Valentine's Day History

Here's an article I wrote for the Emerson College newspaper back in 2002:

He's naked. He has wings, and he'll shoot you right in the butt with an arrow.

Cupid has been a symbol of Valentine's Day for a long time, but he's not the only symbol of that massively popular day of the year: Feb. 14. Every year we exchange cards, candy, flowers and presents with those we love, but few people know where this tradition began and how we came to celebrate it.
Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

So who's Cupid? In ancient Greece, Cupid was known as Eros, the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Eros was the Greek god of erotic love, the word itself meaning to desire or to gratify basic needs.
To the Romans he was Cupid, and his mother was Venus. The word cupid comes from the Latin word concupiscence, meaning sexual desire.

Dozens of red roses The red rose is such a big part of Valentine's Day because the rose was supposedly a sacred flower to Venus. Red is also a color that signifies strong feelings. These days, a bouquet of roses is almost synonymous with "I love you." And why the dozen you ask? For one simple reason: 12 is more than one.

What the hell does valentine mean?
Some believe the "valentine" comes from the Norman word galantine, which means "gallant" or "lover." Other connect the celebration of Valentine's Day with an old belief that birds choose their mates Feb. 14, just a month before the start of spring.

Who started Valentine's Day?
While no one really knows the exact origin of Valentine's Day as we know it, the first valentine is sometimes credited to Charles, Duke of Orleans in 1415, who wrote romantic verses for his wife. Most sources trace Valentine's Day back to Pagan times in ancient Rome, where Feb. 14 was a day honoring Juno, the goddess of women and marriage.
The following day, Feb. 15, began the Feast of Lupercalia, which signified the start of annual rites of passage for young men. Teenage women's names were placed in a box and randomly drawn by the young men. In this way, a man was assigned a female companion for one year, after which another lottery took place.
Valentine, a person from the villiage, would marry these couples in secret and was arrested for it. While in jail he healed the jailor's blind daughter. He gave her a card signed "From Your Valentine" before his beheading Feb. 14, from which modern valentine's began. After his death he became a patron saint. Valentine's Day cards were then given to the women during this festival.

Are lovebirds real?
No, it's not just a name for couples that are hell-bent on public displays of affection. Lovebirds, which are native to Africa, got their names because they sit closely together. Doves are symbols of love and loyalty because they mate for life and both make and female care for offspring.

What's with XOXO?
How did it happen that an X came to symbolize a kiss?
In medieval times, those who could not write would sign their name with an X and then kiss the X to show their sincerity. Over time, the X and the kiss became synonymous.

Hallmark cashed in big-time.
Valentine's Day has come to be a Hallmark holiday in which the feelings of love are capitalized upon. It leaves some people feeling many shades of depressed because they are faced with a plethora of "I love you this" and "I love you that" cards. True, the holiday has partially become a commercialized buying frenzy, but many people see past that to enjoy the day with someone they care about.

Pre-requisite for V-day: Turn into a mind-reader.
People have a way of expecting their significant other to read their mind and be able to intuit what gift they would most like to receive. It's a virtual guessing-game of what to get that special person in your life.

Have no fear: these days there is a never-ending stock of Web sites to visit that spew Valentine's Day ideas to you. Nevertheless, something will come to mind, and ideas usually come faster if you don't think about it too hard. Valentine's Day as we presently celebrate it in America is clearly a combination of many cultures, myths and sources. It's interesting to see how it developed, but more importantly, that we have to lighten up the gray month of February.