Ever wondered where Valentine's Day originated? It goes back a very long time! There are differing stories about it's origins. Here are a just a couple...
1. Having a particular Valentine's Day is a very old tradition, thought to have originated from a Roman festival. The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February - officially the start of their springtime. It's thought that as part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box.
2. The day gets its name from a famous saint, but there are several stories of who he was.
The popular belief about St Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD. Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret.
When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.
There, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed "from your Valentine".
In England we are very familiar with the red roses, cards, chocolates and secret admirers, but across the world there are many stranger customs! Here are 10 from other countries:
1. South Africa: Heart On Your Sleeve
Although V-Day is pretty traditional here, there's a twist! Young girls will follow the old-age Roman festival of Lupercalia, pinning their lovers' names on their sleeves. And in some places, men do it too. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve
2. Brazil: Magic Love Rituals
In Brazil, the Dia dos Namorados ("Lovers' Day") is celebrated on June 12. Single women perform simpatias, which are little rituals, to find a good husband or boyfriend.
And in case resorting to magic sounds like a good idea this February, here's an example: write the names of your crushes on pieces of paper, roll them up, and put then in a glass of water under the bed. In the morning, the scroll that opened up the most is your true love!
3. Wales: Spooning
That's not the type of spooning we're talking about! Carving Love Spoons is an old tradition in Wales; young men used to carve a spoon from one piece of wood to give that special someone in their lives. The spoons had intricate and beautiful symbols of love like hearts or Celtic knot-work. Although they may no longer be carving the spoon themselves, the tradition lives.
4. Denmark: The Guessing Game
The game is called Gaekkebrev, which is literally "Joke Letters" in English, but the tradition is quite romantic. People write funny rhymes or love notes, and the only hint to the sender is a dot for each letter of their name. If the recipient guesses who the sender is, they get egg on Easter Sunday; if they don't, they to buy the actual sender an egg instead!
5. Philippines: Weddings. Weddings Everywhere.
In the Philippines, masses of couples take advantage of Valentine's Day to get married. Thousands of couples share a one wedding anniversary! Hundreds of them gather at public areas to tie the knot or renew their vows.
6. Japan: Obligatory Chocolate
Women give chocolate to men! At work, the ladies in the office give chocolates to their male co-workers. But, because women feel obliged to give chocolates each man, they give some only the minimum amount. Then on March 14th, men are expected to return the affection on White Day, with gifts two or three times more valuable!
7. Germany: Romance Piggies
Although V-Day is celebrated pretty traditionally in Germany, tons of presents have the added awesomeness of featuring a pig! Yup. Pigs are symbols of lust and luck. You can even find them in provocative poses on chocolates.
8. Thailand: Forget About Sex
Teens in Thailand consider this day the best to lose their virginity. But Bangkok city officials encourage couples to skip getting horizontal and pay a visit to temple and free birds and fish instead! (Freeing caged birds is a Buddhist ritual that improves karma.)
9. Taiwan: The Language Of Flowers
Japan, but reversed. Men give gifts to women on V-Day, and women return them on White Day. Men can also give flowers, paying close attention to number: one red rose means love, eleven roses mean favorite, ninety-nine roses mean forever, and one hundred and eight mean marriage. Swoon.
10. South Korea: All The Single Ladies
In addition to V-Day and White Day, Koreans celebrate April 14: Black Day. Those who did not receive anything on the prior days eat black noodles, called jajangmyeon, and lament their single-ness with other singles. That's dark, (pun intended).
If those haven't whetted your appetite for something nice to give your love for Valentine's this year why not check out what I can offer you...whether you are new to your relationship, or have been in love for many years. Just click this link and you will be spoilt for choice to spoil your Valentine!
Until next time, keep safe and well.
