writerSandy
  • home
  • bio
  • events
  • teaser tuesday
  • blog
  • book of shadows
  • potions & herbs
  • contact

Hollow Bones

"In our life there is a time of wonder. Walking with the ancient ones as they share their world. And the dancing voices are carried by the wind. As I walk this sacred ground, I know I'm not alone, and I thank Mother Earth."  ~Alex Davis, Seneca Cayuga

Valentine's Day Origins

2/13/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
February. Some think it’s the month whose primary virtual is that it is only 28 days long (or, rather, 29 this Leap Year).  Personally, I like it because it’s my birthday month.

But I’ve always resented having romantic Valentine’s Day fall just after my birth date. The dates get smooshed together and somehow, neither event gets the celebration it deserves.

Over the two decades we’ve been married, my husband and I have reached some compromises that work for both of us. He takes me to a dinner of my choice for my birthday (because Valentine’s is dinner so crazy to get reservations). We don’t do a cake anymore for my birthday because I’m diabetic and will pay the price the next day. But he still wants a cake for his birthday, so I get to ask for a substitute gift (this year I requested earrings or new tennis shoes).

Later that week, he buys me roses, or, even better, a rose bush, for Valentines. Since we live in Arizona, we can actually plant a rose bush in February, and the live plant appeals to my Earth Goddess nature.
​
How did Valentine’s Day become a “romantic” holiday? Legends abound because the history of this special day is shrouded in mystery. But here are a few possible explanations –and a bit of Valentine’s Day lore. 

Picture
​While no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them. The holiday Lupercalia was celebrated from February 13-15 to honor the founder of Rome and to purify Rome’s women. The priests of Lupercalia struck the women, gently, we hope, with the skin of a freshly slain goat called a “februa”.  So our month is named after the skin of a dead goat. Anyway, the Romans believed this grisly ritual assured their females fertility and easy childbirth.

Another legend contend that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century of Rome. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldier than those with wives and families, so he outlawed marriage for young men, who made up his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the Emperor’s decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, Claudius had Valentine put to death on February 14, now Valentine’s Day.
​
Another Roman custom of Lupercalia was the festival of natural “heat”—the sexual readiness that permeated nature, especially the wolves, or “lupa”. To celebrate, willing young maidens wrote their names on slips of papyrus, put them in a box, shook them up, and let young men pull out the names of their valentines. These couples paired up for the duration of the festivities. The names were equally matched by both sexes so nobody had to go home alone after the drawings.
Picture
As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the Middle Ages. And as Christianity spread, the original pagan fertility flavor of the day was replaced with celebration love with the now Saint Valentine functioning as the patron saint of love. 

Eventually the tradition made its way to the New World. The Industrial Revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. 

Picture
Eventually the tradition made its way to the New World. The Industrial Revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City (my home town!) began mass-producing valentines. February has not been the same since.
​
Today, the holiday is big business: Valentine’s Day sales now top $18 billion. 

​Just remember: A romantic overture is not a command performance. You don’t have to break the bank buying jewelry, candy and flowers for your beloved. There are so many other ways to celebrate!

For example, I decided to make the holiday a learning opportunity, by attending “Valentine’s Day Chat with a Coroner.” I’ll spend the evening hearing stories of cannibalism, murder and other examples of love gone wrong.

Warms my little black Valentine’s heart.

Hope your day brings you everything you desire.
Blessed Be.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Writer, witch, mother and wife. Order of importance is a continual shuffle.

    Blog Updates

    Yes, I want to become a member of the Blog Updates Mailing List.
    Enter your e-mail address:

    Please confirm your e-mail address:


    Archives

    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    September 2013
    April 2013
    July 2012

    Categories

    All
    13 Yule Lads
    Beach Wedding
    Beautiful Bride
    Beltane
    Blood Moon Eclipse
    Bucket List
    Caganer Figurine
    Candy Cane Flavors
    Carlton Hill
    Christmas
    Christmas Cat
    Christmas Pickle
    Climate Change
    Corvid Magic
    Crescent Moon Crossing
    Crow Magic
    David Richo
    Deaths In The Desert
    Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival
    Essential Workers
    Free Book
    Holiday
    Hryla
    Human Smuggling
    Iceland
    Informal Marriage Ceremony
    Jarl Jung
    Love
    Love Potion
    Marriage Blessing
    Maypole
    Mexican Border
    Mindfulness
    Mother's Day
    NaNoWriMo
    Nativity Scenes
    Newlyweds
    Northern Arizona Snow
    No Tomorrow
    Pandemic
    Proposed Import Tax
    Psychology
    Raven Magic
    Scotland
    Shadow Dance
    Shadow Self
    Shadow Work
    Sinoloan Cartel
    Snow Days
    Snow Fun
    Super Moon Eclipse
    Suspense Writing
    Tarot
    Travel
    Trump
    Weird Holiday Traditions
    Wendy Rule
    Yule
    Zen

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.