Ah, Valentine’s Day, a day of exquisite pleasure and pain, when couples annoy the world with their especially public displays of affection, the single pretend they enjoy buying chocolate for themselves, and the desperate — er, smart — singles sign up for a blind date. But it wasn’t always this way. In fact, if it weren’t for the decapitation of a priest, fun with whips, mating birds and Norman French, we might not have this special day. And you thought Valentine’s Day was all hearts and flowers!
Authorities have disagreed over the origin of Valentine’s Day, but have pinpointed several possibilities, some more choice than others.
Hitting on Women
On Feb. 15, the ancient Romans participated in Lupercalia, a festival meant to ensure protection from wolves. The men celebrated by striking people with pieces of animal hide, which the women accepted because they believed it increased their fertility. Strangely enough, this festival wasn’t passed down through the generations.
For the Love of Christ
The name of the holiday itself came from Christian martyr St. Valentine. There were actually three of them, but the most well-known is Valentinus of Rome, a priest who defied Roman emperor Claudius II Gothicus’ edict for all to adhere to the Roman religion and paid for it with his life on Feb. 14. In A.D. 496, Saint Pope Gelasius I named Feb. 14 the St. Valentine’s Feast Day.
Another, less gruesome legend has it that St. Valentine was a man of learning and special healing abilities, who was imprisoned but taught and healed his jailer’s blind daughter. She only regained her eyesight when she opened the farewell note he left her after he was seized for execution. The note contained a yellow crocus and was signed “”From your Valentine.””
Some also believe that the medieval language of Normandy played a part. The resemblance of the Norman French word “”galantine,”” meaning gallant or lover, to “”valentine”” may have caused people to think of Valentine as the special saint of lovers.
Lovebirds
How could Valentine’s Day be complete without the birds and the bees? Well, maybe just the birds. In the Middle Ages, a common English and French belief was that birds mated halfway through the second month of the year. Chaucer, and Shakespeare’s writings along with other 14th- and 15th-century literature, allude to Valentine’s Day as the day for birds and people to express their love.
Be mine, please?
Whatever the origins, Valentine’s Day quickly became popular among the ladies, often involving ways for females to determine who would be their future husband. Whereas today we have the personals, dating services and “”The Bachelorette,”” single women of the past had to do it the hard way. One of the oldest Valentine’s Day customs involved men writing women’s names on slips of paper and drawing them from a jar, which would determine which woman would become which man’s valentine.
Other Valentine’s Day customs involved the females playing luck and dreams. Unmarried English women in the 1700s would pin bay leaves to their pillows on Valentine’s eve, a charm they believed would let them see their future husband in their dreams. Some took a more Buffy-like approach and walked around the church at midnight 12 times, chanting verses such as, “”I sow hempseed. Hempseed I sow. He that loves me best, come after me now.””
So if you’re sullenly single, be glad at least you’re not living in ancient Rome. If you’re happily coupled, give a little moment of silent appreciation this Valentine’s Day for the man or woman whose love enabled this special day. And if you’re desperate and weren’t lucky enough to get picked for the Guardian’s blind date, sow some hempseed. You never know.
