Valentine's Day history
by Darcie Keith
the Carillon

Valentine’s Day. You either love it, or you hate it. There is no in between.

I know I have been one of those people who have either loved it or hated it, depending upon my experience on certain years, especially the experiences back in high school. In grade 11, I had mixed feelings. At first, I was in love with the Valentine’s Day experience. I gave my crush at the time a rose and a love letter (sad, I know), only to have him reject me at the Valentine’s Day dance. Then, I hated it.

The following year, in grade 12, I absolutely loved it. I managed to buy my new crush at the date auction and we danced together and he gave me a hug. I loved it, but that ended shortly after when I told him how I really felt about him. The following year I was rather neutral about the whole day. I was in my first year of university and had no crush, let alone no prospect of having a “Valentine” whatsoever. It sounds depressing, but that’s the way it was.

This year, however, I know I’m going to love Valentine’s Day. I finally have someone special to spend it with. I will now get candy or flowers from somebody other than my parents or my friends. So, for all of you who think that you will be hopeless for the rest of your life, buck up, your time will come.

You may think it is a holiday created by candy and card companies to commemorate love, but Valentine’s Day has much deeper roots than that.

The origins of Valentine’s Day seem to come from the ancient Roman feast known as Lupercalia, which was to commemorate the Roman God, Lupercus, who protected the Roman people from the wild wolves. It was celebrated on February 15.

One of the customs of the younger people was an activity called name-drawing. Names of Roman girls were written and placed into jars on the eve of the festival. Each young man drew a slip and the girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year.

It is said the holiday was named after a priest named Valentine. He was a priest in Rome when Christianity was still at its infancy. The Emperor at the time, Claudius II, ordered that Roman soldiers not marry or get engaged. He believed married men would not make good soldiers because they would want to stay home their families rather than fight in war. Valentine disregarded the Emperor’s orders and secretly married young couples. Valentine was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and then put to death.

Valentine was beheaded on February 14, the eve of Lupercalia. He was named a saint after his death. As Christianity grew in Rome, the priests moved the holiday from February 15 to the 14. The holiday now honoured Saint Valentine, and not Lupercus. Not only does the holiday itself have history, but so does the Valentine’s Day card.

Written valentines began to appear after 1400. Paper valentines were exchanged in Europe when they were given rather than Valentine gifts. They were especially popular in England. The early valentine was hand made with coloured paper, water colours and coloured inks.

There were different kinds of handmade valentines:
1) Acrostic valentines: These had verses in which the first lines spelled out their loved one’s name.
2) Cutout valentines: These were made by folding the paper several times, and then cutting out a lace like design with small, pointed and sharp scissors.
3) Pinprick Valentines: These were made by pricking tiny holes into paper with a pin or needle that created the look of lace.
4) Theorem or Poonah valentines: These were designs that were painted through a stencil cut in oil-paper. This style came from the Orient.
5) Rebus valentines: These were verses where tiny pictures take the place of some of the words. For example, a heart would replace the word love.
6) Puzzle Purse valentines: These were folded puzzles to read and then refold. Among the many folds were verses that had to be read in a certain order.
7) Fraktur valentines: These had ornamental letting in the style of illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. There, now none of you have an excuse for not getting your Valentine a card because you don’t have any money - you can make them.

Cupid is the poster child of Valentine’s Day. And he, himself, has a history that leads back to ancient Rome. Cupid always played a role in celebrations of love and lovers. He is most known for being a naughty-winged child, who used his arrows to pierce the hearts of victims causing them to fall deeply in love. Cupid, known as Eros to the Greeks, was the son of Venus (Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty.

There are many different stories about the chubby little cherub known as Cupid, and he has been considered a symbol of Valentine’s Day for centuries.

So, for all you critics out there, even though the concept of the modern day Valentine’s Day is mainly a big scheme from the big corporate candy and card companies out there, the holiday itself has much deeper roots. Roots that prove that love is for everyone and that it happens for everyone at different times.