springtime.
One of the customs of the young people was
name-drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia
the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper
and placed into jars. Each young man drew a slip. The girl
whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the
year.
Legend has it that the holiday became Valentine's
Day after a priest named Valentine. Valentine was a
priest in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion.
The Emperor at that time, Claudius II, ordered the Roman
soldiers NOT to marry or become engaged. Claudius
believed that as married men, his soldiers would want to
stay home with their families rather than fight his wars.
Valentine defied the Emperor's decree and secretly
married the young couples. He was eventually arrested,
imprisoned, and put to death.
Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve
of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death,
Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more
Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the
15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the
holiday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus. |
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The Most Famous of Valentine Symbols
Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of
love and lovers. He is known as a mischievous, winged
child, whose arrows who would pierce the hearts of his
victims causing them to fall deeply in love. In ancient
Greece he was known as Eros the young son of Aphrodite,
the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he was
Cupid, and his mother Venus.
One legend tells the story of Cupid and the
mortal maiden, Psyche. Venus was jealous of the beauty of
Psyche, and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But
instead, Cupid fell deeply in love with her. He took her as
his wife, but as a mortal she was forbidden to look at him.
Psyche was happy until her sisters convinced her to look
at Cupid. Cupid punished her by departing. Their lovely
castle and gardens vanished with him and Psyche found
herself alone in an open field.
As she wandered 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
dangerous than 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. And also warned not
to open the box. Temptation would overcome 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 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. |
| Note: Author and source unknown |
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