THE SHOALS-Valentine’s Day, have you ever wondered why we do what we do on Valentines Day? Fore instance why chocolate candy? Why is the color Red so important on Valentine’s Day? And flowers why do we give flowers to express love ? When did giving cards become important on this day of love? Have you ever wondered why there is a cupid on Valentine’s Day? If you have ever contemplated why we do what we do in the name of Valentines Day read on.
It has been said the Church sought to Christianize the pagan Lupercalia Festival celebrated every year in Rome during the middle of February. It was a celebration of Spring and fertility and as part of men would randomly draw a woman’s name from an urn and they would be matched for pairing for the coming year. So Christians replaced the pagan celebration with one honoring St. Valentine and men using this day to woo their sweethearts.
So why Chocolate? From the very moment chocolate was discovered it was considered valuable, divine and decadent….just like the attraction between two people in love. So what better gift for your lover on Valentine’s Day? The first chocolate bon-bon as we know them were invented in 1860 by Cadbury who marketed them in a heart-shaped box and it and there you have it.
Why the color Red? In many cultures St. Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love and sex. This is a day we confess our love to the one we love the most and red is the color of our heart’s blood. Our loves are our lives and therefore our life’s blood is red. When we are with them our hearts pound with excitement and our skin flush delicate reddish hues as we thrill to our lovers’ touches. So Red is considered the color of love.
Why give Flowers? It has been said when St. Valentine was performing wedding ceremonies against the Emperor’s wishes in early Rome flowers with 
notes were given to the bride and groom to let them know where the clandestine ceremony would take place.Truly, flowers speak the silent but eloquent language of love. However, no other flower has had so many odes written to it or has come to symbolise love as much as the rose, and the red rose in particular. In fact, Valentine’s Day can’t be the same without a fragrant bouquet of long-stemmed roses.
Be My Valentine, why cards? The history of Valentine’s greetings goes back as far as the Middle Ages. During this time, lovers sung or recited verses to their sweetheart as a token of their adoration. Written valentines soon began to replace sung and spoken valentines during the 15th century. One of the earliest known Valentine’s greetings was sent in 1415 from Charles, the Duke of Orleans, to his wife, while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and is known as the oldest Valentine’s Day cards in existence. Over the next two centuries, valentines had gained much popularity, especially in England. In the 18th century, exchanging hand-made cards on Valentine’s Day had become common in England. As for the American Colonies, the popularity of Valentine’s Day cards started to grow by this time due to the import from England of booklets, or “writers”, that had “be my Valentine” verses and messages which could be copied into cards or letters.
Why Cupid? Valentine’s Day would not be complete without Cupid, the most recognized symbol of love. Cupid, the God of Love. It is said that if Cupid shoots his arrow of love and hits you, that you will fall helplessly and madly in love with the next person you meet. Cupid is sometimes shown blindfolded. Why?…Because love is blind.
So there you have it ….well at least an inkling of why we do what we do in the name of love on St. Valentine’s Day.
